What is the main purpose of AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)?

The main purpose of AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is to create and manage users and permissions. IAM provides a way to securely control access to AWS services and resources for users, enabling organizations to define who can do what with their resources in the cloud.

With IAM, administrators can create individual user accounts with specific permissions, allowing fine-grained access control based on organizational roles and responsibilities. This means that IAM allows for policies to be created that specify permissions at various levels, ensuring that users have only the access necessary to perform their jobs, which enhances security and compliance within an organization.

In addition to managing users and permissions, IAM also supports multi-factor authentication and integrates with other AWS services to help secure the AWS environment comprehensively. This foundational aspect of managing identity and access plays a critical role in maintaining the overall security posture of applications and data in the AWS cloud.