Automating chaos is not the way out of chaos.
Identity & Access Management is regarded as the backbone of modern IT security. In practice, however, many projects lead to budget overruns, frustration and systems that fall short of their potential. The decisive factors for success are a holistic project approach and the choice of the right software.
When bad data paralyzes the most expensive IAM system
Most IAM projects fail during the preparation phase and the selection of the right software, long before the first customization is made or the system is configured. The mistakes made in the early phase of the project mean that even an expensive IAM system falls far short of its potential.
- Automating chaos: Many companies try to build an IAM system on messy processes & data that have grown historically. Very much in line with Thorsten Dirks: „If you digitize a shit process, then you have a shit digital process“. Before the project, the urgently needed clean-up of services such as Active Directory and file servers is often skipped. Active Directory appears too opaque, the file server Clean-up too laborious and too decentralized.
- Unclear ownership: An IAM system needs clear responsibilities. So does the preparation. Who is responsible for which applications? Who cleans up which directories and access rights? If these responsibilities are not defined in the project and in the software, no one feels accountable. The clean-up falls by the wayside, the rollout will fail.
- Poor user experience (UX): If the new, clean processes are too complex for end users, employees look for shortcuts. They share passwords, use private cloud services (shadow IT) or call IT support directly in order to bypass the process. An IAM system that is rejected by its users has de facto failed.
- Missing business alignment („IT-only“): IAM is almost always driven by IT, often by the CISO or the head of IT. But IT cannot fix faulty HR processes or decide who in marketing may access which folders. Involving management and executives often fails because the project requirements, steps and goals are presented in overly technical terms and are not translated. Management does not understand what the project needs and why the entire company benefits.
The way out of chaos: 5 steps to long-term success
Anyone who has understood that an IAM system does not fix broken processes and only distributes bad data faster faces the question: how do we do it right? How do we handle our AD, Entra ID, file servers & co. properly?
1. Analyze
Before even a single process is automated, there must be complete transparency. The aim is to capture the actual current state in its entirety.
2. Understand
Data alone is not enough; you have to grasp its context.
3. Delegate
Responsibility for data and applications is handed back to the respective business departments (data & application owners).
4. Clean-up (the big clear-out before moving in)
Now it is time to tidy up. Only once the foundation is clean may the new IAM system take control.
5. Automate
Only now does the actual IAM system come fully into play. The clean foundation is now automated.
The all-in-one solution: how migRaven.MAX delivers everything in a single platform
The theory sounds plausible. In practice, however, IT departments fail because of the sheer volume of historical data and its complexity. Anyone who tries to analyze and clean up hundreds of thousands of folders, nested AD groups and proliferating Entra ID permissions with PowerShell scripts and endless Excel lists soon gives up. IT suffocates under the administrative load, and delegation to the business departments fails due to the lack of usable interfaces.
migRaven.MAX was developed for exactly this mammoth task. More than 20 years of experience in IAM, data governance, restructuring and migrations are available in a single product. With an AI that supports you as an IT expert, explains highly complex issues and recommends solutions.
Visual transparency instead of script chaos: migRaven.MAX performs in-depth scans of on-premises infrastructures (AD, file server) as well as cloud environments (Entra ID). Intelligent visualization and the integration of AI as an explaining expert make connections visible that were previously hidden. The phases Analyze und Understand are thus automated.
True Delegation to the business: through the intuitive web portal, migRaven.MAX solves the critical ownership problem. Owners can view, assess, recertify and manage their data and applications themselves. The integrated MAX AI is always available for this.
Secure restructuring: based on the decisions taken by the business, the software handles the complex Clean-up. Integrated automatic clean-up functions deliver lean structures in record time.
The perfect foundation: the result is a radically tidied-up, standardized permissions model. On this clean foundation, migRaven.MAX offers the Automation of user and permissions management.
With migRaven.MAX, the notorious “Garbage in, Garbage out” risk is systematically eliminated. The system ensures that uncontrollable permissions chaos becomes clean, traceable and secure identity and permissions management. One interface. One successful project.
