In the next installment of our “Making Sense of the Latest IGA Guidance” series, we explore why proven best practices in IGA exist and how disciplined frameworks lead to predictable, auditable success.
In a recent industry report, analysts claimed that “there is no single best practice approach or universal feature set for IGA initiatives.”
At Fischer Identity, we respectfully disagree.
For more than 20 years, best practices in Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) have been well-documented, peer-validated, and successfully implemented across industries. The challenge isn’t that these frameworks don’t exist. Many organizations and vendors simply don’t follow them.
Modern IGA doesn’t require guesswork. It requires discipline, data, and design.
Best Practices in IGA Are Not a Mystery: They’re a Standard
The identity management community has spent decades refining what “good” looks like. Organizations like IDPro, NIST, ISO, InCommon, and (ISC)² have clearly established best practices covering identity assurance, access governance, and lifecycle automation.
These frameworks consistently emphasize the same foundational principles:
- Accurate, authoritative data sources
- Automated lifecycle management
- Least privilege and policy-based access control
- Regular certification and attestation cycles
- Auditability and transparency
- No-code configurability for agility and sustainability
These aren’t theoretical — they’re measurable and repeatable.
The Problem Isn’t the Absence of Standards: It’s the Abandonment of Them
Many IGA programs fail not because standards don’t exist, but because vendors or implementers deviate from them in the name of “flexibility” or “speed.”
In reality, those shortcuts lead to:
- Fragile custom code that breaks during upgrades
- Inconsistent provisioning and deprovisioning logic
- Conflicting sources of truth for identity data
- Manual governance tasks that erode compliance
Fischer Identity eliminates these pitfalls by adhering to best practices from the ground up.
Our strategic advisory, platform and implementation methodology were built to enforce identity discipline, not bypass it. That’s why every Fischer deployment is configuration-driven, policy-aligned, and auditable by design.
Fischer Identity’s Best-Practice Framework in Action
Our solution operationalizes best practices through a simple but powerful foundation:
1. Authoritative Source Alignment
Your IAM system is only as reliable as your data. Fischer connects directly to authoritative systems such as HR, Student Information Systems, ERP, and CRM, ensuring identity accuracy from the start.
2. Automated Lifecycle Governance
Fischer’s automation engine manages provisioning, deprovisioning, and certification in real time, ensuring compliance without manual oversight.
3. Policy-Driven Access Models (RBAC, ABAC, PBAC)
Fischer supports role-, attribute-, and policy-based controls natively, allowing complex access logic to be managed through configuration, not code.
4. Continuous Attestation and Auditability
Access reviews and certifications are built-in, not bolted on. Fischer provides transparent, repeatable audit trails for compliance with NIST, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, FERPA, and other frameworks.
5. Governance by Configuration
No scripting, no external development, no vendor dependency. Every rule, workflow, and connector is configured through Fischer’s intuitive interface, delivering agility and sustainability without risk.
Proven Frameworks = Predictable Success
Best practices exist to reduce uncertainty. That’s why every Fischer Identity implementation delivers measurable, repeatable success:
- 6–9 month go-live timelines
- Predictable, fixed-fee pricing
- Full feature parity across cloud, on-prem, and hybrid environments
- 15+ million identities managed securely
- Zero custom code required
These results aren’t exceptions — they’re the outcome of adhering to a framework that works.
Why This Matters for Executives
For CIOs, CISOs, and technology leaders, IGA isn’t just a security discipline. It’s a governance framework that drives operational maturity.
When your IGA program is grounded in best practices:
- Risk is quantifiable.
- Compliance is automated.
- Identity becomes an enabler, not an obstacle.
The myth of “no best practices” might make for an interesting analyst headline, but for Fischer Identity and our customers, it’s a reality disproven every day.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to IGA. The standards are clear, the frameworks are mature, and the proof is measurable. The difference lies in whether your solution enforces them or excuses their absence.
At Fischer Identity, best practices aren’t an aspiration. They’re our blueprint.
This blog is the second in our “Making Sense of the Latest IGA Guidance” series, helping leaders focus on what really matters in identity governance and turn insight into action.
Catch up on the series
