IAM workflows; a bite-sized overview

By Sidsel Loyche - 15 Aug, 2022
IAM
3 Minutes Read

An IAM solution must faithfully model an organisation’s people, policies and processes to be effective; and it does so using workflows. Many IAM products need specialists to translate the business’ requirements into complex configuration and code. Our solution, Able+, provides three unique capabilities that enable non-specialists to easily integrate and automate their organisation’s IAM processes and manage workflows themselves.

Every organisation needs an IAM solution that is its “single source of truth” for identity

The authoritative sources of data used to construct these identities are typically Human Resources (HR), Customer
Relationship Management (CRM), and other business systems ‘upstream’ of the IAM solution. The consumers of these
identities are the services downstream of the IAM solution. Able+ supports this using workflows, which act on flows of data from upstream to downstream systems. The workflow designer is a visual editor for creating and managing workflows, and finally the providers, which connect Able+ to upstream and downstream systems.

Workflows

A workflow is simply a sequence of actions, defined by the user, that automates IAM administration. They are a powerful tool, that can address almost any IAM need, but common scenarios include identity provisioning and deprovisioning triggered by changes to the HR system with changes synced to on-premise and cloud-based systems, ensuring that users’ access entitlements are consistent with their role; and creating users’ display names, usernames, and email addresses according to the organisation’s preferences. Workflows can be triggered manually; or automatically by internal or external events; or according to a defined schedule. They can be cloned to ease the creation of multiple similar workflows; executed as a ‘dry run’ for testing; and their management delegated and permissioned.

Worflow designer

The workflow designer is an intuitive “drag and drop” interface for users working with workflows. The elements used to define the business logic within a workflow can be placed onto a canvas, and their behaviour and interactions controlled through a purely “point and click” configuration. As a result, the user does not need any programming experience.

Providers

Finally, Able+ includes the providers needed to define workflows connecting common upstream or downstream systems, such as Microsoft Active Directory. These will be sufficient for most organisations. However, it is also straightforward to create custom providers – for example, for legacy or inhouse systems – using the product’s API. This requires software development,but it is a one-time investment: once implemented, users can integrate it seamlessly within their workflows using the visual editor.

More information

If you would like to know more about IAM workflows, watch our video below or visit our Able+ pages

Author: Sidsel Loyche

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