The most common mistake is treating migration as a technical switch instead of a user journey change. If organisations do not educate users, choose a clear first use case, and test the experience carefully, adoption stalls. Another error is assuming all users and devices behave the same, which leads to inconsistent sign-in paths and confusion.
Why “moving to passkeys” is a rollout, not a flag day
Passkeys change the sign-in model, so the real project is not replacing one credential with another. Teams often fail when they launch passkeys as if every user, device, browser, and recovery path will behave the same way. The better lens is adoption design: pick the first use case, explain the change clearly, and make the journey predictable before widening scope.
A passwordless and passkeys guide is useful here because the rollout mechanics matter as much as the authentication technology. The first deployment should be chosen for clarity and repeatability, not just technical readiness.
Passkeys also introduce a different support burden. Users need to know what changed, what device they should expect to use, and how recovery works if they are locked out. If those answers are vague, adoption slows even when the underlying auth system is sound.
Why inconsistent paths create confusion and abandonment
One of the most common mistakes is assuming all users can follow the same sign-in path. In practice, device capability, browser support, sync behaviour, and enterprise policy can produce different experiences for different populations. That inconsistency is what makes a “simple” migration feel broken to users.
The same problem appears when organisations keep passwords, MFA, and passkeys active without a clear decision rule. Users may not know which method is preferred, help desks may give inconsistent instructions, and recovery becomes harder to explain. A phased approach is safer when it preserves a single obvious default for each audience rather than exposing every possible option at once.
Workforce identity security guidance helps frame this as an access design issue, not just a login feature. For the user, the sign-in journey must be consistent enough that the right method is obvious on the first attempt.
Where teams get into trouble is treating edge cases as rare exceptions instead of rollout blockers. If a material group cannot complete enrollment, recovery, or daily sign-in without extra help, that is not a minor exception, it is a sign the migration scope is too broad for the current control design.
What good passkey migration looks like in practice
Good migrations start with a narrow audience and a clear first use case, usually one that has low operational risk and frequent user repetition. That gives teams enough feedback to tune enrollment, support scripts, and fallback paths before they ask the rest of the workforce to change.
Testing should include the full experience, not just successful authentication. Teams need to verify enrollment, device changes, browser differences, account recovery, and help desk handling because each of those can become the point where adoption breaks down. If the recovery flow is clumsy, users will remember the friction more than the security benefit.
ANIST SP 800-63 Digital Identity Guidelines is relevant because the migration must preserve assurance while improving usability. Passkeys work best when the rollout is tied to clear authenticator expectations and a tested recovery model, not when they are introduced as a blanket replacement.
Teams also need to watch for support signals that reveal the rollout is too aggressive. Repeated enrollment failures, rising password fallback usage, and confused service desk contacts are all signs that the user journey has not been stabilised. Those signals matter more than whether the technology itself is technically modern.
Standards & Framework Alignment
This section maps relevant standards and security frameworks to the operational risks and controls described in this guidance.
OWASP Non-Human Identity Top 10 addresses the attack surface, NIST SP 800-63 and CIS Controls v8 set the technical controls, and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 defines the regulatory obligations.
| Framework | Control / Reference | Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| NIST SP 800-63 | Digital Identity Guidelines | Passkey rollout must preserve authenticator assurance and recovery behavior. |
| Recommendation — Align enrollment and recovery to NIST 800-63 guidance before broadening the migration. | ||
| CIS Controls v8 | CIS-5 — Account Management | Migration changes account sign-in, enrollment, and recovery behavior for users. |
| Recommendation — Standardize account enrollment, recovery, and fallback handling during the passkey rollout. | ||
| OWASP Non-Human Identity Top 10 | NHI-04 — Insecure Authentication | Passkeys replace weaker authentication paths and must be deployed without creating brittle fallback flows. |
| NHI-10 — Human Use of NHI | User adoption depends on clear human workflows for the new authentication method. | |
| Recommendation — Remove weak fallback paths and validate secure authentication behavior during rollout. Design the passkey journey so users can understand and use it without improvising workarounds. | ||
| ISO/IEC 27001:2022 | A.5.16 — Identity management | The migration changes how identities are authenticated and recovered across the workforce. |
| Recommendation — Update identity lifecycle and recovery procedures before deprecating password reliance. | ||
Practitioner Guidance
What to prioritise: Start with one user group and one primary use case, then prove the complete journey, enrollment, daily sign-in, device change, and recovery, before expanding. That sequence reduces confusion and gives support teams a stable playbook.
What to verify: Confirm that users can complete the flow on their common devices and browsers without unexpected fallback to passwords. Also verify that help desk staff can explain recovery in one consistent script, because inconsistent guidance is a frequent source of abandonment.
Common mistake: Do not treat passkeys as a backend switch. If the rollout changes the user experience but the communications and support model stay the same, the migration will feel unreliable even when the authentication control is stronger.
Practitioner takeaway: Successful passkey migration is measured by whether users can adopt it confidently and repeatably, not by how quickly passwords disappear from policy.
Related resources from NHI Mgmt Group
- What do security teams get wrong when they try to launch identity governance too quickly?
- What do teams get wrong when they try to automate security operations too quickly?
- What do teams get wrong when they try to scale AI agents too quickly?
- What do teams get wrong when they try to roll out Zero Trust too quickly?
Deepen Your Knowledge
Reviewed and updated by the NHIMG editorial team on September 29, 2026.
NHI Mgmt Group — the #1 independent authority on Non-Human Identity, IAM, and Agentic AI security. nhimg.org
