A 4-Step Guide to Building Your Identity Data Fabric

The Problem: More Tools, Less Visibility 

In today's complex enterprise environments, organisations face a significant challenge: despite investing in numerous Identity and Access Management (IAM) tools, they frequently encounter bigger blind spots in IAM. 

In other words, identities and their access rights are not centrally unified. Instead, identity data ends up scattered across many different systems, including:

• Repositories (e.g., Active Directory, Azure AD, Okta)
• Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) solutions (e.g., SailPoint, Omada, OneIdentity)
• Privileged Access Management (PAM) systems (e.g., CyberArk, Delinea)
• HR platforms (e.g., Workday, SAP, AFAS software)
• Cloud services (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud, Azure)
• SaaS applications (e.g., Office 365, G Suite, GitHub)
• Various databases (e.g. SharePoint, Dropbox, Windows File Shares)

With identity data spread across so many silos, IAM reporting becomes fragmented, integration is limited, and overall visibility into who has access to what is lacking.

The Solution: Unified Identity Data Fabric

To overcome the Identity Security Paradox—where more tools create bigger blind spots—organisations must adopt a data-first strategy centered on the Identity Data Fabric.

The Identity Data Fabric brings together the data of your disparate identity silos into one overarching identity data graph. These sources include everything from Active Directory and Azure AD to IGA solutions like SailPoint or OneIdentity, PAM systems like CyberArk, HR platforms, cloud services, SaaS applications, and various databases.

The Identity Data Fabric collects, links, analyses, presents, shares, and monitors identity data—building a data-centric fabric or mesh across systems that were previously isolated.

The 4 Steps to Gain Identity Visibility

1. Collect

   Easily collect IAM data from various systems such as AD, Azure AD, IGA tools, PAM systems, SaaS, HR, and cloud services. Avoid manual data work and go for automated connectors and out-of-the-box integrations.

   

2. Link & Explore

   Understand your IAM data by linking identities to roles, entitlements, and activities. Click through user profiles and explore relationships across systems to detect risk and complexity.

3. Keep Data Up-to-Date

   Ensure your identity data stays fresh by enabling automated data reloads. This way, IAM professionals always work with recent and reliable data.

4. Act & Monitor

   Actively monitor key controls over time and get alerted when needed. The fabric supports access reviews and can even suggest or automate changes to maintain a healthy IAM posture.

Conclusion

By following these four steps, you can transform your IAM from fragmented and reactive to connected and proactive. The Identity Data Fabric helps organisations regain control, reduce risk, and gain the visibility they need to manage user access effectively. It’s not about replacing existing tools—it’s about connecting them through a unified data foundation.

Want to learn more? Download the full guide and start building your Identity Data Fabric today.