Gartner's Innovation Insight for Customer and Partner Identity and Access Management (CIAM and PIAM), published on April 28, 2025, provides a comprehensive guide for IAM leaders planning their CIAM and PIAM initiatives, clarifying access management terminology and offering practical tips for developing external IAM strategies. The report highlights a significant reliance on in-house deployments in CIAM, noting over 50% of organizations use homegrown solutions despite the challenges posed by evolving digital-native expectations and identity-based cyberattacks. Descope, recognized in the report as a representative provider, advocates for moving away from in-house solutions, citing enhanced customer experience, security, and developer productivity as key benefits. The blog post argues for a unified, flexible, and developer-friendly IAM platform that transcends the B2C and B2B dichotomy, as mature CIAM implementations typically involve both individual and organizational customers. It also emphasizes the need to differentiate external identity management from traditional workforce IAM solutions, highlighting the distinct requirements for dynamic, transient stakeholder interactions. As organizations increasingly migrate from home-grown and workforce IAM systems, the research suggests a future with more secure, frictionless experiences for end users and optimized resource allocation for developers.