When we talk about cybersecurity, it’s easy to get lost in the flood of tools, alerts, and acronyms. But at the center of it all—before firewalls, before EDR/XDR, before the SIEM dashboards—is identity.
We recently hosted a conversation with Eve Maler, a true pioneer in the identity space and one of the driving forces behind SAML. What we got wasn’t a lecture on standards—it was an honest, fascinating look at how identity got to where it is today, where it’s headed, and what that means for anyone managing systems or users in 2025.
Identity: More Than a Login Box
One of the most powerful themes that came through was the idea that identity isn’t just about authentication. It’s about control. It's about user journeys. It's about security, yes—but also enablement.
When identity is treated as a patchwork of tools—MFA here, SSO there, a separate PAM tool bolted on—it creates blind spots. You lose visibility, you introduce risk, and you make things harder to scale. But when you approach IAM as a cohesive program instead of a series of quick fixes, you gain something rare: clarity and control.
Why SAML Still Matters
Standards don’t usually get much love, especially once newer protocols come along. But SAML has quietly powered secure access for more than two decades—and it’s not going anywhere.
It’s the reason people can move between platforms and tools without logging in over and over again. It laid the groundwork for how we think about federated identity. And despite its age, it still handles use cases newer standards like OpenID Connect can’t fully support.
Unfortunately, many SaaS vendors treat it like a luxury feature—locking it behind premium pricing tiers and discouraging adoption. But for small and midsize businesses, SAML-based SSO often means the difference between a security-first strategy and one held together by shared passwords and spreadsheets.
Good Identity Is Good Business
While IAM is often treated as a cost center, there’s growing recognition that it also drives value. A well-implemented identity strategy reduces risk and operational overhead—but it also improves user experience and accelerates onboarding, whether you’re talking about employees, customers, or partners.
A strong identity program helps prevent breaches. It cuts down help desk tickets. It speeds up onboarding. It reduces friction for users and gives IT teams breathing room. When identity is handled thoughtfully, everything else just works better.
We broke it down into three core benefits:
Reducing risk (breaches, fraud, compliance exposure)
Lowering cost (fewer tickets, faster access provisioning)
Driving revenue (by making secure access easier and more scalable)
What’s Next: Passkeys, Biometrics, and the Wallet Era
The future of identity isn’t arriving all at once—it’s unfolding in layers. Passkeys are becoming more common. Biometric authentication is getting smarter. And digital wallets are starting to show up in new ways, carrying everything from your payment card to your government-issued ID.
This shift brings a lot of promise, especially for user experience. But it also introduces new complexity—especially around trust, privacy, and implementation. For most organizations, the real challenge isn’t choosing the “next big thing,” but figuring out how to support both legacy systems and emerging technologies without losing their grip on security.
The Takeaway for MSPs and IT Teams
Whether you're managing identity for your own team or a whole portfolio of clients, here’s the bottom line: identity isn’t just another security checkbox. It’s the framework that everything else builds on. And when done right, it helps you move faster, work smarter, and stay secure—all without getting in the way.
This discussion was a reminder that while the tools may evolve, the mission stays the same: secure the people, protect the access, and make it easier for users to do their jobs.
