In today’s digital world, effective management of your employee identities is crucial for any business to ensure secure and efficient access to resources like applications and data. Human Resources (HR) departments play a vital role in this identity management lifecycle, as they are responsible for onboarding new employees, managing changes to roles or contracts, and offboarding staff when they leave.

 

Efficient onboarding of new users is a great starting point

New starter being greeted by their manager

In the first instance, efficient onboarding sets the foundation for effective identity lifecycle management. At this point, user identities are created to allow the new employee to do things such as entering buildings or restricted areas, login to the company’s computer systems, and access applications & data relevant to their role. Consequently, HR teams should work closely with IT departments to establish a seamless process that includes the following steps:

  • Provisioning accounts and granting appropriate access to applications and data based on roles and responsibilities
  • Automating user provisioning to minimise manual errors and delays

 

Access controls are key to protecting your service and data integrity

User login screen

Given the prevalence of cloud-resident applications and data, multi-device access and a work-anywhere operational posture, maintaining a secure environment is paramount to ensure the safety and integrity of your organisation’s data and services.

HR-based identity lifecycle management should therefore emphasise strong access controls throughout an employee’s employment, with the following best practices considered:

  • Regularly review and update access permissions based on changes in roles or responsibilities
  • Enforce the principle of least privilege by providing employees with the minimum access required to perform their tasks effectively, known as role-based access control (RBAC)
  • Implement two-factor (2FA) or multi-factor authentication (MFA) to add an extra layer of login security, thereby reducing the potential for intrusions due to weak passwords
  • Monitor and log user activities to detect any unauthorised access attempts or suspicious behaviour

 

Streamlining mid-employment changes

As employees transition within the organisation or change their personal information, HR-based identity lifecycle management should adapt accordingly by making the process smoother and reducing the opportunity for error. Best practices, in this case, include:

  • Establishing a streamlined process for role changes, transfers, or promotions, ensuring that access privileges are promptly adjusted to align with new responsibilities
  • Implementing automated workflows and approval processes to expedite access changes while maintaining proper authorisation controls
  • Regular communication with employees and managers to identify and address any changes in job roles or access requirements

 

Protecting your organisation when staff leave

Employee leaving their job

When employees leave the organisation, a thorough offboarding process is vital to protect sensitive data and maintain the integrity of IT assets. To support this element of the lifecycle, HR-based identity management should include the following best practices:

  • Immediately revoking system access and disabling user accounts when an employee departs the business
  • Maintaining an audit trail of offboarding activities for compliance purposes.
  • Continuous monitoring and auditing

 

There is more than one solution

All the best practices detailed in this article sound great, of course, but how do you turn them into the reality of an automated and integrated identity lifecycle?

Naturally, there are several options available for HR-based identity lifecycle solutions, but their feasibility often depends on the capabilities of the HR platform that has been adopted by the business.

Modern HR platforms generally offer direct integration with identity solutions like Azure Active Directory (now know as Entra ID) or Okta. At the other end of the scale, some HR platforms do not provide direct integration capabilities, meaning that any lifecycle automation has to start with a data export from the source HR application.

At Silversands, we recognise the complexities, considerations and limitations inherent in any HR-based identity lifecycle management function. Accordingly, we offer a range of solutions tailored to address various requirements, including using Azure AD Lifecycle Workflows, Azure Automation, Power Automate or Azure Logic Apps, or other tailored solutions, depending on how the source HR application integrates into the process, the scale of the requirement and the availability of existing licencing, amongst other factors.

 

How can Silversands help with your HR-based identity lifecycle management?

Our broad expertise in this area allows us to navigate the intricacies of HR-based identity lifecycle management and provide customised solutions that align with your specific needs. Whether you require integration with Azure AD or export-based approaches targeting your on-premises Active Directory, Silversands can offer the expertise and support to create an effective identity lifecycle management solution.

Other Resources