Identity governance in Azure is a critical component for managing user identities, access rights, and ensuring compliance across your organization. Azure Active Directory (AD) Identity Governance provides comprehensive solutions to address these needs effectively.
The primary recommendation center…Identity governance in Azure is a critical component for managing user identities, access rights, and ensuring compliance across your organization. Azure Active Directory (AD) Identity Governance provides comprehensive solutions to address these needs effectively.
The primary recommendation centers on implementing Azure AD Identity Governance, which includes several key components:
**Access Reviews**: Configure periodic access reviews to ensure users maintain appropriate access levels. This helps organizations verify that group memberships, application access, and role assignments remain valid over time. Reviews can be scheduled monthly, quarterly, or annually based on organizational requirements.
**Entitlement Management**: Implement access packages that bundle resources, groups, applications, and SharePoint sites together. This allows users to request access through a self-service portal while maintaining governance controls through approval workflows and time-limited access.
**Privileged Identity Management (PIM)**: Deploy PIM to manage, control, and monitor access to privileged roles. This enables just-in-time privileged access, requires approval for role activation, and provides comprehensive audit trails for compliance purposes.
**Lifecycle Workflows**: Automate user lifecycle processes including onboarding, role changes, and offboarding. This ensures consistent application of policies when employees join, move between departments, or leave the organization.
**Terms of Use**: Require users to accept usage policies before accessing sensitive resources, creating accountability and awareness of organizational policies.
**Conditional Access Integration**: Combine identity governance with Conditional Access policies to enforce context-aware access decisions based on user risk, device compliance, and location.
For implementation success, start by auditing current access patterns, defining governance policies aligned with business requirements, and establishing clear ownership for access reviews. Enable audit logging to maintain compliance records and integrate with Azure Monitor for centralized monitoring. Regular reporting helps identify access anomalies and ensures continuous improvement of your governance posture.
Recommend a Solution for Identity Governance
Why Identity Governance is Important
Identity governance is a critical component of enterprise security that ensures the right people have the right access to the right resources at the right time. In Azure environments, poor identity governance can lead to security breaches, compliance violations, and operational inefficiencies. Organizations must manage user lifecycles, access reviews, and entitlement management to maintain a secure and compliant infrastructure.
What is Identity Governance?
Identity governance in Azure encompasses a set of services and capabilities that help organizations:
• Manage identity lifecycles - Automate user provisioning and deprovisioning • Control access - Ensure appropriate access levels through entitlement management • Review permissions - Conduct periodic access reviews to validate access rights • Maintain compliance - Meet regulatory requirements through auditing and reporting
Key Azure Identity Governance Components
Azure AD Identity Governance - The umbrella service that includes:
• Access Reviews - Periodic reviews of group memberships, application access, and role assignments • Entitlement Management - Access packages that bundle resources for easy request and approval workflows • Privileged Identity Management (PIM) - Just-in-time privileged access with approval workflows and auditing • Terms of Use - Require users to accept policies before accessing resources • Lifecycle Workflows - Automate joiner, mover, and leaver processes
How Identity Governance Works
1. User Provisioning - When employees join, lifecycle workflows can automatically provision accounts and assign access packages
2. Access Requests - Users request access through entitlement management portals with defined approval workflows
3. Periodic Reviews - Managers and resource owners review access periodically to ensure continued need
4. Privileged Access - PIM requires users to activate privileged roles with time limits and justification
5. Deprovisioning - When users leave, automation revokes access and removes accounts
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Identity Governance
Scenario Recognition: • When questions mention periodic review of access, think Access Reviews • When questions involve bundling resources for external users or partners, consider Entitlement Management • When scenarios require just-in-time admin access, PIM is typically the answer • When questions mention automating user onboarding or offboarding, consider Lifecycle Workflows
Common Exam Scenarios: • Organizations needing to prove compliance with regulations like SOC 2 or GDPR • Companies with contractors requiring time-limited access • Enterprises wanting to reduce attack surface by limiting permanent privileged access • Businesses automating employee transitions between departments
Watch for These Keywords: • Attestation or certification of access = Access Reviews • Self-service access requests = Entitlement Management • Approval workflow for admin roles = PIM • Automate provisioning based on HR data = Lifecycle Workflows with HR-driven provisioning
Best Practices to Remember
• Always prefer least privilege access models • Use time-bound access for privileged roles rather than permanent assignments • Implement separation of duties where possible • Enable audit logging for all identity governance activities • Combine multiple governance features for comprehensive solutions