Gartner recognizes growing importance of user authentication

Last updated: 21 March 2014

This week industry analyst Gartner published its ‘Magic Quadrant’ study of the user authentication market, in which I’m pleased to say Gemalto was named as a leader in the sector.

The report acknowledges the growing need for advanced forms of authentication and the shift away from the ‘legacy’ technology of passwords. It also includes some interesting predictions for authentication’s future.

According to the report, by 2017 over half of enterprises will use cloud-based services as the delivery platform for their authentication: this is a fivefold increase over what is in the industry today. Similarly, Ant Allen (Research Vice President at Gartner) predicts that by 2016 around one third of large businesses will use contextual (or risk-based) authentication for workforce remote access. This is compared to just 2% today, which shows the rapid rate of growth expected in this area over the coming years.

The paper says that the market for multi-factor authentication solutions is maturing, and acknowledges that most businesses now see the need for stronger protection than that offered by a straightforward username and password combination. Perhaps most encouragingly, the report claims that much of the growth in authentication in the years ahead will come not only from companies replacing their traditional, token-based systems, but from new customers convinced by the need for stronger forms of security.

Importantly, the report paints an encouraging picture of the future of the industry.  We can only hope this will soon become a reality as enterprises recognize the growing need for secure, reliable and convenient authentication. We at Gemalto will continue to listen to our customers to make sure we are able to provide the security needed as the industry continues to rapidly evolve.

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