User management (UM) is defined as the effective management of users and their accounts, giving them access to various IT resources like devices, applications, systems, networks, SaaS services, storage systems, etc.
It is an organizational function that enables controlling and maintaining digital user identities and access to various company resources. User management encompasses account provisioning and monitoring, updating, and revoking of user access and permissions.
Modern user management software offers comprehensive end-to-end management of user accounts, including user registration, login and authentication, single sign-on (SSO), and permissions management.
This involves managing permissions, monitoring device usage, and ensuring authenticated access. User management is a core Identity and Access Management (IAM) component.
Effective user management ensures secure and productive IT environments by granting employees the appropriate accounts and permissions while safeguarding sensitive data. User management plays a critical role in maintaining organizational security and efficiency.
This blog will act as a user management guide for IT administrators and will highlight its evolution, key features, and benefits.
Evolution of Approaches to User Management
The evolution of approaches to user management has three generations, each addressing the needs of organizations at different levels of their growth and technology adoption.
1. First Generation: On-Premise Identity Provider (IdP)
An on-premise identity provider (IdP) typically comprises two main components: a user management module and a central directory service, such as Windows Active Directory or Apache Directory Services.
While the user identity creation component is inherent to directory services, the user management component delegates administrative privileges, tracks user roles and responsibilities, configures user accounts, and manages passwords.
Modern IdPs often include self-service features for some or all of these tasks to reduce the workload on IT staff. The user directory serves as a centralized repository of user and group data for the entire organization, providing administrators with a unified view of users and permissions across all IT systems.
2. Second Generation: Cloud-Based Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Cloud-based identity and access management, also known as Identity as a Service (IDaaS), is a cloud-hosted and managed service provided by third-party vendors. IDaaS offers all the capabilities of an on-premise IDP but is easier to set up, maintain, and scale due to its cloud nature.
Businesses use cloud-based IAM to manage user identities and control access to corporate resources across both cloud and on-premise systems, ensuring that the right individuals have access to the appropriate resources. This enables controlled access from any device or location.
3. Third Generation: User Management Service
A user management service is an application that manages users comprehensively from end to end. It is particularly suited for Software as a Service (SaaS) applications or other scenarios involving users from multiple organizations (multi-tenancy).
User management services offer additional functionality beyond the basic capabilities of traditional IdPs or cloud-based IAM, providing a more robust and versatile solution for managing diverse user bases.
Importance of user management
User management is essential in an enterprise setting as it allows administrators to efficiently manage resources and organize users according to their roles and needs while maintaining the security of IT systems.
In a digital workplace, user account management is unavoidable; employees require accounts to log into their PCs, business applications, and cloud services, along with permissions to access the data they work with.
Poor user management can be costly. Delays caused by missing accounts and permissions can hinder core business operations. Conversely, overprivileged users, outdated accounts, and poor authentication practices pose significant security risks, such as data breaches and cyberattacks. The consequences of poor user management are too severe to ignore.
A user management system provides role-based access control and needs. For instance, the marketing team requires access to tools like Hubspot and Hootsuite, while the accounting team needs access to internal financial systems. Proper user management ensures that employees have access only to the resources they need, thereby securing digital assets.
Managing user identities is crucial for the safety and success of any organization. As digital user identities are prime targets for bad actors, leading to security breaches, IT administrators must ensure that only the right people have access to the right resources by using a user management application.
How does User Management work?
User management allows administrators to create, modify, and delete user accounts within an organization’s IT infrastructure. When a new employee joins the company, an administrator creates a user account for them, defining their role, permissions, and access rights.
Administrators assign appropriate permissions based on the user’s role and required access to specific resources, such as applications or files. For example, a marketing manager might have access to marketing tools and data, while a sales representative may only access customer data relevant to their role.
A user account management application streamlines the process of granting and managing access to IT resources, ensuring that users have the necessary permissions to perform their roles effectively. This approach maintains security and compliance within the organization by protecting sensitive information and ensuring that only authorized personnel have access to critical resources.
Benefits of User Management
- Identity and Access Management: Effective user management is the foundation for improved identity access management, a critical aspect of security.
- Enhanced Security: IT administrators can manage resources and access based on user roles and needs, ensuring digital assets are secure.
- Improved User Experience: Streamlined access to necessary resources creates a frictionless experience for end-users.
- Expanded Access: Cloud-based user management opens up access to a wider range of web applications, providing users with more digital resources
- License Compliance: Helps maintain user-based license compliance, ensuring software is used to its full potential and avoiding unnecessary purchases.
- Cost Efficiency: Identifies software installation/activation status, preventing repeated purchases and saving money.
- Budget Planning: Assists in identifying areas of potential software spending and planning budgets accordingly.
- Resource Optimization: Identifies when users no longer need certain software, allowing for recycling or reallocating licenses to other users.
Features of a Robust User Management System
A robust user management system enables businesses to efficiently manage user accounts, access controls, and security protocols, ensuring that only authorized users can access sensitive information and resources. Some of the key elements of user management are as follows:
1. User Authentication and Authorization
Verifying the identity of users before granting access to sensitive information is the first step in user management. A robust user authentication system ensures the highest levels of security, privacy, and convenience for users.
It should include multi-factor authentication (MFA) methods such as one-time passwords, security tokens, biometrics, or smart cards. Once a user’s identity is authenticated, the system must authorize their access to specific resources or information, offering granular control over user access permissions based on their job responsibilities and authority levels.
2. Access Control
In addition to user authorization, access control is crucial for a robust user management system. Access control mechanisms restrict access to sensitive information and resources based on various criteria, such as time, location, and device. These policies should be tailored to the specific needs of each business and regularly reviewed and updated to ensure their effectiveness.
3. User Onboarding and Centralized Management
Onboarding new users is a critical part of user management. A robust system should feature a user-friendly onboarding process that guides new users through setting up their accounts, authenticating their identities, and obtaining necessary permissions.
The system should also provide a centralized platform for managing all users across different applications and systems, ensuring consistency and accuracy in user data, and simplifying the process of granting or revoking access as needed.
4. User Management at Scale
As businesses grow, managing user accounts and access controls can become complex. A robust user management software offers automated user provisioning and de-provisioning to foster scalability.
This ensures that only authorized users can access the system, as the number of users increases. Moreover, features like privilege escalation allow temporary users, such as vendors and external technicians, to receive just the necessary level of access required for their work.
5. Compliance with Data Protection Regulations
In today’s data-driven world, complying with data protection regulations like GDPR and CCPA is increasingly important. A robust user management system should be designed to meet these regulations, ensuring that user data is collected, processed, and stored securely and in compliance with legal requirements.
6. Audit Trail and Reporting
The system should provide a detailed audit trail and reporting functionality to track user activity, access requests, and changes to user privileges. This helps organizations identify potential security risks and take appropriate action.
7. Directory Sync
Directory sync involves automatically synchronizing user and group information between multiple directories or systems. This ensures consistent user accounts and permissions across all systems and simplifies user management. Automatic user and group provisioning can streamline processes, reduce errors and inconsistencies, and ensure users have appropriate access rights across all systems.
8. Integration with Standards
The user management system should comply with industry standards and best practices for identity and access management, such as Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) and OAuth. This enables seamless integration with other systems and applications and ensures interoperability with other identity management solutions.
User Management with Scalefusion UEM
Effective user management is essential for maintaining security and efficiency in handling user identities and access permissions within an organization. From creating new user accounts to managing them, user management plays a pivotal role in ensuring that employees have the right access at the right time.
Scalefusion UEM is a unified endpoint management solution with identity and access management capabilities. It allows organizations to implement comprehensive user management seamlessly with intelligent MFA.
With Scalefusion’s IAM Solution administrators can efficiently manage user access to devices and applications, providing a customized experience that ensures each user can access necessary resources without compromising system integrity. IT teams can assign specific access levels to users based on their roles and responsibilities and revoke access when an employee leaves the organization.
Need to optimize your user management processes? Schedule a demo with our experts to discover how Scalefusion OneIdP can enhance your user management capabilities.
