Management of authorization groups by department heads
Companies can use authorization groups to assign permissions for resources. In most cases, a group grants access to a resource, for example, certain databases, documents or applications. User accounts are in turn assigned to these groups. This quickly raises the question of who is responsible for maintaining group memberships to ensure users have the correct access rights.
In this article, we will show you how the management of authorization groups can be delegated to department heads outside the IT department. With our IAM solution, IDM-Portal, it is possible to shift access management tasks to the business units themselves—using a customizable and user-friendly interface.
Index
Group membership controls the authorization of user accounts
Users are given access to a resource by belonging to a group. The advantage of this is that companies can grant or revoke permissions by adding and removing users from the assigned groups. In this case, the underlying resources only need to be customized once, by defining the permission group.
Of course, several authorization groups can access a resource, possibly with different rights, for example, with read access or write access.
Authorization management, including group management, is often the exclusive responsibility of IT.
It is also possible to nest groups. In this case, a group is a member of another group, which then has the corresponding rights to the resource. If group A is a member of group B and has rights to resource C, all users who are members of group A also get access rights. Permissions for individual users can be withdrawn by removing user accounts from groups.
Management of authorization groups – Who knows what
When managing authorization groups, the question arises as to who in the company should maintain membership in the groups.
The IT department usually takes care of the technical systems and implements the authorizations (e.g., in Entra ID). However, the decision on the necessary access rights is usually made by the department head or the responsible persons in the specialist department. In other words, the IT department often does not know exactly which resources a user needs—the respective specialist department knows this better.
Authorization management with Entra ID requires IT expertise and administrator rights.
In the specialist department, however, the necessary knowledge and appropriate tools are often missing to effectively manage group memberships.
Here, a tool such as the IDM-Portal from FirstAttribute would be helpful, as it enables department heads and HR to easily manage memberships.
- The IT department maintains the groups and their permissions,
- while memberships are maintained by the specialist departments.
This significantly reduces the workload of the IT department and allows membership maintenance to be carried out promptly.
Department heads maintain group memberships
Improve management of authorization groups with delegation
IDM-Portal from FirstAttribute allows the management of authorization groups to be delegated directly to department heads or managers in specialist departments without them having to access the admin portals.
A central, intuitive user interface is available for this purpose. Thanks to role-based customization of the user interfaces in the IDM-Portal, users only see the data for which they are responsible.
HR department head Karla can manage users and edit group members in the IDM portal. HR manager Steve can only create users.
Identity and access management (IAM) delegation in the IDM-Portal is a powerful concept that can greatly assist companies in managing authorization groups.
What is IAM delegation?
As part of IAM delegation, administrators delegate the maintenance of permission groups to other users outside the IT department. This gives employees in the specialist departments the right to manage group memberships, but not the groups themselves or their permissions. This ensures that permissions and group memberships are only maintained by those who are authorized to do so.
With the built-in tools of Entra ID, this is possible in principle, but quite complex to implement. In such a scenario, however, companies are better off relying on solutions that enable automation on the one hand and offer an easy-to-use interface on the other.
Understanding role-based and attribute-based access rights
In addition to quick and easy handling, the IDM-Portal also offers maximum control and security. Thanks to role-based access rights (RBAC), the IT department maintains an overview at all times and can determine who is authorized to manage permissions. Detailed logging of all changes ensures that all adjustments can be traced at any time.
Selecting a new department not only automatically changes the address, but also regulates all permissions associated with the departments.
In addition, the IDM-Portal also supports attribute-based access rights (ABAC), a method for fine-grained authorization based on user attributes. Unlike RBAC, which is based on predefined roles, ABAC enables more flexible access control by using attributes such as department, location, or position. Changes to these attributes automatically affect permissions, ensuring that access rights are always up to date.
In combination with RBAC, the IDM-Portal offers a balanced solution for dynamic business requirements.
Editing group memberships from the user’s perspective
Another key feature of the IDM-Portal is the direct editing of group memberships from both the user perspective and the group perspective.
Editing group memberships from the user perspective in IDM-Portal
Permissions can be managed in the user profile by searching for relevant groups and adding them via drag & drop. Alternatively, group administrators can manage members directly via the “Groups” menu item or delegate editing to the respective owner.
The integration of approval workflows provides additional security and traceability.
Approval requirements for groups and data changes can be configured in the IDM-Portal. Predefined decision-makers are automatically informed when changes occur. They can then review and approve these changes through a dedicated approval web interface. This ensures that only authorized changes are made.
Maintain authorization groups in Entra ID and Active Directory in parallel
The efficient management of permission groups in Active Directory and Entra ID also poses challenges for many IT departments. In scenarios where companies use Active Directory locally while also working with cloud-based resources, managing permission groups becomes complex. This complexity arises because two separate environments are in use, and they must also exchange data with each other. It’s not just about assigning access rights correctly. Efficient and transparent management is also required—management that aligns with the needs of modern businesses.
With the IDM-Portal, companies can easily and securely maintain and manage group memberships in both environments, i.e., in Active Directory and Entra ID. There is no need to switch between different consoles and admin centers, which saves time.
Read our article on managing M365 groups for more details on how the IDM-Portal can help you here.
A key advantage is the real-time processing of changes. The IDM-Portal does not require its own database, but accesses Active Directory directly, so group memberships are updated immediately. Thanks to the integrated RealGroup service, the IDM-Portal also processes groups in Entra ID. This ensures that local and cloud-based structures are always synchronized and up to date.
Summary
Managing permission groups is a key task for IT. However, decisions about access rights are often made by business departments rather than IT. By delegating this task to department heads or authorized employees, companies can reduce the workload of their IT departments and significantly speed up work processes.
With a solution such as the IDM-Portal from FirstAttribute, permission management becomes not only easier, but also more secure. An intuitive user interface, role- and attribute-based access rights, and seamless integrations enable flexible and controlled management of group memberships—without the need for constant IT intervention.
More about the FirstWare IDM-Portal
FirstWare IDM-Portal by FirstAttribute is an integrated Identity and Access Management (IAM) solution that enables automated user and permissions management, whether on-premises or in the cloud.
This portal integrates all facets of identity and access management and provides centralized access to identity and directory services.
