Identity Types

Identities can generally be divided into two categories.

• Business-to-business identities
• Business-to-consumer identities

Business-to-Business Identities (B2B / Workforce Identity)

Identities required for the operation of a business organization fall into this category. They support internal operations or business transactions with other organizations. Examples include:

• Employees and contractors
• Programs and applications
• Application programming interfaces and services (APIs/Services)
• Desktop computers, laptops, printers, and scanners
• Servers and network devices

These identities are managed by an Identity and Access Management (IAM) system.

Business-to-Consumer Identities (B2C / Consumer or Customer Identity)

Identities required by a business organization to provide services to its consumers fall into this category. Examples include:

• Consumers and customers
• Smart cars
• Smart watches
• Virtual reality and augmented reality headsets (VR/AR headsets)

These identities are managed by a Consumer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) system.