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\n Check out our webinar on practical tips for managing the user identity lifecycle. <\/p>\n <\/div>\n
Before we get any deeper into identity lifecycle management (also sometimes referred to as user lifecycle management), let\u2019s back up and define a few related terms: digital identity<\/em> and identity lifecycle<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A digital identity is a cluster of information used across cyberspace that represents an individual person, organization, application, or device. In this article, a digital identity will be specifically referring to that of an individual user<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An identity lifecycle refers to the entire process that starts when a user\u2019s digital identity is created and assigned access to resources, and continues with authentication of that identity, updates to credentials and attributes, ending when that identity is retired or deleted entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The overarching identity lifecycle management process is simply the management of each of the processes and steps outlined directly above. Essentially, it\u2019s a handful of identity and access related processes that are meant to keep the user behind the identity and organizational resources safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To reiterate, those identity and access related processes are:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that we\u2019ve defined all of the relevant terms that come up when discussing identity lifecycle management, this article will now dig into the following topics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Identity lifecycle management is not always a straightforward process. Sometimes workflows are not documented or even set in stone, existing tools don\u2019t have the capabilities needed to simplify those workflows, or integral team members have too much on their plate, and things slip through the cracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many challenges that organizations face regarding ILM, including but not limited to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many organizations struggle with onboarding new users. A new employee needs access to role-appropriate resources in a timely manner on day one, which can be a big ask when a big class is being onboarded, or HR and IT have conflicting priorities. No matter the reason, when HR and IT are unable to make this a reality, productivity is nearly impossible and the employee experience suffers right from the start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On top of that, manual onboarding workflows, including identity creation and access provisioning, are time-consuming, especially for growing organizations, and things can often slip through the cracks. A lack of automation across the identity management<\/a> lifecycle can lead to huge consequences as time goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further, determining what the correct access levels are for each employee joining the organization can be difficult when that access is assigned individually. Without preset permissions based on role as well as onboarding automation capabilities, this part of user lifecycle management becomes unnecessarily tedious and insecure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n \n <\/p>\n \n JumpCloud's open HRIS integration capabilities let both HR and IT pick the tools they need to get work done. <\/p>\n <\/div>\n Another identity lifecycle management challenge many organizations face is the management of contractor and seasonal employee digital identities. Sometimes these external or short-term employees don’t exist within your organization\u2019s HRIS tool, but their identity and access still need to be set up, monitored, and eventually deprovisioned in your IT infrastructure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This divide between the HR and IT software can cause a few different issues as employees and contractors enter and leave your organization. If communication between these two departments is not clear and in-the-moment, identities and the access (or lack thereof) provisioned to them can either cause delays in productivity or create major gaps in security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People are constantly changing roles at work. Whether it\u2019s a vertical or lateral change, permissions and access will likely need to be adjusted to keep that user productive and secure. The lack of proper identity lifecycle management that many organizations suffer from can result in an employee who has changed roles retaining too much access or not having enough to do their job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Privilege creep, in particular, is an issue that crops up in many organizations. Privilege creep is the gradual accumulation of access rights that go beyond what an employee needs to do their job. In short, over time, you might find that users have unnecessary access to organizational resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Manually setting up, monitoring, and deprovisioning identities and access takes time. Layer on top of that \u2014 password resets, permission updates, and addressing access requests, and you\u2019ll find that there\u2019s simply not enough time in the day for IT to get it all done, especially when time is of the essence. It\u2019s not fair to pile manual tasks, especially ones that can be automated with a modern ILM tool, onto the day-to-day workload of IT when there are many other high priority tasks sitting in their queue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The last identity lifecycle management challenge we want to point out is secure offboarding. Earlier we mentioned that onboarding is a significant hurdle in many organizations, and so is offboarding. Improper offboarding poses serious threats<\/a> to organizational security and compliance, and without proper ILM in place, new security vulnerabilities are likely to pop up. This is typically due to human error and lack of communication between departments, resulting in ex-employees retaining access to company resources after their departure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All of these challenges can be solved with the implementation of a modern identity lifecycle management tool that automates processes and integrates with other tools in your tech stack. Let\u2019s get into some of the benefits of using an ILM tool, to showcase exactly how adopting one can improve the entire process organization-wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many benefits that can accompany identity lifecycle management tools, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The important thing to note here is that not all ILM tools will include each one of these benefits. But, there are ILM tools out there that will provide all of these benefits, and more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arguably, the most important benefit of an identity lifecycle management tool is automation. This is because automating ILM processes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A modern ILM tool allows for access automation once an identity is created based on the role and group the identity is associated with. For example, IT adds a new user into their system as a new digital identity, and they place that identity into a group called \u201cMarketing\u201d which has certain resource access related to marketing tasks already provisioned to it. That\u2019s all it takes for that new user to get access to all of those resources!<\/p>\n\n\n\n And later on, when that user departs from your organization, a member of the IT team simply removes their digital identity from that group, and all relevant access is revoked immediately upon removal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another huge perk of an identity lifecycle management tool is automated policy management<\/a>. Some examples include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n These are just some examples of useful policies that can be created in an ILM tool. To further automate, you\u2019d simply have to link these policies to the relevant device groups. The next time that a device is added to that group, the policies associated with it will then be pushed to that new device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can probably already see how an identity lifecycle management tool with automation capabilities reduces overall risk and improves compliance. By creating identities efficiently and provisioning access (either automatically or manually) based on attributes associated with that identity, greatly reduces risk that\u2019s inherent in a more frivolous ILM approach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On top of that, security and compliance can be significantly improved when you use an ILM tool to add single sign-on (SSO)<\/a> and multi-factor authentication (MFA)<\/a> as requirements for resource access. The best ILM tools also allow admins to monitor and report on all of this data for compliance audits and security checks. Having a simple way to view what identities exist, what they have access to, and what policies are pushed out to what devices, is all critical for remaining compliant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Implementing a modern identity lifecycle management tool often allows you to get rid of existing single-use products in your tech stack. When the ILM tool you pick has a wide range of functions, there\u2019s no need to continue paying for or managing other tools that are now obsolete in your organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On top of that, using your new ILM tool to automate processes frees your IT department up to deal with other important matters that can\u2019t be automated. By consolidating your technology stack<\/a> and reducing overall IT expenses<\/a>, you\u2019ll see a much better return on investment (ROI) than you would have otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A great ILM solution will allow you to perform lifecycle management tasks in batches across multiple integrated apps, cutting down significantly on the time and money spent managing identity lifecycles across departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, JumpCloud\u2019s identity lifecycle management platform seamlessly integrates with internal and external applications. Some of those external integrations<\/a> include popular platforms such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, CrowdStrike, HRIS systems (BambooHR, Personio, Namely, Bob, Workday), and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The costs of identity lifecycle management without a comprehensive tool in place are: <\/p>\n\n\n\n This can easily add up to thousands of dollars and wasted man-hours spent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the costs of a proper identity lifecycle management solution include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bottom line is that the costs you\u2019ll incur by adopting an ILM solution are greatly outweighed by the time-savings you\u2019ll enjoy. Getting rid of all of those unnecessary tools you have will free up a healthy amount of budget!<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a variety of identity lifecycle management solutions and tools that exist to help you streamline the process in your organization. They are often called identity and access management (IAM) tools, identity governance and administration (IGA) tools, user lifecycle management tools, identity lifecycle management tools, cloud directories, or a variety of other names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of these are more comprehensive ILM solutions, while others are partial solutions, but they\u2019re all meant to make the process easier. To wrap up, let\u2019s discuss IGA tools and JumpCloud\u2019s open directory platform that functions as a core directory and comprehensive identity lifecycle management solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are different types of identity governance and administration<\/a> tools \u2014 some are comprehensive and are typically used in conjunction with another IAM tool such as a modern directory, while others are built into a modern directory. We\u2019re going to focus on the latter type, which usually looks like a cloud directory with comprehensive IAM functionality and light IGA capabilities, where you don\u2019t need to buy or integrate any extra tools to handle identity lifecycle management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some key features of this kind of tool are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most comprehensive identity lifecycle management solutions on the market is the JumpCloud open directory platform<\/a>. It\u2019s a modern cloud directory, with a wide variety of IAM and IGA capabilities to help you manage, monitor, and secure users\u2019 digital identities and the access that they have.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n JumpCloud\u2019s platform centralizes everything you need for proper ILM in a single location, allowing you to remotely manage identities and access on Windows, macOS, and Linux devices. Use it to provision, deprovision, and manage identities using SAML SSO, JIT provisioning, and SCIM, and enjoy easy-to-use, built-in monitoring and event logging capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nWhat is a Digital Identity?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is an Identity Lifecycle?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is the Identity Lifecycle Management Process?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What are the Challenges Associated with Identity Lifecycle Management?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1. Onboarding and Assigning Access Efficiently<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n <\/div>\n 2. Managing External Users<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Adjusting Permissions When Roles Change<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. IT Admin Time Management<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Offboarding Securely<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Mitigating These Identity Lifecycle Management Challenges<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What are the Benefits of Using an Identity Lifecycle Management Tool?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1. Automation Capabilities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Access Automation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Policy Automation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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2. Risk Reduction and Improved Compliance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Reduced Overhead Costs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Integrations with Other IAM Tools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What are the Costs Associated with Identity Lifecycle Management Solutions?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What are Some Solutions and Tools for Identity Lifecycle Management?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Identity Governance and Administration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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JumpCloud\u2019s Identity Lifecycle Management Solution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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