Identity and access management (IAM) is the process used in businesses and organizations to grant or deny employees and others authorization to secure systems. 

IAM verifies user access requests and either grants or denies permission to protected company materials. It also deals with various administrative functions including password problems, and helps oversees employee identity management including multi-factor authentiation among others. Standards and applications of IAM include the maintenance of user life cycles, various application accesses and singular logons.

There are several advantages of IAM including business value and security enhancements, increased work productivity and a reduction in the IT staff's workload. Businesses use IAM in order to comply with best security practice standards, whether in healthcare, finance or other sectors. Best practice standards throughout several organizational arenas require record protection, which becomes increasingly important as more organizations adopt interoperability in confidential records systems.