The management of non-human identities (NHI) presents unique challenges that many identity and access management professionals are still learning to navigate. Service accounts, provisioned accounts, and automated system credentials require governance approaches that differ significantly from traditional user management. Daniel Arshad, an IT Architect from a small consultancy, shares insights on PeerSpot from his team's experience implementing a comprehensive approach to non-human identity governance using One Identity Manager.
Defining the non-human identity challenge
Non-human identities encompass a broad range of digital entities that require access to systems and resources without direct human interaction. These include service accounts that enable applications to communicate with databases, API keys that facilitate system integrations, and automated process accounts that execute scheduled tasks. Understanding the scope of these identities is the first step in developing effective governance strategies.
"We are not only providing access for different users; we also have a huge set of non-human identities. We have a huge set of provisioned and service accounts," explains Arshad. This reflects a common pattern across enterprises where non-human identities are often outnumbering human users by significant margins.
The governance challenge extends beyond simple account creation and deletion. Non-human identities require ongoing ownership assignment, access reviews, and lifecycle management that responds to organizational changes. Unlike human users who can self-advocate for access needs, non-human identities depend entirely on proper governance frameworks to ensure they maintain appropriate access levels throughout their operational lifecycle.
Common gaps in legacy identity management approaches
Traditional identity management systems were designed primarily with human users in mind, leading to significant gaps when applied to non-human identities. These gaps become particularly problematic when organizational changes occur, such as employee departures, role changes, or departmental restructuring.
"In our previous legacy solution, the issue that we were facing was that the solution was not very robust. We could not come up with some self-governed scenarios, such as moving the ownership of non-human identities, moving the ownership of service accounts based on the change in the managerial hierarchy, or based on users' movements within the organization," Arshad reveals.
This challenge highlights a critical weakness in many identity management implementations: the lack of automated ownership transfer mechanisms. When employees who manage service accounts leave or change roles, these accounts often become orphaned, creating security risks and operational inefficiencies. Without proper governance frameworks, service accounts may continue operating with outdated permissions or under the management of inappropriate personnel.
The absence of self-governing capabilities forces IT teams to rely on manual processes for ownership updates, access reviews, and lifecycle management. These manual processes are not only time-consuming but also prone to errors and inconsistencies that can compromise security postures over time.
Implementing automated governance through organizational hierarchy integration
Effective non-human identity governance requires automation that can respond intelligently to organizational changes. This involves integrating identity management systems with authoritative sources of organizational structure and implementing logic that can automatically adjust ownership and access based on these changes.
"With One Identity, there are very good (NHI) features that come prebuilt. For example, the department hierarchy within the One Identity solution helped us to build some automated logic, which was missing in the legacy solution. Other than the self-service features, there is also the ability to use ready-made capabilities and scale up on top of it. That was another reason to go for this solution at that time," states Arshad.
The integration of departmental hierarchy information enables automated decision-making about non-human identity ownership. When an employee changes departments, the system can automatically identify service accounts under their management and transfer ownership to appropriate personnel within the new department or maintain ownership with the original department, depending on the business logic configured.
This approach reduces the administrative overhead associated with non-human identity management while improving security outcomes. Automated ownership transfer ensures that service accounts remain under appropriate management without requiring manual intervention for every organizational change.
Key principles for non-human identity governance
Based on Arshad's experience and broader industry practices, several key principles emerge for effective non-human identity governance:
Automated Ownership Management: Implement systems that can automatically adjust ownership based on organizational changes, reducing the risk of orphaned accounts and ensuring continuous oversight.
Integration with Organizational Structure: Leverage authoritative sources of organizational hierarchy to make intelligent decisions about access and ownership assignments.
Scalable Foundation: Choose solutions that provide robust baseline capabilities while allowing for customization to meet specific business requirements.
Lifecycle Automation: Implement automated processes for the entire lifecycle of non-human identities, from creation through decommissioning.
Conclusion
The governance of non-human identities represents a critical aspect of comprehensive identity and access management that requires specialized approaches and tools. The challenges identified in legacy systems – particularly around automated ownership transfer and organizational change management – highlight the importance of selecting identity management solutions that account for the unique requirements of non-human identities.
Arshad's experience demonstrates that effective non-human identity governance is achievable through careful selection of identity management platforms that provide robust automation capabilities and integration with organizational structures. The key lies in moving beyond manual processes toward automated governance frameworks that can scale with organizational growth and change.
To explore best practices and solution approaches for non-human identity management in your environment, consider evaluating One Identity for your organization’s identity governance needs.
