Everything You Need to Know

Most organizations already own plenty of identity tools, but the data inside them doesn’t line up, so no one can confidently say who has access to what. IVIP pulls identity data together from across the environment, adds ownership and risk context, and feeds trusted data back to the tools you already use. It doesn’t replace your identity solutions; it makes them work. And as AI starts acting on identity data, getting this foundation right matters more than ever.

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How It Works: Collects and connects data from directories, HR systems, servers, databases, file shares, cloud platforms, PAM, IGA and CMDB/asset management, then adds ownership and risk context
Who Needs It: Organizations that have invested in identity tools but still can’t confidently answer who has access to what
Key Outcome: Continuous discovery, clear priorities, and fixes fed back to the tools you already use

• 90% of organizations had at least one successful identity-related breach in the past 12 months
• 96% say human identities have access far beyond what their roles require
• Disconnected identity silos add an average of 12 hours to every identity-related incident
• 84% of enterprises plan to increase GenAI funding in 2026, yet data availability and quality remain a top barrier to AI adoption
• IGA and PAM tools see identity data only for applications that have been onboarded to them
• Existing identity tools each serve their own purpose, but none provides an enterprise-wide identity data layer

Identity Visibility and Intelligence Platforms (IVIP) are an emerging category of identity security technology. They bring together identity and access data from across an organization, connect it, and add the context teams need to act on it. Gartner® introduced the category in its Hype Cycle for Digital Identity as a new layer in the identity stack.

Traditional identity tools each work within one system or workflow, such as provisioning, vaulting or authentication. IVIP works across all of them, connecting identity data from Active Directory and other directories, IGA and PAM platforms, servers and databases, file shares and cloud environments into one consistent view.

With this unified perspective, IVIPs deliver:

Importantly, IVIPs complement rather than replace existing identity solutions. They provide the context, visibility, and intelligence that enables existing tools to work effectively at enterprise scale.

As AI agents and automation begin acting on identity and access data, a trusted identity foundation becomes essential. AI can only act safely on data that is complete and accurate.

Most organizations have invested substantially in AM, IGA, and PAM tools. While these systems excel at enforcing identity policies, provisioning access, managing entitlements, and securing privileged credentials, enforcement represents only part of the identity security equation.

As Gartner observes: “Even with mature IGA, AM and PAM solutions, many organizations struggle to achieve full visibility (‘single pane of glass’) in a reasonable timeline and at sustainable cost. The typical organization is still only partly integrated for IAM needs after years of investment and effort.”

The limitations of today’s identity tools become clear when examining common challenges:

• Siloed Data Islands: Identity information is scattered across directories, HR, servers, databases, cloud and identity tools. HR knows who works there, directories hold logins and groups, PAM knows which privileged accounts it manages, and IGA holds certifications. Each sees only a slice of the picture.
• Missing Business Context: Identity tools struggle to answer basic questions: Who owns this account? What can it access? Is it properly governed? Without ownership and risk context, security decisions rely on incomplete information.
• Persistent Blind Spots: Orphaned accounts, excessive privileges and unvaulted service accounts slip through because IGA and PAM only see what has been onboarded to them.
• Recurring Audit Effort: Audits become a constant stream of evidence requests, often answered by hand with scripts and spreadsheets, and the same findings return year after year.

This visibility gap explains why IVIP has emerged as essential infrastructure. IVIPs serve as the connective tissue that unifies fragmented identity data, providing security teams the comprehensive visibility and context needed for intelligent, targeted action.

These are the four core IVIP capabilities we’ve seen make the biggest impact.

Integrated Visibility Across Identity Systems and Infrastructure
IVIP consolidates identity data from directories, PAM, IGA, servers, databases, file shares and cloud into one view, replacing manual reconciliation across tools.

Continuous Discovery Across All Identity Types
IVIP continuously finds workforce, service and privileged accounts across directories, infrastructure and cloud, including accounts nobody knew existed, not just those already onboarded to identity tools.

Ownership, Privilege, and Risk Intelligence
IVIP maps each account to an accountable owner, identifies what is privileged, and adds business context such as system criticality and production vs. non-production, so teams can prioritize the highest risks.

Closed-Loop Remediation
IVIP feeds corrected and enriched data back to identity tools and source systems, so issues are fixed, not just reported, and stay fixed over time.

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When properly implemented, an identity visibility and intelligence solution supports critical security initiatives by providing the continuous insight and context needed for confident decision-making. SPHEREboard customers put each of these use cases into practice today.

Expanding PAM and IGA Coverage
PAM and IGA can only protect what they know about. The solution finds unmanaged privileged and service accounts across servers, databases and directories, maps their owners and dependencies, and supports safe onboarding without disrupting the business.

Audit and Compliance Acceleration
By unifying identity data across systems, the solution turns audit preparation from a scramble of scripts and spreadsheets into a repeatable process. Auditors and compliance teams get consistent evidence of account status, ownership, entitlements and access paths.

Orphaned and Overprivileged Account Remediation
The solution identifies accounts with no clear owner, no recent use or excessive permissions. With ownership and risk context in place, teams can fix issues with confidence, such as cleaning up nested AD groups, removing unnecessary access and closing open file shares.

Understanding the distinction between IVIP and traditional identity tools helps organizations recognize why both are necessary for comprehensive identity security.

The key insight: Identity tools excel at policy enforcement within their domains, while IVIP provides the cross-domain visibility and intelligence needed to make those policies effective at scale.

SPHERE started in identity hygiene, helping large enterprises find and fix identity problems across massive on-prem environments and the cloud. That work kept pointing to the same root issue: organizations can’t trust their identity data. SPHEREboard is built to solve exactly that.

Built Specifically for the Visibility Gap
SPHEREboard collects identity data agentlessly from directories (AD, LDAP, Entra), Windows, UNIX, databases, file shares and cloud (AWS and Azure), as well as from the identity and IT tools you already run, including CyberArk, SailPoint and ServiceNow. It then maps the relationships between identities, accounts and systems, so teams can see the full access path.

Focused on Actionable Outcomes, Not Just Insights
Discovery without action doesn’t reduce risk. SPHEREboard maps every account to an accountable owner, highlights where risk sits, and supports remediation at the source, from standardizing groups to pruning unnecessary access. It also feeds trusted data back to CyberArk, SailPoint and ServiceNow, making the tools organizations already own more effective.

Proven in the Most Demanding Environments
Global banks, insurers, airlines and manufacturers rely on SPHEREboard to bring order to complex identity environments, from uncovering thousands of unknown privileged accounts to producing audit-ready evidence.

We believe visibility only matters when it drives better outcomes. That’s why SPHEREboard focuses on what security teams actually need: clarity, ownership accountability, and automated control remediation.

Gartner names SPHERE among identity visibility vendors in its Identity Hygiene category, in Establish an Identity Data Layer to Reduce Technical Debt and Secure AI (August 2026).

Gartner, Establish an Identity Data Layer to Reduce Technical Debt and Secure AI, Nat Krishnan, 31 August 2026
GARTNER is a trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any company, vendor, product or service depicted in its publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s business and technology insights organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this publication, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

What exactly is an Identity Visibility and Intelligence Platform?
An IVIP brings together identity and access data from across an organization, connects it, and adds ownership and risk context. Unlike enforcement-focused identity tools, it shows the complete identity picture across the enterprise.

How does IVIP work?
IVIPs connect to existing identity systems, such as directories, servers, databases, file shares, cloud platforms, PAM and IGA, and continuously collect and correlate identity data. They then map ownership, identify risk and feed trusted data back to the tools that need it.

What’s the difference between IVIP and existing identity tools?
Identity tools such as IGA, PAM and directories enforce identity policies within specific domains (like access provisioning or privilege management). IVIP provides the visibility layer across all these tools, showing how identities actually behave across your entire environment and identifying risks that individual tools miss.

Who needs IVIP technology?
Organizations with complex, hybrid environments that have invested in identity tools but still can’t confidently answer who has access to what. It’s especially relevant for teams facing recurring audit findings, expanding PAM or IGA coverage, or preparing identity data for AI.

What is identity hygiene, and how does it relate to IVIP?
Identity hygiene is the practice of finding and fixing identity problems, such as orphaned accounts, excessive privileges and messy group structures, and keeping them fixed. Gartner lists identity hygiene as one of the vendor categories within identity visibility.

How long does IVIP implementation take?
It depends on scope. Most organizations start with discovery across a defined set of systems, see results early, and expand coverage from there.

Does IVIP replace existing identity investments?
No. IVIP augments existing identity solutions by providing the visibility and intelligence layer they need to function effectively. Think of IVIP as the connective tissue that makes your identity investments work better together.

What should organizations look for in an IVIP solution?
Key evaluation criteria include:

• Breadth and depth of connectors, including on-prem, legacy and cloud systems
• Continuous discovery and monitoring
• Accurate correlation and ownership mapping
• Business and risk context for prioritization
• The ability to feed corrections back to identity tools and source systems
• Audit-ready reporting and data lineage
• Scalability for large enterprise environments

How does IVIP support AI adoption?
AI agents and automation act on identity and access data. If that data is fragmented or inaccurate, AI can’t act safely, which is why data quality is a top barrier to AI adoption. IVIP provides the trusted identity foundation AI depends on.

Where do organizations typically start?
With one pressing problem, such as building a complete inventory of privileged and service accounts, cleaning up Active Directory, expanding PAM coverage or producing audit-ready evidence. They then expand from there.

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