IGA layered security: what IAM teams still miss

TL;DR: IGA is framed as a layered security control that strengthens MFA and SSO with provisioning, deprovisioning, segregation of duties, RBAC, and automated access reviews, according to Zluri. The deeper issue is that governance only works when lifecycle controls are consistently enforced across identities, systems, and entitlements.

NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Zluri: Security & Compliance Role of IGA in a Layered Approach to Security

Questions worth separating out

Q: How should security teams govern access beyond MFA and SSO?

A: Security teams should treat MFA and SSO as authentication controls, not governance controls.

Q: Why do identity governance controls matter for non-human identities too?

A: Non-human identities can outlive the project, workload, or vendor relationship that created them.

Q: What breaks when access reviews are not connected to remediation?

A: Access reviews become paperwork if findings do not trigger revocation, approval changes, or ownership correction.

Practitioner guidance

• Map lifecycle ownership for every identity class Assign a named owner for joiner, mover, and leaver decisions across human accounts, service accounts, API tokens, and SaaS connectors.
• Automate revocation where business need ends Tie termination, role change, and application offboarding to access removal workflows so entitlements do not survive the event that justified them.
• Separate authentication from entitlement review Use MFA and SSO for access entry, then run scheduled access certification to confirm the account still needs its permissions.

What's in the full article

Zluri's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:

• Step-by-step workflow setup for onboarding, offboarding, and access certification in the platform.
• Examples of how the vendor maps role, department, and approval logic into access tasks.
• The article's specific claims about automation, manual effort reduction, and workflow playbooks.
• Practical screenshots and interface actions for teams implementing the process.

👉 Read Zluri's analysis of IGA in a layered security approach →

IGA layered security: what IAM teams still miss?

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