Managing digital identities and access controls is no longer just something IT departments worry about, it’s a key business practice. As things like remote work and cloud applications become more popular, companies are paying closer attention to how they manage user accounts, permissions, and access rights. Regulations becoming increasingly strict only add to this. To help manage the situation, organizations often rely on Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) solutions. Though they may sound similar and have some overlaps in terms of what they do, each one has its own purpose.
IAM focuses on providing secure and efficient access to company resources. This includes identifying who can access what, and how. On the flip side, IGA deals more with oversight-related activities, emphasizing audits, compliance reporting, and ensuring that people have the appropriate level of access.
This blog explores what IAM and IGA mean, using examples to clearly highlight their differences. It also offers guidance for businesses trying to determine which solution is more relevant to their specific requirements.
Identity and Access Management is a system that controls how users access digital resources in an organization. It makes sure that employees, contractors, and customers can securely log in and use whatever applications they need, while still maintaining security by preventing any access that’s unauthorized. IAM focuses on two main functions: authentication (making sure a user is who they say they are) and authorization (determining what a user can access).
IAM includes several core components:
• Authentication: Confirms a user’s identity through things such as passwords, biometrics, multi-factor authentication (MFA), etc.
• Authorization: Defines what permissions a user is granted with. This ensures people can only access what they need based on their roles.
• Single sign-on (SSO): Allows users to just log in once and get access to multiple platforms/systems, not having to go through the login and authentication process again and again.
• User provisioning and de-provisioning: Automates account creation and removal when people join or leave an organization.
• Access policies: Enforces security rules like least privilege access, to ensure users only have the necessary permissions.
Though it’s possible, managing access manually is typically inefficient and can lead to security risks. A well-implemented IAM system reduces the chances of unauthorized data exposure, streamlines user access, and improves compliance with security regulations.
IAM solutions are widely used, regardless of industry, each offering authentication and access control services to help organizations stay on top of maintaining a secure digital environment.
Dive deeper into the importance of IAM in our previous blog.
Identity Governance and Administration falls under the IAM umbrella, focusing on oversight, compliance, and lifecycle management. While IAM ensures that users can access the right resources, IGA provides governance by tracking, auditing, and enforcing policies to prevent excessive access.
IGA includes several key components:
• Identity lifecycle management: Automates user account creation, role changes, and deactivation as employees join, move within, or leave an organization.
• Access reviews and certification: Regularly checks to make sure that a user’s permissions align with business policies and compliance requirements.
• Role-based access control (RBAC): Assigns access based on an employee’s role. This reduces manual approvals and potential errors.
• Segregation of Duties (SoD): Makes sure that users aren’t holding multiple roles that could create security risks (e.g., a person approving and processing payments). This helps prevent a conflict of interest.
• Audit and compliance reporting: Creates reports for regulatory frameworks like GDPR, HIPAA, and SOX, ensuring organizations are compliant.
Organizations need more than just authentication and authorization controls. They also need to ensure that user access remains appropriate over time. Without governance, companies risk a scenario where users have unnecessary permissions longer than they should (such as after they change roles). This is known as access creep.
Automating identity governance also improves security and operational efficiency. It reduces the manual burden on IT teams while ensuring access remains compliant with regulations. IGA platforms can help organizations maintain visibility into access management, enforce policies, and streamline compliance audits.
While IAM and IGA are closely related, they serve different purposes. IAM focuses on securing access, while IGA ensures that access remains appropriate over time. This section explores the difference between the two in more detail.
• IAM: Primarily controls authentication and authorization, ensuring users can securely access resources.
• IGA: Expands beyond access management, incorporating compliance, auditing, and identity lifecycle processes.
IAM answers “Who can access what?”, whereas IGA answers “Should this user still have access?”
• IAM: Used by IT security teams, administrators, and general users for day-to-day authentication and access control.
• IGA: Used by compliance officers, auditors, and risk management teams who oversee governance and regulatory adherence.
• IAM: Easier to deploy, with a lower initial investment. Many cloud-based IAM solutions offer quick integration with existing IT infrastructure.
• IGA: More complex, requiring ongoing governance processes. Higher upfront costs, but significant long-term benefits in compliance and risk reduction.
Organizations often start with IAM and later implement IGA to strengthen security oversight and meet regulatory requirements.
• IAM: Ensures access control but lacks built-in auditing and governance.
• IGA: Provides detailed audit logs, tracks user access changes, and generates reports for compliance audits.
• Use IAM if: You need to manage authentication, enforce MFA, or implement SSO for better user convenience and security.
• Use IGA if: Your business requires compliance oversight, automated access reviews, or strict identity lifecycle controls.
Many organizations implement both solutions together to balance security and governance. IAM ensures users can access the right systems, while IGA ensures they don’t keep unnecessary access indefinitely.
Understanding how Identity and Access Management and Identity Governance and Administration function in the real-world gives clearer insight into how they help secure organizations and ensure compliance.
IAM solutions help organizations manage user authentication and authorization, ensuring that only the right people have access to the right systems. They help organizations reduce the risk of unauthorized access and improve security without inconveniencing users.
With remote work growing in popularity across industries, many companies have strengthened security by requiring multi-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized access.
Example: A multinational financial services firm adopts MFA and SSO to secure employee logins. Employees use biometrics or temporary passcodes generated via authenticator apps to verify their identity before accessing internal financial systems remotely.
Why it matters: Remote access is a prime target for cyberattacks. Weak passwords are responsible for a large percentage of security breaches, and MFA alone can prevent 99.9% of automated cyberattacks [1].
Online platforms must provide a balance between security and convenience for users logging into their accounts.
Example: A global e-commerce retailer implements an IAM solution that allows customers to log in using social authentication (Google, Facebook, Apple ID) while enforcing additional security for sensitive actions like updating payment details. The system uses adaptive authentication, which means that additional verification steps if it detects unusual activity, such as logins from new locations or unrecognized devices.
Why it matters: Customers expect seamless access, but weak authentication measures lead to account takeovers. IAM ensures security without disrupting user experience.
Healthcare organizations handle highly sensitive patient information, making strict access control essential to comply with data protection laws like HIPAA.
Example: A hospital works with multiple third-party vendors for IT support, equipment maintenance, and medical software updates. Instead of granting them broad access, the hospital uses IAM to enforce RBAC. Each vendor is assigned only the permissions necessary for their job, and their access automatically expires after a set period.
Why it matters: Vendor access is a common security gap. Limiting external access through IAM reduces the risk of data breaches and ensures compliance with healthcare regulations.
IGA solutions help organizations enforce governance policies, conduct access audits, and maintain compliance with industry regulations. While IAM controls access in real time, IGA ensures that permissions are reviewed and adjusted regularly.
Large organizations must regularly review employee access rights to ensure they align with job responsibilities. Manual reviews are time-consuming and prone to human error.
Example: A multinational financial institution automates access reviews using an IGA platform. The system generates monthly reports listing employees with outdated or excessive permissions, allowing managers to approve, modify, or revoke access directly through a dashboard.
Why it matters: Failing to review access rights leads to the access creep scenario mentioned earlier, where employees accumulate permissions over time. IGA reduces security risks and ensures compliance with financial regulations like SOX.
Organizations handling sensitive financial transactions must enforce Segregation of Duties to prevent fraud and insider threats.
Example: A global banking institution uses IGA to enforce SoD policies, ensuring that no single employee has conflicting permissions. For example, a staff member who initiates a financial transaction cannot also approve it. The IGA system flags and automatically prevents conflicting access requests.
Why it matters: Without SoD, employees can approve fraudulent transactions without oversight. SoD enforcement is critical for SOX compliance and reducing financial fraud risks.
Large organizations, particularly in government and regulated industries, must manage employee access throughout their tenure and revoke it promptly upon departure.
Example: A government agency with over 100,000 employees automates user lifecycle management with IGA. When an employee joins, their access is provisioned based on department and role. If they are promoted, their old permissions are automatically updated to reflect new responsibilities. When they leave, their accounts and credentials are immediately deactivated.
Why it matters: Orphaned accounts—active user credentials that remain after an employee leaves—are a significant security risk. Automating access deactivation ensures departing users cannot access company systems after leaving.
Whether a business chooses IAM, IGA, or a combination of both, the ultimate goal is the same—ensuring the right people have the right access at the right time, while reducing security risks and maintaining compliance. As organizations continue to embrace digital transformation, a well-structured identity management strategy will be essential for protecting data, preventing breaches, and meeting regulatory obligations.
Get in touch with us at info@anomalix.com to learn how we can help ensure your organization stays secure, compliant, and resilient against evolving cyber threats.
1. Microsoft, "One simple action you can take to prevent 99.9 percent of account attacks," Microsoft.com.
