What are the use cases for Alibaba Cloud's Identity and Access Management (IAM)?

The primary purpose of Alibaba Cloud's Identity and Access Management (IAM) is to control user permissions, manage access keys, and enforce security policies. IAM enables organizations to define and manage various user roles and permissions, ensuring that only authorized users have access to specific resources within the cloud environment. This is crucial for maintaining a secure infrastructure, as it helps to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data and services.

By using IAM, organizations can create fine-grained access controls that can be tailored to meet their specific security and operational requirements. For example, administrators can assign different permissions to different users or groups, thereby minimizing the risk of security breaches.

In addition, IAM provides tools for managing access keys, which are essential for enabling secure API access. It also allows for the enforcement of security policies, such as password complexity requirements and multi-factor authentication, further enhancing the security posture of an organization.

The other choices focus on different functionalities that are not related to IAM's core purpose. Billing and invoicing, application performance monitoring, and end-user support fall into distinct operational areas that do not pertain to access management or user permissions. Thus, the emphasis on controlling user access within the IAM framework is what sets it apart and aligns with its intended use cases.