User lifecycle management: where onboarding and offboarding still fail

TL;DR: User lifecycle management remains a weak point because organisations still rely on manual onboarding, mid-lifecycle access changes, and offboarding steps that are slow, error-prone, and easy to miss, according to Zluri. Automated lifecycle workflows reduce operational drag, but the real security value is tighter entitlement control across the full employee journey.

NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Zluri: "Lifecycle Management Here's How to Solve User Lifecycle Management Problem in Your Organization."

By the numbers:

• 97% of NHIs carry excessive privileges, increasing unauthorised access and broadening the attack surface.
• Only 20% have formal processes for offboarding and revoking API keys, and even fewer have procedures for rotating them.
• 96% of organisations store secrets outside of secrets managers in vulnerable locations including code, config files, and CI/CD tools.

Questions worth separating out

Q: What breaks when user lifecycle management is handled manually?

A: Manual lifecycle management breaks when onboarding, role changes, and offboarding are processed as separate tickets instead of one governed flow.

Q: Why do lifecycle workflows matter for IAM governance?

A: Lifecycle workflows matter because they tie access to identity state changes rather than to isolated requests.

Q: How can security teams tell whether offboarding is working?

A: Offboarding is working when revocation is complete across applications, SSO, licences, and ownership records, not just when a ticket is closed.

Practitioner guidance

• Standardise joiner, mover, leaver states Define a single lifecycle state model across HR, IAM, and app owners so every identity event maps to a consistent provisioning or revocation action.
• Automate baseline provisioning by role Use role and department attributes to assign default SaaS access automatically, then route exceptions through approved requests rather than manual fulfilment.
• Build offboarding checks across all linked systems Require revocation of SSO, application access, licences, and data ownership transfer before a leaver is marked complete.

What's in the full article

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

• Step-by-step onboarding workflow setup in the Workflows module for new employees and playbooks.
• Role-based app recommendations and self-serve access request handling for mid-lifecycle changes.
• Offboarding workflow sequencing for revoking access, transferring ownership, and saving reusable playbooks.
• Practical product navigation for teams that want the implementation mechanics rather than the governance analysis.

👉 Read Zluri's guide to solving user lifecycle management with automated workflows →

User lifecycle management: where onboarding and offboarding still fail?

Explore further

View Full Forum →  |  NHI Foundation Course →