Managed IAM solutions for MSPs: Overcoming multi-client access challenges with ServiceNow

MSPs often serve many clients, each with their own users, applications, and regulatory demands. As a result, identity management for MSPs can be far more complex than for a single enterprise. Below are the primary IAM challenges MSPs face:

• Managing Access Across Multiple Client Environments: An MSP might oversee dozens of client domains and IT systems, each requiring strict data separation. Keeping each client’s data and user access isolated yet manageable through one MSP platform is difficult. Traditionally, this meant maintaining separate tools or instances for each client or using cumbersome workarounds. ServiceNow’s domain separation is an approach that allows MSPs to partition data and processes by client, enabling multitenant management on a single platform. Without a centralized, multi-tenant IAM system, administrators may struggle with inconsistent access processes and risk cross-client data exposure.

• Ensuring Compliance and Auditability: Each client may be subject to different regulations (GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, etc.) and industry standards. MSPs must ensure that access to sensitive systems is compliant with all relevant rules, and they need to provide evidence of proper controls during audits. This is challenging when managing identities at scale, as manual record-keeping or disparate systems can lead to errors and gaps. Maintaining audit trails, tracking who approved access to what, and regularly reviewing privileges are critical. Inadequate compliance controls not only risk regulatory penalties but can also damage the MSP’s reputation. An effective IAM program should streamline compliance by providing complete visibility into current access rights and who approved them. In other words, MSPs need audit-ready reporting out-of-the-box to quickly demonstrate compliance for each client environment.

• Automating Provisioning and Deprovisioning: Manually creating user accounts, assigning roles, and revoking access for departures across many client organizations is labor-intensive and error-prone. Delays in provisioning can hurt productivity, while lag in deprovisioning can create security vulnerabilities. User lifecycle management at an MSP scale requires robust automation. As organizations grow and use more cloud apps and devices, the process of managing and granting user access gets more complex, and an IAM platform must be able to onboard new users and disable departing accounts efficiently. MSPs often deal with high turnover across clients and must ensure each joiner, mover, or leaver is handled promptly. Without automation, the sheer volume of access changes can overwhelm IT teams and lead to inconsistency.

• Minimizing Security Risks Across Clients: Security risks multiply when managing thousands of identities across multiple companies. Unauthorized access, orphaned accounts, excessive privileges, and inconsistent enforcement of security policies can all lead to breaches. MSPs must enforce the principle of least privilege and ensure that only authorized users have access to digital resources. They also need to guard against insider threats and mistakes that could expose one client’s data to another. Every client expects the MSP to uphold strong security in managing their identities. Central oversight is needed to detect anomalies (like dormant accounts or privilege creep) and to apply uniform security policies while still honoring each client’s unique requirements. In essence, MSPs need to reduce the attack surface across all managed domains and prevent security incidents that could impact multiple customers.

These challenges underscore why a one-size-fits-all or manual approach to IAM is insufficient for MSPs. An effective solution should centralize and automate IAM tasks while preserving the isolation and custom policies each client requires. This is where Appmore’s ServiceNow-based IAM offering comes into play as a purpose-built solution for MSP needs.