Identity Security & Access Management
Combined Assessment and Design Across Identity Architecture, Authentication, Authorization, PAM, and Identity Governance
Identity is the control plane of every modern environment, and it is almost always the first thing attackers compromise. Yet most organizations manage identity reactively — directories grow organically, MFA coverage has gaps, privileged accounts proliferate without just-in-time controls, and service identities outnumber human users but have no governance at all.
This engagement combines assessment and design in a single delivery. The assessment scores six identity domains — Identity Architecture, Authentication & MFA, Authorization (RBAC/ABAC), Privileged Access Management, Service & Non-Human Identities, and Identity Governance — against a five-level maturity model. The design phase produces actionable architecture and strategy for the highest-priority gaps.
The output is not a maturity report that sits on a shelf. It is an IAM consolidation and federation strategy, an MFA enforcement design, an RBAC/ABAC authorization model with separation of duties, a PAM architecture with just-in-time access, and a service identity governance framework — each deliverable scoped to the organization's environment, not generic best-practice guidance.
Who This Is For
Ideal clients for this engagement.
The Problem
What this engagement addresses.
Identity Sprawl
Multiple directories, identity providers, and IAM platforms accumulated through organic growth and M&A. No single source of truth for who has access to what. Federation is partial, and account lifecycle management varies by platform.
MFA Gaps
MFA is deployed for some users on some systems, but enforcement is inconsistent. Legacy applications, VPN concentrators, service accounts, and administrative interfaces lack MFA — and those are the access paths attackers target.
Privilege Creep
Standing administrative access across infrastructure and applications. Privileged accounts that were provisioned for a project and never deprovisioned. No just-in-time access model, no session recording, and no privilege escalation monitoring.
Non-Human Identity Blind Spot
Service accounts, API keys, OAuth tokens, and machine identities outnumber human users but have no ownership, no rotation policy, no access review, and no governance process. They are the largest unmanaged attack surface in most environments.
Authorization Without a Model
Access decisions are made ad hoc — role-based in some systems, group-based in others, individual permissions in the rest. No consistent authorization model, no separation of duties enforcement, and no way to audit who can do what across the environment.
Assessment Coverage
What we test — systematically.
Directory services, identity providers, federation design, account lifecycle, provisioning and deprovisioning processes, and identity data flow between systems.
Authentication methods by system and user population, MFA coverage and enforcement gaps, password policy, SSO integration, and phishing-resistant authentication readiness.
Current authorization models by system, role definition and management, separation of duties, access request and approval processes, and periodic access review.
Privileged account inventory, standing versus just-in-time access, session management and recording, credential vaulting, and emergency access procedures.
Service account inventory and ownership, API key and secret management, machine identity lifecycle, certificate management, and OAuth/OIDC token governance.
Access certification campaigns, entitlement management, identity analytics, compliance reporting, and integration between IAM platforms and GRC tooling.
Deliverables
What you receive.
Identity Maturity Assessment Report
Five-level maturity scoring across all six identity domains with evidence-based findings, gap analysis, and prioritized recommendations. Each score grounded in stakeholder interviews and configuration review.
IAM Consolidation & Federation Strategy
Architecture design for identity provider consolidation, directory federation, and SSO expansion. Migration approach for legacy systems and timeline estimates for consolidation phases.
MFA Enforcement Design
MFA deployment plan covering all user populations and access paths. Phishing-resistant method recommendations, legacy application workarounds, and enforcement rollout strategy with exception handling.
RBAC/ABAC Authorization Model
Authorization model design with role definitions, attribute-based policies for dynamic access, separation of duties matrix, and access request and approval workflows. Platform-specific implementation guidance.
PAM Architecture with JIT Access
Privileged access management architecture with just-in-time provisioning, session recording, credential vaulting, and emergency access procedures. Designed for the organization's PAM platform or platform selection criteria.
Service Identity Governance Framework
Governance model for non-human identities — service accounts, API keys, machine certificates, and OAuth tokens. Includes ownership assignment, lifecycle management, rotation policies, and access review processes.
Methodology
How the engagement works.
Discovery & Assessment
Weeks 1 – 2
- Identity architecture inventory: directories, IdPs, federation, SSO
- Stakeholder interviews across IT, security, application, and platform teams
- MFA coverage analysis across user populations and access paths
- Privileged account inventory and standing access assessment
- Service and non-human identity discovery
- Maturity scoring across all six domains
Architecture & Design
Weeks 3 – 4
- IAM consolidation and federation strategy development
- MFA enforcement design and rollout planning
- RBAC/ABAC authorization model development
- PAM architecture and JIT access design
- Service identity governance framework design
Delivery & Roadmap
Weeks 5 – 6
- Assessment report and design deliverables finalization
- Executive summary and maturity scorecard delivery
- Implementation roadmap with phasing and dependencies
- Stakeholder debrief and knowledge transfer sessions
Engagement Tiers
Scoped to your architecture.
Focused
Single identity platform or 2–3 priority domains. Assessment and design for the most critical identity gaps.
- Maturity assessment for selected domains
- Design deliverables for 2–3 priority areas
- Implementation roadmap
- Executive summary
Comprehensive
Full six-domain assessment and design across the identity environment. All deliverables included.
- Full six-domain maturity assessment
- IAM consolidation and federation strategy
- MFA enforcement design
- RBAC/ABAC authorization model
- PAM architecture with JIT access
- Service identity governance framework
- Implementation roadmap
Enterprise
Multi-region or multi-business-unit identity environments with complex federation, regulatory requirements, and large non-human identity populations.
- Everything in Comprehensive
- Multi-region identity architecture design
- Regulatory compliance mapping (SOX, HIPAA, PCI DSS)
- Extended non-human identity governance
- Identity analytics and anomaly detection strategy
Prerequisites
- Access to identity platform configurations or architecture documentation
- Stakeholders from IT, security, and application teams available for interviews
- Current directory and identity provider inventory (even if incomplete)
- Privileged account inventory or PAM platform access for review
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions.
Is this an assessment or a design engagement?
Both. The engagement combines maturity assessment with actionable design deliverables. The assessment identifies and scores the gaps; the design phase produces architecture and strategy to close them. You do not need a separate assessment and a separate design engagement.
Do you cover non-human identities like service accounts and API keys?
Yes. Service and non-human identities are one of the six assessment domains. In most environments, non-human identities outnumber human users, have higher privileges, and have no lifecycle management. The engagement produces a governance framework specifically for these identities — ownership, rotation, access review, and deprovisioning.
Does this include implementation of IAM or PAM tools?
No. This engagement produces the architecture, strategy, and design. Implementation — deploying PAM platforms, configuring MFA, building RBAC models in specific systems — is a separate effort. The design deliverables include platform-specific implementation guidance to accelerate that work.
Related Offerings
Often paired with this engagement.
Security Operations Assessment
Evaluates how identity events — authentication failures, privilege escalation, anomalous access — flow into SOC detection and response workflows.
Vulnerability & Exposure Management
Identity misconfigurations are vulnerabilities. The exposure management program captures identity-related findings in remediation workflows.
Security Tool Evaluation
Vendor-independent selection for IAM, PAM, IGA, or ITDR platforms if the assessment reveals tooling gaps.
Ready to discuss this engagement?
30-minute discovery call. We will discuss your application architecture, your specific concerns, and whether this assessment is the right fit.