Cayosoft: Unraveling the Future of Identity and Access Management

Cayosoft started life as a license management solution for Microsoft 365 and it gradually evolved into a comprehensive backup, protection, and administration product for Active Directory (AD) and Microsoft Entra ID.

In this episode of Petri Dish, Petri’s Editorial Director, Russell Smith, talks to Cayosoft CEO and founder Bob Bobel about managing complexity in Identity and Access Management (IAM) and the future of the IAM space.

Active Directory is still the primary authentication mechanism

As organizations increasingly adopt multiple identity providers (IDPs) to prevent lock-in and choose the best-suited provider for specific tasks, Cayosoft is still focusing on on-premises AD and hybrid IAM configurations.

“Regardless of all the new identity platforms out there, 70-80% are still looking back and using their traditional Active Directory environment as their primary authentication mechanism”

Provisioning and deprovisioning users can be straightforward but also prone to errors at scale. Bobel explains, “It’s extremely straightforward, yeah that’s part of the problem. It seems too easy and people sometimes realize that at scale it’s very easy to make mistakes”. He emphasizes the need for solutions that can handle large-scale environments efficiently.

Automation plays a crucial role in managing identity at scale. Bobel notes, “You need solutions, you need an identity platform, or you need to invest in scripting. I don’t personally recommend that, but it is definitely one of the ways people solve the problem”. He cautions against relying solely on scripting due to potential risks and the need for proper testing.

Cayosoft offers products like Cayosoft Guardian and Cayosoft Administrator to streamline identity management. Guardian focuses on simplifying the restore process for Active Directory, while Administrator consolidates multiple local consoles into a single interface. “We replaced 14 or 15 native consoles with Administrator, consolidating that down into a single pane of glass,” says Bobel.

Artificial intelligence is like having a second pair of hands

It’s still early days for artificial intelligence and nobody quite knows exactly how it will impact the IAM space. Today, Bobel sees AI as more of an assistant and helper that might be built into some tools, rather than something that’s going to replace critical functionality. Bobel shares, “AI becomes a fantastic tutor. If you have a question about multi-factor authentication versus two-factor authentication, you can ask AI and it will give you an answer”.

Bob mentioned how the Microsoft Intune team has included AI tools in its product to help teams write queries to discover endpoints, a task that requires knowledge of a complex query language. AI helps IT teams quickly generate the code needed. And at the very least, it offers them a starting point from which they can adapt the code to meet their goals. Cayosoft is actively exploring how AI can enhance their products and improve efficiency in the business.

Looking ahead, Cayosoft plans to expand its free solutions to help organizations defend against malware and ransomware. “2025 is going to be a pretty big year for us. We really want to help the community expand its ability not only around AI but also to defend against the ongoing threat of malware and ransomware,” says Bobel.

Bobel also mentioned that Cayosoft has its own PowerShell Module, Cayosoft Graph (CGraph), that can be used to query the Microsoft Graph API or the Cayosoft Administrator Graph API to manage products like Microsoft 365, Azure, and Intune.

While Bobel doesn’t recommend creating home-grown scripted solutions for everyday tasks that need to be automated, Bobel recommends IT Pros learn how to query the Microsoft Graph and use scripting to perform targeted operations where manual work could lead to mistakes.