Portage CyberTech White Paper: Why CIAM Projects Fail

White Paper

Why CIAM Projects Fail

Hard Lessons from the Field

Public sector CIAM (Customer Identity and Access Management) projects don’t fail because teams lack talent or effort—they fail because of predictable, avoidable missteps.

In this white paper, five seasoned experts with over 60 years of combined experience in digital identity share the top five reasons CIAM initiatives derail.

From compliance oversights and UX misfires to internal resistance and the accidental trap of becoming a software vendor, this guide offers a candid look at what really goes wrong—and how to prevent it.

You’ll learn:

Why technical success isn’t the same as adoption
How “just SSO and MFA” thinking leads to blind spots
What public sector teams overlook in planning and governance
How CitizenOne was rebuilt to address these very challenges

Whether you're leading a digital transformation, supporting service delivery, or evaluating CIAM vendors, this resource will help you avoid becoming the next cautionary tale.

Customer Identity Access Management (CIAM) solutions are custom-built to address this issue. With CIAM, organizations benefit from a privacy-enhancing design, identity-proofing features, and self-service implementation in one consolidated platform. This white paper provides an in-depth overview of CIAM, its benefits, and relevant government regulations. It also explores CitizenOne, a robust CIAM tool that focuses on seamless service delivery. Find out how CIAM tools help organizations facilitate service enrollment, enhance their overall digital service delivery, and enable citizens to self-serve online.