SAM

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SAM – Multi-Component CIAM Platform Powering 85+ S&P Global Products

Overview

SAM (Secure Access Management) is a large-scale Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) platform that supports 1.8M+ external users and safeguards access to 85+ product lines across S&P Global. Built as a modular, API-first system, SAM enables secure authentication, fine-grained authorization, entitlement enforcement, and automated user provisioning. It forms the backbone for digital identity and access strategy across S&P’s enterprise SaaS and data platforms — directly influencing $1.8B+ in revenue.

SAM is built not just for security and compliance, but for developer flexibility, cross-product scalability, and internal operational efficiency. It supports both external customers and internal stakeholders through a suite of tools including authentication/authorization APIs and the SAM Admin Tool — a centralized interface for operational teams to manage users, access, licenses, and onboarding policies.

Key Features & Solutions

  • Modular API-First Architecture: SAM is composed of several decoupled but integrated services:

    • Authentication API: Secure, performant login infrastructure supporting SSO, federation, and MFA.

    • Authorization API: Policy-driven access control with real-time entitlement checks and license enforcement.

    • Identity API: Centralized identity store supporting multiple identity types and federation use cases.

    • Provisioning API: Automates account setup, user assignments, and product-level access propagation.

  • RBAC & Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC):

    • SAM supports RBAC for internal users (admins, support teams, product owners), allowing secure delegated access to SAM Admin Tool capabilities.

    • For product-level end users, SAM enables attribute-based provisioning, dynamically assigning entitlements based on contract terms, license type, geography, and user attributes — ensuring compliance and tailored access at scale.

  • SAM Admin Tool – Centralized Access Ops Hub:

    • A comprehensive internal-facing UI used by:

      • Product managers to define access policies

      • Customer support to manage user entitlements

      • Dev & ops teams to monitor access logs and troubleshoot issues

      • Delivery teams to provision users at scale

    • Enables role-based controls, audit trails, search/filter capabilities, and direct integration with backend APIs.

  • Automated User Onboarding & Communications:

    • From contract execution to user activation, SAM automates communications, credential setup, and entitlement assignment — reducing onboarding friction.

  • Comprehensive Audit & Compliance Controls:

    • Immutable activity logging for all SAM Admin actions

    • API event tracing and session logging for security reviews

    • Data residency and processing compliance (GDPR, CCPA, PCI-DSS, SOC 2)

  • Real-Time Usage Insights:

    • KPI dashboards for login latency, MFA usage, license utilization, and integration health

    • Insights drive product readiness and performance prioritization

  • Scalable Performance & Resilience:

    • Achieved 99.5%+ uptime, 3x throughput improvement, and 25% infrastructure cost reduction through distributed caching and async workflows

Role & Responsibilities

As Associate Director of Product Management, I led the end-to-end product ownership for the entire SAM ecosystem — spanning strategy, stakeholder alignment, technical delivery, and governance.

Strategic Leadership & Roadmapping:

  • Defined the multi-year vision and roadmap across 4+ product components (Identity, Authentication, Authorization, Admin Tool)

  • Established value-based prioritization models focused on revenue at risk, compliance exposure, and integration readiness

  • Created and chaired a cross-functional product steering forum with stakeholders from security, platform engineering, and 85+ product lines

Modernization & Developer Enablement:

  • Consolidated 3+ fragmented legacy identity systems into SAM, saving in long-term cost avoidance

  • Developed self-serve APIs, integration accelerators, and migration tooling that cut onboarding effort

Operational Excellence & Internal Tools:

  • Designed and delivered the SAM Admin Tool as the single control center for internal operations, reducing reliance on engineering support

  • Introduced RBAC model to define fine-grained permissions for customer support, app support, product managers, and delivery teams

  • Instrumented KPI reporting and integrated continuous metrics into roadmap decision-making

Security, Risk & Compliance Alignment:

  • Partnered with InfoSec, Legal, and Audit teams to align platform capabilities with global regulatory standards

  • Implemented API hardening (token scopes, mTLS), access tiers, and logging controls

Outcome & Impact

The SAM platform has become the central nervous system of access and identity across S&P Global — delivering measurable improvements in product scalability, customer activation, and regulatory posture.

Highlights:

  • $1.8B+ revenue influence across S&P’s digital ecosystem

  • 30+ business units onboarded

  • 80% onboarding automation and contract fulfillment time savings

  • 99.5% uptime, 25% infrastructure savings, and 3x throughput gain

  • Universal adoption of SAM Admin Tool by internal support and delivery teams, reducing dependency on technical teams and streamlining issue resolution

Summary

SAM exemplifies enterprise-grade platform thinking — blending security, developer experience, and operational agility into a single product ecosystem. My work on SAM reflects my ability to lead high-stakes platform products at scale, deliver tangible business outcomes, and orchestrate cross-functional collaboration across engineering, security, legal, and business teams.

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