User Access: Deprovisioning Stage

When we discuss Product Management or User Access, the focus often gravitates towards the initial launch or provisioning phase. Yet, equally significant is the retirement or deprovisioning stage.

Reflecting on my experience, even years after departing a company, I found myself still receiving automated text messages regarding unresolved P1 tickets. Taking responsibility, I reached out to numerous contacts within the organization to address the issue. Surprisingly, resolving these alerts wasn't a matter of hours, days, weeks, or even months – it spanned years.

This often underestimated phase plays a critical role in establishing a thorough and secure lifecycle management process. Effectively handling the retirement of products or user access is paramount for upholding security, compliance, and operational efficiency within any organization.

By approaching the deprovisioning stage with the same meticulousness as the launch phase, businesses can bolster their operational efficiency and mitigate risks linked to outdated or unused assets.

Giving due importance to the retirement process is fundamental in maintaining a robust and holistic approach to Product Management and User Access.

Max Fathauer talks about the user access review process in a 2025 blog for Ping Identity: https://www.pingidentity.com/en/resources/blog/post/user-access-review.html

"In a similar vein, unintentional oversight can lead to “access creep,” where users retain unnecessary permissions as they advance within the organization. This can be expensive for organizations, as they pay for software seats and licenses that are no longer needed. Plus, it can open them up to further vulnerability with an attack surface that’s larger than it should be."