Automated user management in IT asset management

Technology used for identifying and authenticating employees, such as Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), Okta or similar, should always be integrated into device management. But why?

Quick answer: Integrating AD with your IT asset management software makes it easier to keep access rights up to date and removes the need to do it manually.

How does automated user management work in practice?

In short, with AD synchronization, user information such as the employee's name, email and department can be automatically transferred from AD to the ITAM software. As a result, new users no longer need to be manually created in the system. They appear automatically once a user account is created in AD.

An additional benefit arises when AD groups can also be used within the ITAM software. This automates the process even more. For example, IT team members are automatically granted broad access rights, while normal employees only see their own devices and can use the order portal.

When access rights in the IT asset management solution are defined through AD groups, there is no need to manually update or maintain permissions for individual users. If login to the software is handled via SSO, user management becomes almost fully automated.

Better security without additional workload

In addition to convenience, one of the biggest advantages of this is improved security. When an employee changes roles or leaves the organization, their system access is automatically updated or removed. If the access rights of an entire group need to be changed, the update can be applied to all users in that group at once.

Because permissions are tied to AD groups, it is also easy to track who had access to which information and when. This makes audits more straightforward and helps fulfill data protection regulations and internal control requirements. Better user management also supports ISO27001 practices for your ITAM.

AD synchronization also simplifies the return process for devices when employees leave. Once information about the employee's departure is received through AD, a summary of the devices to be returned can be quickly generated.

Ready-made integration enables quick deployment

Often, the integration between a company's existing AD and IT asset management solution is a quick process. For example, with IDR, implementation is straightforward and configuration takes only about 10 minutes.

Example with MS Entra:
First, an enterprise application is created for IDR in Microsoft Entra. After that, the desired users can be authorized into specific AD groups. On the IDR side, the desired permissions are defined for each AD group. After configuration, the organization's employees can log in with their work credentials and automatically receive the specified access rights.

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