Complete guide: What is identity governance and administration (IGA)?
For modern businesses, managing user identities and access is no small feat. With employees constantly joining, leaving, and changing roles, keeping track of who should have access to what can feel like a full-time job. Throw in the complexities of regulatory compliance and the ever-present threat of data breaches, and it's clear that traditional manual approaches to access management are no longer sufficient.
Fortunately, there's a solution: Identity governance and administration (IGA). In this guide, we'll explore how IGA can help you streamline user provisioning, strengthen your security posture, and simplify compliance. We'll also highlight the key features to look for in an IGA solution and introduce you to some of the top tools on the market.
What is identity governance and administration (IGA)?
At its core, IGA is a framework for managing and controlling digital identities and their access to an organization's resources. It encompasses the policies, processes, and tools used to define roles, assign permissions, and ensure that access is granted and revoked appropriately throughout the user lifecycle. The point is ensuring that the right people have the right access to the right resources at the right times, all while maintaining security and compliance.
Benefits of identity governance and administration (IGA)
Implementing an IGA solution can provide numerous benefits for your organization:
Improved regulatory compliance
Compliance requirements like HIPAA, SOC 2, and GDPR are no joke. IGA helps you stay on top of these regulations by ensuring that access is granted based on the principle of least privilege. This means users only get access to the bare minimum they need to do their jobs. The system also maintains audit trails and enables real-time monitoring, making it easier to prevent data breaches and demonstrate compliance during audits.
Enhanced security and risk reduction
Speaking of data breaches, IGA is also a powerful tool for boosting your overall security posture. By providing visibility into who has access to what, you can quickly spot and remediate any risky or unnecessary access. Through built-in risk analytics, segregation of duties ensures no single user has conflicting or excessive permissions that could pose security dangers. Plus, features like automated deprovisioning and centralized password management ensure that when someone leaves the company or changes roles, their access is revoked immediately, closing any potential security gaps. The system can also detect unusual access patterns and behavior anomalies to help prevent insider threats.
Streamlined access and user lifecycle management
Manually provisioning and deprovisioning user accounts is a huge time sink. IGA automates these processes, so you can onboard new hires, change access based on role changes, and offboard departing employees with just a few clicks. This not only saves you countless hours, but also reduces the risk of human error.
Cost savings
Time is money, and IGA can save you a lot of both. By automating tedious access management tasks, you free up your IT team to focus on more strategic initiatives. Beyond operational efficiency, by reducing the risk of data breaches and compliance fines, you're potentially saving your company millions in costs associated with security incidents. This includes reduced legal and regulatory exposure that could impact your organization in the long term.
6 key features to look for in identity governance and administration (IGA) tools
Not all IGA tools are created equal. When you're evaluating IGA or IAM solutions, here are six key features to look for:
1. Automated provisioning and deprovisioning
Your IGA tool should handle the entire access lifecycle automatically as part of comprehensive user lifecycle management (ULM). This means creating user accounts and permissions when someone joins, updating them during role changes, and removing them when they leave. The system should dynamically adjust access rights as users' roles and responsibilities evolve, and handle temporary access requests, like when someone needs brief access to a project, and automatically revoke it after a set period.
Look for tools that can manage these processes across multiple systems simultaneously, so you don't end up with access lingering in forgotten corners of your organization.
2. User access reviews
Regular access reviews are important for maintaining a tight security posture. These reviews should occur both on a periodic basis (quarterly or annually) and after significant events like role changes or departures. The best IGA solutions make this process painless by automatically scheduling reviews, sending reminders to busy managers, and presenting the information in an easy-to-understand format (dashboard). They should also track review completion rates and flag high-risk access that needs immediate attention. Look for systems that allow reviewers to quickly spot unusual or unnecessary access rights.
3. Role-based access control (RBAC)
RBAC is a widely adopted standard for efficient access management. Your IGA tool should let you create roles that match how your organization actually works—not just by department, but by project, location, or any other business need. The system should make it easy to update these roles as your organization changes and automatically adjust everyone's access accordingly. It should also help you identify when you need new roles or when existing ones need cleanup.
4. Integration capabilities
Your access management solution needs to play nicely with your existing tech stack. Look for systems that connect to core systems like your HRIS and cloud apps, especially the ones your team uses daily. The best tools offer both ready-to-use connectors for popular platforms and the ability to build custom integrations when needed. They should also maintain these connections reliably, so you're not constantly troubleshooting sync issues.
5. Analytics and reporting tools
A strong IGA tool will provide rich analytics and reporting capabilities. The system should deliver real-time access insights and automated risk assessments, helping you understand access patterns across your organization. You should be able to quickly answer questions like "who has access to our most sensitive systems?" or "which applications are underused relative to their access levels?" Look for predictive analytics that can identify high-risk users and potential security breaches before they occur. The system should also make it easy to generate compliance reports and track key metrics over time.
6. Scalability
As your organization grows, your IGA solution needs to scale with you. Look for tools that can handle sudden spikes in users—like during mergers or seasonal hiring—without slowing down. The system should support increasingly complex access requirements and granular policies as your organization evolves. It should maintain performance even when managing thousands of users and access rights. It should also scale cost-effectively, so you're not paying for capacity you don't need.
Top 5 IGA solutions in 2025
1. Rippling
Rippling offers a unified approach to identity governance by combining HR, IT, and identity management into a single platform. This integration makes it particularly effective for organizations seeking to streamline their employee lifecycle management while maintaining robust security controls.
Key features
- Dynamic role management and access controls based on user attributes
- Cross-OS device management and inventory control
- Built-in password manager for secure credential sharing
- 600+ pre-built integrations with common business applications
- Automated lifecycle management from onboarding to offboarding
- Role-based access controls with custom security protocols
- Real-time compliance monitoring and reporting
Use cases
- Organizations needing unified HR and IT automation to reduce administrative overhead
- Companies with complex onboarding/offboarding workflows
- Businesses requiring granular access controls across multiple systems
- Global enterprises managing distributed workforce security
- Teams requiring secure device and inventory management across multiple locations
2. Okta
Okta specializes in cloud-based identity and access management (IAM), focusing on secure authentication and authorization across various applications. While offering core IGA features, it can also integrate with dedicated IGA platforms for expanded governance capabilities.
Key features
- Single sign-on (SSO) for cloud and on-premises apps
- Adaptive multi-factor authentication
- Automated user lifecycle management
- Identity governance and compliance reporting
3. OneLogin
OneLogin provides IAM solutions focused on workforce, customer and partner identity management, with integrations across applications and devices.
Key features
- SSO for cloud and on-premises applications
- Advanced directory synchronization
- MFA with SmartFactor Authentication
- Identity lifecycle management
4. One Identity
One Identity provides identity governance and administration solutions for managing identities and access across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments.
Key features
- Identity lifecycle management with role-based access
- Access certification and attestation
- Privileged account governance
- Access request workflows
5. SailPoint
SailPoint provides identity security cloud solutions built on their Atlas platform, focused on managing and securing access to enterprise resources and applications. The platform leverages AI capabilities for access management and integrates with cloud environments.
[H4] Key features
- Lifecycle management for identity automation
- Compliance management for access governance
- Access modeling for role implementation
- Analytics for identity data insights
4 key reasons to consider an IGA solution
Still on the fence about whether IGA is right for your organization? Here are four compelling reasons to take the plunge:
1. Scaling identity management for workforce growth
As your headcount grows, manually managing access becomes a nightmare. When you're adding dozens of new employees each month, or managing hundreds of seasonal workers, manual processes just don't cut it. Your IT team ends up buried in access requests, risking delays in getting new hires productive or leaving departing employees with lingering access. IGA automates these processes so your team can focus on more important tasks. Even as you expand into new departments, locations, or business units, the system scales effortlessly with your needs.
2. Ensuring compliance with complex regulations
For industries like healthcare and finance, compliance isn't optional. Each regulation comes with its own set of requirements about who can access what and how you need to document it. HIPAA demands strict controls over patient data, SOX requires detailed audit trails of financial system access, and GDPR puts heavy emphasis on data privacy. IGA systems help you meet these requirements by automatically enforcing access policies and maintaining detailed records of who had access to what and when. When auditors come calling, you can quickly generate the reports they need instead of scrambling to piece together documentation.
3. Reducing security risks with better access controls
The more employees and systems you have, the greater your attack surface. Security breaches often happen because someone had access they shouldn't have. IGA security measures help prevent these scenarios by enforcing the principle of least privilege automatically. It continuously monitors and adjusts access rights based on role changes, ensuring people only have access to what they need for their current position. When someone switches departments or leaves the company, their old access is removed automatically.
4. Streamlining collaboration between IT and HR
Access management often falls into the gap between IT and HR. Without proper coordination, you end up with scenarios where new hires can't access their tools on day one, or departed employees retain access to sensitive systems. Identity governance solutions like Rippling bridges this gap by connecting HR changes directly to access management. When HR updates an employee's status or role, the system automatically triggers the appropriate access changes. This means no more back-and-forth emails between departments, no more delayed access requests, and no more forgotten termination processes.
Simplify identity governance and administration with Rippling
For an IGA solution that's powerful, user-friendly, and seamlessly integrated with your HR processes, Rippling is a top choice. Rippling unifies identity management, access control, and HR data in one intuitive platform.
With Rippling, you can automate provisioning and deprovisioning, enforce role-based access controls, and maintain continuous compliance—all without the headaches of manual processes or complex integrations. Plus, the platform scales with you, so you can manage identities and access with ease, whether you have 50 employees or 5,000.
Some key Rippling features include:
- Automated provisioning based on role and employment status changes
- Granular, role-based access control for all your cloud apps
- Seamless integration with your HRIS for always-accurate identity data
- Customizable approval workflows and access request portals
- AI-powered access recommendations based on usage patterns
- Robust analytics and reporting for visibility into your access landscape
Whether you're looking to modernize your access management or just starting to explore IGA solutions, Rippling brings together the essential tools needed to secure and streamline your workforce operations.
Identity governance and administration FAQs
What is the difference between IAM and IGA?
IAM (Identity and access management) is the umbrella term for all the processes and technologies used to manage digital identities and their access to resources. This includes core authentication, authorization, and general account management functions. IGA, on the other hand, is a subset of IAM that focuses specifically on the governance aspects—things like access policies, compliance, and risk management. It ensures access rights align with security policies through features like compliance enforcement, audit trails, and structured access reviews.
Which tool is used for identity governance and administration?
There are many IGA tools on the market, each with its own strengths. While options like Okta, SailPoint, and One Identity focus primarily on access management, Rippling stands out by unifying IGA with HR and IT functions in a single platform. The right tool for you will depend on factors like your company size, industry, compliance needs, and whether you want a specialized solution or an integrated platform that handles both identity governance and workforce management.
What is the IGA strategy?
An IGA strategy is your org's plan for managing who gets access to what, and when. It outlines how you'll handle everyday access needs, from setting up new employees with the right permissions to removing access when they leave. Plus, it ensures continuous policy enforcement and compliance through regular auditing and access reviews. The strategy should cover your access policies, approval processes, and security requirements, making sure everything runs smoothly while keeping your company's data safe.
This blog is based on information available to Rippling as of February 4, 2025.
Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.