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User Access Reviews for IT Admins: How to Make Reviews Less Painful
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Monday, November 10, 2025
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For most IT administrators, user access reviews (UARs) are synonymous with endless spreadsheets, late-night reminders, and looming audit deadlines. What should be a straightforward control check often turns into a manual, time‑consuming process riddled with inefficiencies.
Endless CSV exports: Access data lives across multiple systems — Active Directory, Okta, Salesforce, AWS, Google Workspace — and must be painstakingly exported, merged, and normalized into static spreadsheets. This process is tedious, error‑prone, and disconnected from any real‑time view of risk.
Lack of business context: Knowing that a user holds a “Salesforce Admin” role doesn’t help IT determine if that access is valid. Without contextual input from business owners, IT teams are left guessing — creating security gaps or unnecessary removals.
Chasing down reviewers: After building the review sheets, admins often spend weeks sending reminders to managers and app owners. Outstanding certifications pile up as audits approach, creating operational stress.
Review fatigue: Quarterly and annual reviews devolve into mechanical exercises — repetitive and low‑impact — especially when executed manually.
1. Fragmented Systems
Access and entitlement data are scattered across SaaS, cloud, and on‑prem systems with no unified interface. Without central visibility, admins have to manually initiate, track, and close each review cycle.
2. Static Review Workflows
Reviews follow rigid schedules, ignoring changes in business risk or staff churn. The same users appear in every campaign, reviewed using the same template, regardless of relevance.
3. Manual Reviewer Assignments
Admins must manually map reviewers to entitlements, a task that quickly breaks down when organizational structures shift. Dynamic delegation based on org charts or app ownership is rarely supported.
4. No Usage or Activity Data
Without user activity insights, IT teams can’t tell who actively uses their access. This absence leads to blind approvals or unnecessary revocations — both undesirable outcomes for audit readiness and operational continuity.
Before investing in new tools, IT admins can adopt quick, tactical strategies to ease review efforts.
Group Users by Role or Department
Instead of certifying users individually, create logical groups such as “Finance – SAP Standard Access” or “Sales – CRM Read‑Only.” This enables bulk reviews and faster decisions.
Auto‑Flag Dormant Accounts
Apply inactivity thresholds (e.g., 90 days without login) to surface dormant access automatically. These accounts often represent low‑hanging fruit for cleanup.
Escalation Rules for Reviewers
Define service-level agreements (SLAs) so unresponsive reviewers trigger automated escalations. This avoids endless follow‑up cycles and helps maintain audit timelines.
Pre‑built Templates for Common Apps
Standardize review templates for widely used platforms like Okta, Workday, and Salesforce. Templates simplify campaign setup and promote consistency across review cycles.
Modern access‑review platforms eliminate most of the manual overhead by automating initiation, tracking, and evidence collection.
Schedule Recurring Review Campaigns
Set review cadences — quarterly, semiannual, or event‑based (e.g., role changes). Automated campaigns run on schedule, reducing manual coordination.
Native Integrations with Core Systems
Direct connectors to Okta, Active Directory, Google Workspace, AWS, and other SaaS apps enable continuous data sync and real‑time updates.
Email and Slack‑Based Reviews
Reviewers receive direct actionable links via Slack or email. Decisions can be made seamlessly without logging into separate portals.
Dashboard for Tracking Review Progress
A live dashboard provides visibility into completion rates, pending reviewers, and risk flags. Audit teams can instantly verify review status without chasing updates.
Auto‑Revoke Based on Predefined Conditions
Dormant access, terminated accounts, or unreviewed permissions past a deadline are automatically revoked — preventing exposure from forgotten entitlements.
Experienced IT administrators offer these actionable insights to keep reviews efficient and meaningful:
“Don’t just export — enrich data with usage logs.”
Incorporate activity data from apps or security tools to show whether users actively engage. This helps reviewers identify truly unnecessary access.
“Use dynamic groups, not static user lists.”
Link group membership to identity attributes such as department or role. As users move or change positions, reviews automatically stay current.
“Automate revocation wherever possible.”
Integrate HRIS feeds to deactivate accounts instantly upon termination, closing one of the most common audit gaps.
“Review more frequently, in smaller chunks.”
Break large annual reviews into periodic campaigns for high‑risk systems. More frequent reviews create tighter control while reducing the fatigue of large cycles.
BalkanID simplifies user access reviews through automation, context, and integration.
[→ Visit User Access Review Product Page]
[→ Book a Demo]
Manual spreadsheets and late reminders don’t have to define your review cycles. With thoughtful workflows and the right automation, IT admins can transform user access reviews from exhausting rituals into scalable, audit‑ready processes.
Tired of chasing managers and stitching together spreadsheets?
See how BalkanID makes user access reviews painless.
