Why Higher Ed Needs an IAM Platform Designed for Education: Part 3

Part 3: Higher Ed IAM Challenges: Legacy Systems, Staffing Realities, and Homegrown Complexity

As we discussed in our previous blog post, colleges and universities face challenges that are fundamentally different from those in traditional enterprise environments when it comes to selecting an Identity and Access Management (IAM) system. While a general-purpose IAM platform might address common lifecycle needs, a solution purpose-built for the academic landscape is better positioned to meet the complex, evolving demands of higher education. These institutions operate within a context defined by massive identity churn, overlapping roles, enduring relationships, and a heightened risk of duplicate records—all of which require a more tailored IAM approach.

Budget Constraints

For years, higher education IT departments have operated with limited budgets and smaller staff compared to their enterprise counterparts. Institutions must stretch resources across a wide range of responsibilities—from cybersecurity to compliance. Expecting these teams to master, customize, and sustain a complex enterprise IAM system is unrealistic. Instead, they need IAM solutions that lower the operational burden through automation, intuitive configuration, and self-service capabilities.

Homegrown Solutions and Fragmentation

Necessity is the mother of invention, and budgetary constraints drive many colleges and universities down the path of relying on homegrown systems. These institutions have long cultivated a do-it-yourself ethos, fueled by talented staff who are both resourceful and deeply committed to solving problems. When gaps appear — whether for registration, departmental access control, or guest provisioning — it is common for in-house teams to roll up their sleeves with custom scripts, databases, and applications. While these bespoke solutions often solve short-term problems, they’re rarely designed with interoperability or sustainability in mind. Over time, these organizations end up with a patchwork of disconnected systems tied together by brittle integrations and fragile scripts which one institution called “homegrown spaghetti”.

Tribal Knowledge

Layered on top of these technical challenges is the problem of undocumented processes and tribal knowledge. In many universities, identity workflows have evolved organically over decades, shaped by both the technology available and the individuals who managed it. Too often, the “documentation” for these processes resides only in the minds of long-serving staff. When those individuals retire or leave, the institution risks losing critical operational knowledge, making it difficult to maintain continuity or troubleshoot problems. A well-designed, education-focused IAM platform mitigates this risk by consolidating fragmented workflows into a single, transparent system. By replacing custom scripts and undocumented hand-offs with standardized, auditable processes, the institution gains resilience and reduces its dependency on individual expertise.

The bottom line: Higher education needs an IAM platform that acknowledges these unique challenges and provides automation, transparency, and sustainability out of the box. In the next part of this series, we’ll explore how purpose-built IAM platforms like RapidIdentity directly address these challenges through flexible integration, sustainable design, and cost-conscious licensing.