Every organization—big or small—relies on user management to keep operations running smoothly and securely. When someone joins, moves teams, or leaves, we need a reliable way to grant or remove access to devices, apps, networks, and data.
If managed poorly, missing permissions can slow down work, and leftover accounts can become security holes.
This blog walks IT admins through why user management matters, how it’s changed over time, and which features make a system effective.
What is User Management?
User management is the process of creating, maintaining, and removing digital accounts so people can access the right devices, applications, and data. It starts when a new employee joins—IT teams set up a user profile, assign roles, and grant permissions based on the person’s job requirements. This entire process is part of what’s known as user lifecycle management, tracking a user’s access from onboarding to offboarding, including any role changes in between.
Handling user management and profile management covers everything, from managing password resets and enabling single sign-on (SSO) to adjusting access when someone switches departments or gains new responsibilities.
Behind the scenes, a user management system also tracks how accounts are used, flags any unusual login attempts, and automatically revokes permissions when someone leaves the organization. By centralizing these tasks in one application, IT admins ensure that every user sees only what they need, reducing delays and maintaining security posture through complete user management.
User management approaches
The approaches to user management have three generations. Each addresses the management needs of organizations at different levels of their growth and technology adoption.
1. 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. 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. User management as a 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).
These services go beyond the basics of traditional IdPs or cloud-based IAM solutions by offering advanced features to handle complex user management tasks, such as onboarding, role assignments, permissions, access controls, and offboarding, across different user groups. This makes them a more robust and versatile option for managing diverse user bases efficiently.
Key aspects of user management system
An effective user management system brings together several essential elements to streamline user access, enhance security, and improve IT efficiency. The core components of user management include:
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.
What is the 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 management practices pose significant security risks, such as data breaches and cyberattacks. The consequences of poor user management are too severe to ignore.
User management 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 admins must ensure that only the right people have access to the right resources by using a user management application.
How does user management work?
Creating user accounts, modifying them, and deleting them- that’s the core of user management. When a new employee joins the company, an administrator creates a user account for them, defining their role, permissions, and access rights.
IT admins 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 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 and access management, a critical aspect of security.
- Enhanced security:IT administrators can manage resources and access based on need, ensuring digital assets are secure.
- Improved user experience: Streamlined access and resource management create 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.
How can IAM help you automate user management?
IAM systems streamline and automate user management by centralizing the administration of user identities, access rights, and roles across an organization. With features like automated provisioning and de-provisioning, IAM ensures that employees receive appropriate access as they join, move within, or leave the organization. This reduces manual errors, enhances security, and saves time for IT teams. Additionally, IAM tools enforce compliance by maintaining detailed audit trails and applying consistent access policies.
User management with Scalefusion UEM
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 that provides zero-trust access. It allows organizations to implement comprehensive user management seamlessly with intelligent MFA.
With Scalefusion OneIdP, manage user access to devices and applications efficiently, 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?
Contact our experts to discover how Scalefusion OneIdP can enhance your user management capabilities.
FAQs
1. What is user management as a service?
User management as a service is a cloud-based solution that centrally manages user information, user roles and permissions, and password management. It automates critical processes like onboarding, offboarding, and access updates, helping IT teams enforce consistent policies without manual overhead. With user management in the cloud, organizations can build a flexible and scalable management strategy that keeps user access aligned with security requirements while reducing risks from human errors or security threats.
2. Why is user management necessary?
User management is essential to ensure that employees have the right level of access to systems and data—nothing more, nothing less. It’s a core part of any management strategy that balances productivity with control. By actively managing user information and aligning user roles with job responsibilities, businesses can prevent unauthorized access and limit exposure to security threats. A strong user management solution also supports regulatory compliance and ensures that access is promptly revoked when no longer needed.
3. What is the difference between user management and access management?
User management and access management are two sides of the same coin. User management handles the administrative and strategic aspects, like maintaining user information, assigning user permissions, and overseeing lifecycle events such as onboarding and offboarding. Access management, meanwhile, focuses on enforcing authentication and authorization rules when users attempt to access systems. In short, user management defines who should have access, and access management controls how that access is granted. Together, they form a complete cloud-based management strategy for secure operations.
4. What are the three elements of user management?
The three key elements of user management are user provisioning, role management, and lifecycle management. User provisioning ensures that new users are set up with appropriate access from day one. Role management continuously reviews and adjusts user roles and permissions based on job changes, keeping access levels relevant and secure. Lifecycle management covers the full journey of a user, ensuring that access is updated or revoked as needed. All of this relies on solid password management and centralized oversight of user information to reduce security threats and maintain compliance.
5. What is the difference between user management and user administration?
User management focuses on building a broader strategy that governs how user identities, user roles and permissions, and access rights are defined and maintained across the organization. It’s a proactive approach that supports long-term control and security. User administration, on the other hand, deals with operational tasks like creating accounts, handling password management, and adjusting permissions as directed. While administration executes the day-to-day, user management in the cloud provides the framework and policies that guide those actions, making both critical parts of a modern user management solution.
6. What is an example of user management?
A common example of user management is onboarding a new employee using a cloud-based user management solution. When the employee joins, their user information is added to the system, a role is assigned based on their job title, and user roles and permissions are automatically configured to match their responsibilities. Password management is enforced through secure policies like two-factor authentication and regular resets. As part of the broader user management strategy, their access can later be modified if they change roles or terminated instantly during offboarding.
