Two Framings of the Same Underlying Problem
"Identity data fabric" (and its broader relative, "security data fabric") is a framing that’s gained traction as vendors describe connecting identity signals, logs, entitlements, activity, across disconnected sources into something closer to a unified layer. It’s a description of an architectural pattern more than a strictly defined category with an agreed set of required capabilities.
An Identity Visibility and Intelligence Platform (IVIP) describes the same underlying need, a unified, current, correlated view of every identity, but as a more specific category with a defined capability anatomy: continuous discovery, normalization, correlation, and (in Hydden’s argument) a write path back into the systems of record.
The overlap is real: both framings respond to the same root problem of identity data being scattered and stale. The difference is specificity. "Data fabric" is often used broadly enough to describe connecting almost any security data, not identity specifically, while IVIP is scoped explicitly to identity and access.