Practical IT Service Management, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 16: ACCESS MANAGEMENT

‘It is what we prevent, rather than what we do that counts most in Government.’

W L Mackenzie King

What is access management?

Access management aims to grant authorised users the right to use a service, while preventing access to non-authorised users. An organisation can have several computers, network equipment, servers and databases required for its business. Naturally, all equipment cannot, and should not, be accessible to every user or department. The important designs stored in a folder on an engineering server should be accessible only to the engineering staff, and not to every employee in the office. So, IT departments must ensure access is provided only to authorised persons, and prevent unauthorised persons ...