IAM stands for Identity and Access Management, which is a framework of policies and technologies to ensure that the right users have the appropriate access to technology resources. IAM systems fall under the overarching umbrellas of identity management and access management. Identity management (ID management) or IAM is the organizational and technical processes for first registering and authorizing access rights in the configuration phase, and then in the operation phase for identifying, authenticating, and controlling individuals or groups of people to have access to applications, systems, or networks based on previously authorized access rights. IAM is an identity security framework that works to authenticate and authorize user access to resources such as applications, data, systems, and cloud platforms. IAM is a security and business discipline that includes multiple technologies and business processes to help the right people or machines to access the right assets at the right time for the right reasons, while keeping unauthorized access and fraud at bay. IAM systems provide core functionality such as managing user identities, authenticating users, authorizing users, and managing user access to resources. IAM is important because it helps organizations manage access to their resources, reduce the risk of internal and external data breaches, and simplify the user provisioning and account setup process.