Enterprise digital environments have never been more convoluted. People and devices that need to access and share digital resources are threaded throughout our corporate networks. And managing the privileged access rights to those digital resources is complicated by a matrix of digital environments. Data, devices, and other network assets must be shared, stored, and worked on in cloud, hybrid, and on-premise environments. Adding to this complexity is the need to facilitate secure access for remote workers, personal devices, contractors, and the broader supply chain.

Access privileges across a multitude of interconnected digital resources, people, and technologies are managed using Identity Governance and Administration (IGA), part of the broader IAM (Identity and Access Management) ecosystem.

What is Identity Governance and Administration?

IGA platforms help organizations govern access by automating identity provisioning, enforcing policy, managing entitlements, and tracking access events. They ensure the right users and devices get just enough access at the right time, without sacrificing security or efficiency.

It also supports the full identity lifecycle, from automated onboarding and offboarding to role changes and access reviews. With built-in audit trails and policy enforcement, IGA systems are increasingly necessary for compliance with modern data privacy laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and newer AI-related security mandates. In short, without IGA, even a robust IAM system lacks the necessary visibility, automation, and governance to meet today’s compliance and operational standards.

How does IGA differ from identity management?

While IAM handles authentication, identity provisioning, and access management, IGA focuses on governance, oversight, and policy enforcement. Think of IAM as providing the plumbing for identity and access, while IGA acts as the control tower, ensuring rules are followed, risks are minimized, and compliance boxes are checked.

Together, IAM and IGA deliver a complete identity security strategy. IGA drives the “why” and “should they?” questions around access, not just the “can they?”

Components of IGA

Modern IGA solutions deliver:

• Centralized visibility into who has access to what across cloud and on-prem systems

• Enforcement of segregation of duties, using role, department, location, and risk context

• Role-based access control and dynamic access policies

• User attestation and certification campaigns

• Reporting and analytics for audits, trends, and anomalies

• Support for dynamic provisioning and deprovisioning for hybrid workforces

Components of IAM

IAM systems typically manage:

• Digital identity creation and lifecycle

• Credential management and multifactor authentication

• Account provisioning and deactivation

• Entitlement and group management

• Identity verification and SSO

• Directory services and federation

How does IGA relate to audits and compliance?

IGA platforms are purpose-built to align with compliance frameworks that demand least privilege enforcement, segregation of duties, and identity traceability. Whether you’re preparing for a SOC 2 audit or implementing ISO 27001 controls, regulators want proof that your access governance aligns with risk management strategies. Its systems provide:

• Policy-based access controls

• Identity event logging and reporting

• Centralized dashboards for audit-readiness

• Lifecycle visibility into access changes, violations, and exceptions

Without these features, organizations risk fines, data breaches, and failed audits.

SOC 2 and IGA

SOC 2 audits demand demonstrable access controls for customer data systems. This includes:

• Restricting access using least privilege

• Tracking and documenting access events

• Proactively revoking access upon termination or role change

IGA helps organizations pass SOC 2 audits by automating these processes, reducing manual errors, and generating compliant reports with audit trails for all access actions.

ISO 27001 and IGA

ISO 27001 compliance hinges on strong identity and access policies. IGA ensures that:

• Authorization follows documented procedures

• Privilege levels are justified, reviewed, and revoked when no longer needed

• Access controls are aligned with asset sensitivity and risk

IGA platforms also offer reporting functions that simplify ISO 27001’s audit-heavy requirements, supporting ongoing certification.

HIPAA and IGA

Healthcare organizations must protect PHI and ePHI, and HIPAA requires granular control over who can access what. IGA platforms help healthcare entities:

• Enforce need to know access policies

• Maintain audit logs for PHI access events

• Support clinician productivity while ensuring compliance

• Pass annual HIPAA security audits with minimal disruption

In 2025, with increased focus on digital health apps and telemedicine, HIPAA compliance via IGA is more critical than ever.

What are the benefits of IGA solutions?

IGA is no longer a “nice-to-have” for large enterprises, it’s a business enabler for organizations of all sizes. Key benefits include:

Compliance adherence

IGA solutions automate compliance-heavy tasks like access reviews, audit logging, and entitlement verification. By enforcing policies like least privilege and segregation of duties, IGA platforms help companies proactively meet compliance standards like:

• SOC 2

• ISO 27001

• HIPAA

• GDPR

• SOX

• CCPA

Audit and report

With an IGA platform, generating audit evidence becomes a real-time capability rather than a last-minute scramble. Organizations can produce:

• Logs of access requests and approvals

• Proof of offboarding actions within required timeframes

• Systematic access reviews with documented outcomes

This level of transparency builds trust with auditors and internal stakeholders. The full visibility of a business’s digital resources provided by an IGA solution is used to generate audits and reports.

Reduce costs

Manual access governance is expensive, error-prone, and hard to scale. IGA platforms reduce the workload on IT and compliance teams by:

• Automating access workflows

• Eliminating redundant accounts

• Reducing risk exposure (and thus breach costs)

• Streamlining onboarding and offboarding processes

This allows teams to shift from reactive firefighting to strategic security initiatives.

Improved security

By making access governance part of daily operations, IGA improves the overall security posture of the organization. You get:

• Better visibility into access across systems

• Alerts on anomalous or risky access events

• Faster response times to potential insider threats

In a world of AI-powered cyberattacks and supply chain compromise, visibility is non-negotiable.

Fine-grained enforcement of access rights

Not every employee needs access to everything. IGA allows:

• Role, department, and geography-based access decisions

• Real-time access revocation when employees leave or shift roles

• Automation of access changes during reorganizations or mergers

This precision helps avoid both over-provisioning (a security risk) and under-provisioning (a productivity drag).