Next-gen authorisation governance: how IAM and GRC converge for better security and compliance

Organisations today face growing pressure to align identity and access strategies with evolving threats and tightening regulations. GDPR, NIS2, and the recently adopted DORA framework have raised the bar for operational resilience and auditability. Traditional Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) platforms handle identities, their lifecycle, and provision roles and entitlements - but often fall short when it comes to actionable, business-aligned access governance like user-friendly recertification, entitlement or role lifecycle management or involving business users in a proper way.

This is where platforms that can combine IGA and GRC (Governance Risk and Compliance) step in. Those platforms offer an integrated approach to authorisation governance, role optimisation & recertification, anomaly detection, and enterprise risk management - delivering visibility, control, and agility.

In many organisations, access structures remain fragmented and manual. While identity lifecycle processes may be in place, authorisations often lack the business context, auditability, and risk management needed to meet increasing security & compliance expectations.

Next-generation products focus on closing this gap with a solid foundation in authorisation governance. It replaces static documentation with dynamic, holistic authorisation concepts. These concepts reflect the de facto entitlements and risks associated with each application and are constantly updated as systems evolve. Proper review and approval processes align with different stakeholders across the organisation.

This approach proves especially valuable under DORA, which requires continuous governance of roles, entitlements, and access controls. Organisations are enabled to document and maintain authorisation structures in real-time - mapping risk levels, segregation-of-duty rules, and system criticality in a structured, auditable way.

By aligning authorisation management to compliance frameworks like DORA, BAIT, or GDPR, the system transforms access governance into a continuous and measurable process, creating a strategic link toward Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) as well.

Most identity threats emerge from privilege misuse, lateral movement, or escalation after initial access. These can go unnoticed for days - sometimes weeks - until a breach is discovered. A proactive layer of protection through behavioural and data analysis can accomplish that.

Instead of solely relying on runtime alerts, the platform analyses administrative identity data. If an engineer suddenly receives high-risk financial privileges on a weekend, the system’s AI engine flags the deviation based on historical patterns and business norms.

Depending on the severity, this can trigger multiple automated responses:

• Freeze suspicious accounts;

• Revoke excessive entitlements;

• Require additional approvals;

• Notify relevant teams swiftly.

This early-warning mechanism, referred to as Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM), can act before or alongside traditional Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) solutions. It offers context-aware remediation - within seconds of anomaly detection. Reporting findings into ERM solutions, it evolves from tactical responses and countermeasures to a strategic approach with the aim of governing and managing risks proactively across the company.

Managing roles effectively is one of IAM’s most persistent challenges. Over time, roles lose alignment with organisational needs, become outdate as responsibilities change, and entitlements accumulate. Modern Role Management solutions rethink this with intelligent, policy-based automation and or tools like Identity Grids.

Using AI, machine learning, and organisational context, the system continuously analyses role memberships, detects over-authorisation, and suggests optimisations. New roles and policies can be simulated covering the whole enterprise, created based on calculations from the Identity Grid, or derived directly from attributes and business rules.

Role lifecycle management can be fully automated:

• Roles are created based on suggestions and simulations;

• Changes trigger reviews where needed;

• Outdated or unused roles are flagged for cleanup;

• This reduces both operational burden and compliance risk, keeping access rights aligned with real-world responsibilities.

Effective governance depends on process reliability and stakeholder engagement. Ideally, products include a library of templates and customisable workflows - supporting everything from recertification and exception handling to onboarding and attestation. The workflows should not be lab-created; best case they have been compiled in collaboration with customers leading their industry.

Workflows can be event-driven or time-based, ensuring that reviews happen regularly and responsively. GRC products can complement this by integrating control objectives and policy checks across broader GRC landscapes, referring to the workflows or processes used.

Meanwhile, tailored dashboards help different stakeholders - application owners, auditors, business users - see what matters. Visualisations include peer comparisons incl. AI assistance, SoD violations, and risk clustering, helping decision-makers to act quickly and confidently.

Meeting today’s regulatory requirements demands more than reactive reporting. IGA and GRC work together to embed compliance into daily operations. Authorisation concepts are directly mapped to legal requirements. Risk levels, SoD rules, and audit trails are always up to date.

Together, they support frameworks like:

• NIS2 - by identifying and mitigating high-risk access;

• GDPR - through structured identity documentation and access transparency;

• DORA - by implementing and maintaining authorisation concepts tied to application criticality and operational resilience.

This integration bridges IAM and GRC - bringing structure, accountability, and traceability to identity governance.

The future of identity governance lies in the convergence of IAM and GRC.  It's no longer enough to control access - organisations must also show that every entitlement assignment is justified, compliant, and continuously reviewed.

With IGA and GRC, organisations gain a comprehensive framework to manage access risk, optimise entitlements, and meet regulatory requirements - with clarity, speed, and control.

About Dr. Heiko Klarl

Dr. Heiko Klarl is the CEO of Nexis and a distinguished expert in Identity and Access Management (IAM) with 20 years of experience. With a strong background in cybersecurity, Heiko excels in structuring complex projects and leading high-performing teams. His ability to connect business and technology enables him to effectively address customer challenges.

Heiko is a regular speaker at conferences and publishes research and articles focused on IAM and cybersecurity.

About Nexis

Nexis delivers governance and security software for all industries. We simplify Identity Analytics & Governance (IAG) and Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC). Our zero-code platform solutions provide IAG and GRC capabilities to help organisations derive actionable AI-powered insights, automate access governance, and simplify role and policy management. Pre-configured templates and tools accelerate deployment while ensuring compliance with critical standards like GDPR, NIS2, DORA, and providing a user-focused and adaptable design.