From arrival to an open door: 9 steps

Identity governance is often explained in abstract terms. That makes it hard to argue with, and just as hard to believe.

Here is 1 contractor, 1 gate and every step in between.

1. The reason arrives

A contracting firm assigns someone to a job. That assignment comes in from the contractor management platform. The contractor doesn't fill in a form.

It carries an owner, a scope, a start date and an end date. Everything that follows depends on those 4 facts, and on a system that has good reason to keep them accurate.

2. The requirements come with it

The job takes place in a zone, and the zone has rules: which inductions, certificates, screening and permits are needed.

Those requirements belong to the assignment and the area. Nobody has to remember to pin them on the person. Change a rule once, centrally, and it applies to everyone at the next check.

3. Eligibility is decided, then watched

The person becomes eligible once every requirement is met. It happens at that moment, whether or not anyone has time to check.

The watching matters most. Eligibility is checked all the time. A certificate that expires on the 14th removes access on the 14th, without anyone running a report. A failed re-screening does the same.

4. 1 credential is encoded

A card, a phone or a wallet pass, issued against the identity record.

Encoding happens in an authorised session that carries no key. The keys stay in a secure module under the customer's control, or escrowed to them. The encoding point holds nothing worth stealing, and the installer never sees a key.

It can happen at a desk, or at an unattended terminal at 4 in the morning. That is often when contractors start.

5. Every access control system is told

All of them, at every site in scope, whatever the brand. Each integration uses that manufacturer's own published interface.

This is the step that makes the rest worthwhile. 1 set of people across systems from different manufacturers is what lets you govern an organisation, instead of a single site.

6. The right doors open

Only those. Your existing readers, controllers, speed gates and barriers do the opening, as they always have.

Nothing was replaced for steps 1 to 5. The devices in the field are the same. They simply follow the state they have been given.

7. The network drops, and work carries on

Sooner or later the link between the site and the governing layer goes down. It always does.

The local access control system keeps enforcing the last state it received. Doors keep working. Changes made during the outage wait in a queue and apply in order once the link is back, with nothing lost or doubled.

For a long outage there is a documented procedure. It uses a signed daily eligibility list kept on site, a named authoriser, a stated reason and an escort or similar control. Every entry made that way is flagged for checking afterwards.

8. The job ends

The assignment finishes, the contractor leaves the firm, or the scope changes.

1 action closes the card, the mobile credential and the wallet pass together, at every site. The badge still in their pocket opens nothing.

Most implementations get this step wrong, and it is the first thing an auditor tests.

9. The regulator asks

Who was allowed into that area, on that date, for what reason and with whose approval?

You can answer straight away, because it was recorded as it happened. Under NIS2, DORA and the ISPS Code, the operator has to answer that question. The answer has to be theirs to give.

What changed, and what didn't

The decision and the record moved up a layer. Questions about either can now be answered straight away.

The hardware didn't change. The readers, controllers, speed gates and barriers in step 6 were already there.

We have a technical reference that covers each step in more detail. Ask us for a copy. Take the scorecard Talk to us