How To

What’s Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) and Why Should You Even Care?

Use Cases

More and more companies are realizing the need to automate how people get access to systems. Already, billions are being spent each year on tools that make this easier, and the trend is only growing.

Do you know how many tools and services your company uses every day? Be it Slack, Dropbox, HR tools, cloud services, the list goes on. Now, toss in all the people joining, moving around, or leaving every month. It’s chaos if you’re not careful. Who actually has access to what? Who’s still lurking around with old permissions?

That’s where IGA comes in and comes to the rescue. Basically, it’s a way to make sure everyone has exactly the access they need no more, no less without turning your IT team into exhausted gatekeepers. Security? Check. Compliance? Double check. Less hair-pulling? You bet.

Manual access management? Please. That’s basically inviting mistakes and slowdowns. Automate it, and suddenly everyone’s life gets way easier. HR’s happy, IT’s not drowning in requests, and people can just get to work. RoboMQ’s Hire2Retire does this in the background, so you don’t have to babysit every single permission.

So, What Actually IS IGA?

If you strip out the jargon, IGA is all about managing digital identities and their access inside your company. There are two main ingredients:

Identity Administration - Making and deleting user accounts, giving or removing access and more like that.

Identity Governance - Making sure all the right rules get followed. “Should this person really have access to payroll?” That kind of thing.

Think of IAM (Identity and Access Management) as “Who can get in?” and IGA as “Why do they get in, and do they still need to?” As companies get bigger and pile on even more apps, trying to do this by hand just doesn’t cut it. IGA brings order to the chaos.

Why’s Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) Suddenly a Big Deal?

Let’s face it: the workplace is totally different now. Remote work, cloud everything, and a mountain of new rules to follow every year. Keeping track of access is a nightmare without some help. Here’s why IGA is suddenly on everyone’s radar:

Tighter security: Old permissions just hanging out? Huge risk. IGA cleans house.

Regulations: With stuff like GDPR and HIPAA breathing down your neck, you need to know who’s got what access, anytime.

Onboarding that doesn’t suck: New hires can actually start working right away, not twiddle their thumbs for three days waiting for IT.

Consistency: Doesn’t matter if you’ve got a hundred systems, IGA keeps them all playing nice together.

Bottom line: You stay out of trouble, keep things running smooth, and don’t lose sleep over security.

What Makes Up IGA Anyway?

A solid IGA setup usually has these bits:

Identity lifecycle management: Access sets itself up and cleans itself up as people join, move, or leave.

Role-based access control (RBAC): You get permissions based on your job, not because you begged IT.

Access requests and approvals: Employees can ask for access without sending 13 emails.

Access reviews: Regular checkups so nobody’s got access they shouldn’t.

Audits and reporting: So when auditors come knocking, you’re not sweating bullets.

System integration: HR and IT systems actually talk to each other, finally.

Put it all together and you’ve got a cleaner, safer, less stressful digital world.

Automation: The Secret Sauce

Once you automate IGA? Game changer. Hook up your HR system (like Workday or ADP) to Active Directory or Azure AD, and suddenly things just… work.

Here’s how it goes down:

HR marks someone as hired, the system creates their accounts and sets up access, no human needed.

Employee moves to a new department. Permissions update themselves.

Someone leaves? Their access nukes itself instantly no “ghost” accounts haunting you.

Automation means less busywork, fewer mistakes, and people always have the right access they need.

Real Companies, Real Results

Astec Industries

Astec Industries (big equipment company) used to struggle with onboarding and offboarding. They brought in RoboMQ’s Hire2Retire and slashed onboarding costs by 76%. Manual screw-ups? Pretty much gone.

Spire Orthopedic Partners

Spire Orthopedic Partners (fast-growing healthcare org) had the same headaches. With automation in place, employees start faster, HR and IT finally sync, and data stays locked down.

So yeah, automation isn’t just buzzwords, it actually delivers.

Why Bother Automating IGA?

Let’s sum it up:

Security gets tighter - Access is always current and ex-employees are locked out instantly.

Compliance is way easier - Audits don’t make you want to hide under your desk.

IT teams spend less time stuck fixing access problems, and more time doing, you know, actual work.

In short? If you’re not automating IGA, you’re just making life harder than it needs to be. And who wants that?

Swati Gole

Swati Gole is a Marketing Specialist at RoboMQ. She blends creativity with strategy to craft meaningful brand experiences. With a background in digital marketing and communications, she creates stories and campaigns that connect with people and drive growth across web, social, and new-age digital platforms.