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Article

8 min read

13 Identity and Access Management Best Practices

IT & device management

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Author

Michał Kowalewski

Last Update

June 16, 2025

Table of Contents

1. Implement IAM with HR as your source of truth

2. Choose IAM technologies that support lifecycle automation

3. Automate user access provisioning and deprovisioning

4. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to manage access at scale

5. Enforce the principle of least privilege for all users

6. Remove standing admin access and use JIT elevation

7. Segment access to sensitive resources with layered controls

8. Extend IAM best practices to contractors and vendors

9. Require MFA and enable single sign-on (SSO) across systems

10. Monitor for excessive permissions in real time

11. Centralize audit logs across all IAM systems

12. Align IAM with global compliance requirements

13. Train users to follow secure access and password hygiene

Get compliant by design: Connect HR, identity, and access with Deel IT

Key takeaways
  1. Identity and access management (IAM) is the framework that defines how IT teams authenticate and authorize users across systems. It governs who receives access to what device, tool, or data, under which conditions, and for how long. Overall, it aims to secure data, reduce risk, and enforce stricter compliance across the entire organization.
  2. Instead of access permissions being managed by service tickets, it should follow the natural flow of employment, including hiring, role changes, and offboarding. Integrating IAM with your HR systems makes real-time provisioning, least privilege enforcement, and timely deactivation possible at scale.
  3. Authentication alone doesn't prevent access creep or orphaned accounts. Effective IAM strategies are more thorough, relying on structured role definitions, layered security controls, and audit visibility, especially for contractors and privileged users.

A single access decision can open the door to your entire infrastructure. When that decision is flawed, such as a missed deprovisioning, a reused credential or an overlooked permission, these are the weak points that threat actors target in a cyberattack. Unfortunately, these events are increasingly common, with 90% of organizations experiencing at least one identity-related incident in the past year.

One of the most high-profile examples is the MGM Resorts cyberattack in the US. By tricking the company's helpdesk into resetting passwords, threat actors gained enough leverage to force systems across the Las Vegas Strip offline. This attack resulted in an estimated $100 million in damages and highlighted just how easily access can become the weakest link in your tech setup.

To avoid becoming the next headline, organizations need a clear approach on how to implement identity access and management effectively. This article outlines 13 best practices for identity and access management in organizations, demonstrating how to mitigate common risks, automate manual tasks, and design access controls aligned with the entire employee lifecycle.

1. Implement IAM with HR as your source of truth

One of the biggest mistakes in IT security is decentralizing your approach to identity and access management. When decisions are made on an ad hoc basis and without guardrails, IAM implementations often end up as a patchwork of policies, tools, and reactive fixes. In this scenario, access decisions are made one ticket at a time in isolation.

Without any type of cohesion or central strategy to guide policy, breaches are more likely. On the flip side, when identity is mapped to the employee lifecycle from day one, it's easier to provision access at the right moment, restrict it when roles change, and remove it cleanly when someone leaves.

The good news is that HR systems already hold the information that sensible access decisions should be based on, such as:

  • Start dates
  • Role changes
  • Department transfers
  • Terminations

When this information flows directly from your HRIS to your identity platform, it can trigger access changes automatically whenever employee records are updated, and without your tech teams lifting a finger.

2. Choose IAM technologies that support lifecycle automation

Once HR is positioned as the source of truth, your IAM tools should also support that model. Many of these platforms offer strong authentication features but fall short when it comes to real-time provisioning, deprovisioning, and role-based access tied to employment data.

A key identity lifecycle management best practice is to look for technologies that integrate cleanly with your HRIS and support automatic syncs for job status, department, and location. Without this, lifecycle-based access control remains theoretical. Put simply: it won’t scale.

As a solution, Deel IT connects HR platforms with identity providers like JumpCloud to enforce access policies automatically, so any changes in employment status are reflected in real time across all systems and devices.

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3. Automate user access provisioning and deprovisioning

Like many traditional workflows, manual provisioning introduces delays, inconsistency, and risk, particularly in global or rapidly growing teams. A single delay in deprovisioning can leave sensitive systems exposed, while missed start dates means your new hires begin without the necessary tools. In both cases, IT teams must chase service tickets instead of enforcing security policy and protecting the business.

One of the most overlooked user provisioning best practices in identity management is designing workflows that act immediately when employee records change. Once your HR data is synced seamlessly with your IAM platform, automation becomes the engine that keeps access aligned with employment status. This automated provisioning eliminates repetitive tasks and reduces human error, triggering access based on key lifecycle events, such as start date, department change, and offboarding, without requiring manual oversight.

Tip: Deel IT enables you to bundle access provisioning with identity-bound device delivery. Every new hire receives a laptop that's preconfigured with access based on their role, location, and start date, with no ticket required. Similarly, their device and access are revoked in tandem when they leave.

4. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to manage access at scale

Without a structured model for access, permissions easily accumulate over time, creating operational drag and unnecessary risk. Role-based access control (RBAC) solves this by tying access to predefined roles rather than individual requests. For example, instead of manually assigning apps and permissions to each new engineer, you might apply an "Engineering – EU" role that grants access to GitHub, Jira, and internal documentation while restricting admin tools and US-specific platforms.

Effective role-based access control best practices in IAM start with standardization. Each role should correspond to a pre-approved set of applications and permissions tailored by function and geography. Remember that local compliance requirements often shape these privileges.

A scalable RBAC model typically includes:

  • Function-based templates, e.g., marketing, engineering, finance
  • Region-aware variations to align with local regulatory needs
  • Central auditing to track, review, and justify changes over time

5. Enforce the principle of least privilege for all users

Even with a structured RBAC model in place, there's a risk that permissions may extend beyond what's needed. Authorizing users according to the least privilege model means defining the lowest level of access required to perform a task and removing any access that exceeds that threshold.

The risks of ignoring this are well established. Stolen credentials are behind 37% of identity-related breaches, and compromised privileged accounts contribute to 33% of incidents, according to the IDSA. These numbers show just how dangerous over-permissioning can be.

To operationalize your least privilege rule, pair RBAC with:

  • Scheduled access reviews for sensitive roles
  • Just-in-time access for elevated permissions
  • Automated triggers for revoking unused or outdated access

This way, privileges don’t accumulate. Instead, they expire when they’re no longer needed, with no manual clean-up required.

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6. Remove standing admin access and use JIT elevation

Least privilege sets the foundation, but privileged accounts need even tighter control. Admin rights, production access, and override capabilities should never be left active by default, yet they often are, simply for convenience or habit.

Just-in-time (JIT) access reduces that exposure by granting elevated permissions only when needed, with approvals and time limits built in. Instead of relying on static admin roles, JIT workflows issue temporary access for specific tasks, then remove it automatically.

Use cases include:

  • Deployment access for engineers
  • IT escalations for troubleshooting
  • Emergency break-glass procedures

With JIT in place, elevated access becomes traceable, intentional, and short-lived, which is exactly what you need to protect your most sensitive systems.

7. Segment access to sensitive resources with layered controls

Now that admin access is under tighter control, the next step is reducing exposure across the broader environment. Sensitive resources, such as finance platforms, production databases, HR records, or source code repositories, require additional safeguards beyond basic authentication and role-based access control.

Segmenting access to resources based on sensitivity reduces unnecessary exposure and keeps any potential breaches contained. This is where layered controls come in: adding protection based on both role and risk. Common controls include:

  • Step-up multi-factor authentication for high-risk actions
  • Restricted access windows (e.g., business hours or geofenced sessions)
  • Session monitoring or logging for critical tools

For especially sensitive systems, combine RBAC with attribute-based access control (ABAC). This allows you to fine-tune permissions using additional context, such as location, device health, or employment status, alongside a particular role. For example, a finance manager might only be able to access payroll data from a company-issued device within an approved region.

When applied correctly, segmentation limits the blast radius of a compromised account and enforces zero-trust access principles in practice.

8. Extend IAM best practices to contractors and vendors

Implementing IAM effectively means accounting for every identity that accesses your systems, including those that don’t sit in your org chart. Contractors, vendors, and other external collaborators often receive privileged access to internal tools but aren’t subject to the same controls as full-time employees. That’s a security and compliance gap many attackers are willing to exploit.

External users often retain access long after their engagement has ended, especially when provisioning and offboarding processes are handled manually. Even when IT teams revoke access centrally, any reused user credentials used across services can still pose a risk.

As an extra worry, 89% of organizations are concerned about employees using corporate credentials on personal or social platforms — a risk that's even harder to manage with contractors and third parties. To extend IAM protections beyond employees, a well-implemented IAM program:

  • Applies RBAC to contractor roles with scoped, time-bound access
  • Sets auto-expiration for temporary accounts
  • Includes external identities in regular access reviews and audit logs

9. Require MFA and enable single sign-on (SSO) across systems

Even with well-defined access policies, weak or inconsistent authentication can undermine everything. A user may have the right permissions — but if their credentials are easily compromised, that access becomes a threat vector. Frustratingly, 43% of security leaders believe implementing MFA for all users could have prevented past breaches, according to the IDSA report.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) best practices for IAM start with full, consistent enforcement, across every system that holds sensitive data or supports daily operations. That includes:

  • Communication platforms like email, Slack, and Microsoft Teams
  • Internal knowledge bases such as Notion or Confluence
  • Financial systems, HR platforms, and customer databases
  • Dev tools and code repositories, from GitHub to CI/CD pipelines

Pairing MFA with single sign-on (SSO) further extends your security and improves the user experience. A central identity provider gives users one place to authenticate and lets IT teams track access across apps, roles, and devices.

10. Monitor for excessive permissions in real time

38% of security leaders believe that more timely reviews of privileged access could have prevented a breach. It’s a telling figure and a clear sign that traditional access reviews aren’t fast enough to catch emerging risks.

Managing users effectively means knowing not just who has access but whether that access still makes sense in context. Permissions may accumulate slowly through lateral moves, project-based roles, or temporary admin rights that are never revoked. Over time, the result is an inflated access footprint that no longer reflects reality.

Real-time monitoring illuminates these issues as they arise. Rather than relying on quarterly access reviews, teams can set up alerts for:

  • Elevated permissions granted without proper workflow
  • Dormant accounts or unused high-risk access
  • Role conflicts or duplicate entitlements across systems

When access is continuously evaluated against policy, it becomes far easier to correct drift and prevent privilege escalation from slipping under the radar.

11. Centralize audit logs across all IAM systems

Access activity leaves a trail, but when that trail is scattered, it's hard to follow. Most organizations generate plenty of access data, but it's scattered across platforms. One system tracks authentication, another monitors app usage, and a third handles device logs. Without integration, each system provides only a partial view and never the full context of how access is granted and used.

Security teams can use centralized logs across IAM platforms to:

  • Correlate identity, device, and app activity in one view
  • Detect suspicious behavior across layers, not just in isolation
  • Streamline compliance checks and forensic investigations

With unified logs flowing into a security information and event management (SIEM) system or centralized platform, audits become faster and more complete, and incident response gains the context it needs.

Deel IT supports this approach by combining identity and device-level visibility across your environment, so you don't need to stitch a timeline together after the fact.

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12. Align IAM with global compliance requirements

Security audits demand precision, especially when it comes to access controls. For example, frameworks like GDPR, SOC 2, and ISO 27001 require evidence that access is granted appropriately, revoked on time, and reviewed regularly. Auditors will typically look for:

  • Time-stamped logs of access grants and removals
  • Documentation of regular access reviews
  • Clear policies on role changes and offboarding
  • Coverage that includes employees, contractors, and vendors

IAM platforms that integrate with HR and device systems can centralize these records and enforce them directly through policy. Deel IT supports audit readiness with automated logs, revocation triggers, and access history tied to the employee lifecycle, all aligned to current global compliance standards.

13. Train users to follow secure access and password hygiene

As was the case with MGM’s breach, even the strongest identity systems can still come undone by everyday behavior. According to Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report, 68% of breaches involve a human element, and phishing remains the most common identity-related incident, cited in 69% of cases.

While security tools set the guardrails, regular focused training keeps users firmly within them. That means going well beyond teaching users to use strong passwords, and addressing how credential reuse, unauthorized app usage, and insecure sharing habits all put systems at risk.

Effective access hygiene training should cover:

  • How to recognize phishing attempts across different channels
  • Why personal devices and shadow IT create security blind spots
  • Safe handling of login credentials and MFA prompts
  • What to do if access is accidentally shared or compromised

As a best practice, treat training as part of the access lifecycle rather than a one-time IT onboarding task. Periodic refreshers reinforce good habits, so they become second nature, especially as roles shift or new tools are introduced.

Get compliant by design: Connect HR, identity, and access with Deel IT

When identity, HR, and access data are connected, secure access becomes something you can rely on, not something you have to chase down. Deel IT brings these systems together to help you enforce access policies consistently and prove compliance at every stage of the employee lifecycle.

Deel IT empowers your tech teams to:

  • Trigger provisioning and deprovisioning directly from your HR platform
  • Enforce SSO and MFA across all tools and devices via JumpCloud
  • Deliver identity-bound devices preconfigured with role-based access
  • Lock, wipe, or recover endpoints remotely from a centralized dashboard
  • Monitor real-time access activity across apps, identities, and hardware
  • Set time-limited access for contractors and contingent workers
  • Maintain audit-ready logs for every permission change and login
  • Align with global compliance standards, including GDPR, SOC 2, and ISO 27001

Ready to design IAM workflows that scale securely, without relying on manual processes or fragmented tools? Book a free demo to explore how Deel IT simplifies compliance and takes control of your identity security.

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About the author

Michał Kowalewski a writer and content manager with 7+ years of experience in digital marketing. He spent most of his professional career working in startups and tech industry. He's a big proponent of remote work considering it not just a professional preference but a lifestyle that enhances productivity and fosters a flexible work environment. He enjoys tackling topics of venture capital, equity, and startup finance.