The case

The starting point: manual processes and scattered data

The company in this case is a mid-sized manufacturing and service company with 2,000 employees across 15 offices. Like many others, it faced a familiar problem: user data scattered across the HR system, Active Directory and Entra ID, manual creation and removal of accounts, and no consolidated answer to who had access to what – precisely the question NIS2 and customers' auditors ask.

The case is documented in a blueprint from Pointsharp, whose IGA solution the company chose. IAM Group is a Danish implementation partner for Pointsharp – but the point here is the process, not the product: a phased approach that can be completed in as little as 12 weeks, and which is relevant regardless of which IGA solution you end up choosing.

The process

Six phases from project start to operations

  1. Project start

    Scope, governance requirements and core systems are defined. Not every system needs to be included from the start – only the ones that matter most.

  2. Connect the core systems

    HR, Active Directory and Entra ID are connected, creating a single source of truth for identities.

  3. Configure governance

    Lifecycle processes, roles and approval flows are set up: who approves which access rights, and what happens at hiring, role change and departure.

  4. Validate and test

    Processes and integrations are verified with the key stakeholders before anything goes live.

  5. Go-live

    Identity governance goes into operation across the core systems.

  6. Expand over time

    More systems and controls are added gradually – at the company's own pace.

The result

What the company got out of it

  • Automated on- and offboarding: new employees get the right access from day one, and leavers lose it the same day.
  • Automatic clean-up: old and orphaned accounts are deleted automatically instead of remaining as open doors.
  • One consolidated overview: all users and access rights are managed in one place, across the business systems.
  • Audit trail: documentation of who has access to what and why is produced continuously – not as firefighting before an audit.

What can smaller companies learn from it?

The company in the case has 2,000 employees, but the approach scales down. If you are a supplier with 100 or 300 employees, the system landscape is smaller and the first phases correspondingly shorter. The principle is the same: start with HR, AD and the key business systems, automate the lifecycle, and let documentation emerge as a by-product of operations.

The full case is available in Pointsharp's blueprint, which also describes the model in more technical detail. And if you are facing a solution decision, the advice from our earlier article still applies: clarify scope and maturity first, and choose the product based on your system landscape – not based on who called first.

Want to see what it could look like for you?

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