Improve security with machine identity and access management

According to the latest Gartner® report, Innovation Insight: Improve Security With Machine Identity and Access Management, machine identities now outnumber humans, but most organizations still lack a clear strategy for managing them. Without consistent machine identity access management (IAM), secrets sprawl, outages, and breaches become more likely.

The report breaks down key risks like fragmented tooling, inconsistent governance, and lack of visibility. It also outlines clear next steps for security and IAM leaders to close the gap.

Takeaways:

• Why machine IAM is the least mature part of most IAM programs
• How gaps in discovery, credential management & trust increase your attack surface
• What Gartner recommends for establishing governance, visibility & automation
• Real-world examples of tools helping orgs tackle machine IAM, including Doppler

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Gartner, Innovation Insight: Improve Security With Machine Identity and Access Management, Steve Wessels, Felix Gaehtgens, Michael Kelley, Erik Walstrom, 11 March 2025.