What Are Digital Identities in Practice? Initial Insight from Finnish B2B Software Companies

Digital identities are implemented and used in software products increasingly. They allow businesses to perform a variety of tasks, including managing customer relationships or performing financial management activities. Software companies that offer software-as-a-service products must take growing amount of stakeholder needs and regulatory developments into consideration when implementing or using digital identities in their products. This research paper presents the initial findings of a qualitative interview study conducted in two software companies in Finland. Both companies offer business-to-business products with a strong role of digital identities. The research goal was to understand the identity provider and software product company perspective on digital identities. This goal was achieved by presenting initial results on the use of the term of digital identity in practice, identify relevant stakeholder priorities, and present both disruptors and accelerators to match these priorities. Some identified stakeholder priorities include security, communication and user experience. Accelerators for matching these include company strategies and communication while disruptors include security concerns and unknown regulative requirements. Research data was collected during Summer 2025 followed by thematic analysis.