IAMRBAC

IAMRBAC is an approach to access control that combines Identity and Access Management (IAM) with Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). It centers on using a centralized identity store to map user or service accounts to roles, and roles to permissions on resources within an organization’s IT environment.

In practice, a user authenticates via an identity provider and is granted one or more roles. Permissions required to access systems, applications, or data are assigned to those roles rather than to individuals, enabling policy decisions to be made by evaluating a user’s roles. Many implementations support role hierarchies, where higher-level roles inherit permissions from lower-level ones, and include separation-of-duties rules to prevent conflicts.

Benefits include streamlined administration, consistent enforcement of least privilege, easier onboarding and offboarding, auditability, and better integration with single sign-on and multi-factor authentication. It can improve compliance with regulatory requirements by providing clear role definitions and access review trails.

Limitations include the risk of role explosion if too many granular roles are created, and a potential gap in handling dynamic access decisions that depend on context such as time, location, or device. In such cases, complementary models like ABAC may be used.

Implementation considerations: begin with business processes and job functions, design a manageable role hierarchy, implement formal approval and access review workflows, automate provisioning and deprovisioning, and ensure comprehensive logging, monitoring, and governance. Plan for ongoing role maintenance and change control.