One Identity Active Roles

Digital identity and Identity & Access Management (IAM) are business-enabling for organizations of all sizes, yet they are also a primary attack vector—especially for SMBs that often lack fully staffed IT teams to deploy and operate complex IAM stacks. Weak or poorly maintained IAM can drive productivity loss (e.g., password resets, incorrect entitlements), data loss (employee/customer PII), exposure of trade secrets, revenue damage via fraud and reputational harm, and even turn an SMB into a supply-chain attack pathway. Despite a common belief that “small” organizations are less likely targets, cybercrime studies indicate attackers increasingly pursue them because they’re perceived as less secure.

Organizations face diverse IAM use cases: B2E is universal, B2B is common, and some require B2C. Many rely on Microsoft Active Directory and also use SaaS applications without centralized IAM control; widespread Microsoft 365 adoption means Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is often present, making unified administration across AD and Azure AD a practical requirement. Managing AD/Azure AD effectively often requires capabilities beyond typical enterprise IGA tools, creating a role for specialized solutions that can also complement broader governance platforms. IAM can further support compliance needs such as capturing GDPR consent and enforcing segregation of duties for regulations like SOX.

One Identity Active Roles is positioned as a mature, proven tool purpose-built for “hybrid Active Directory” management (on-prem AD plus Azure AD). It improves administrator usability and efficiency through automation, policy-based delegated administration, least-privilege controls, and configurable approval workflows. It strengthens admin authentication via integration with identity providers using OAuth and RADIUS. Beyond AD/Azure AD, it extends lifecycle management using SCIM and One Identity Starling Connect, enabling provisioning to systems like LDAP directories, Office 365, databases, and SCIM-enabled SaaS. It also offers reporting and analytics helpful for audits, though it is not a full access governance/IGA solution and lacks deeper interactive entitlement analytics; additionally, some capabilities remain tied to the traditional MMC UI rather than fully web-based administration.

• Digital identity is a primary vector through which SMBs are attacked.
• Many SMBs lack a fully staffed IT department to deploy, maintain, and secure complex IAM solutions.
• Poorly maintained IAM can lead to productivity loss from password resets and incorrect entitlements.
• Weak IAM can result in loss of employee and customer personally identifiable information (PII).
• Weak IAM can cause loss of trade secrets and other valuable business information.
• Weak IAM can diminish revenue through reputational damage and fraud.
• Organizations of all sizes are increasingly targeted because smaller organizations are perceived as less secure.
• Under GDPR, collecting clear and unambiguous consumer consent for data use is necessary for compliance.
• One Identity Active Roles runs on Windows Server on-premises and in the cloud.
• Active Roles administrative tools are available as MMC applications and as web applications.

• “Digital identity is a critical business-enabling technology for all types of organizations, including Small to Mid-Size Businesses (SMBs).”
• “Many managers and owners naively assume that they are too small to be attacked by malicious actors,”
• “A sometimes-overlooked capability is that IAM systems can aid in regulatory compliance.”
• “For all organizations, getting a grip on the environments such as Microsoft Active Directory and Azure AD requires capabilities beyond what enterprise-grade IGA (Identity Governance and Administration) tools commonly deliver.”
• “The ability to manage both the traditional on-premises Active Directory (AD) and Azure AD from a combined tool already provides a significant advantage,”
• “Active Roles provides control for such changes by utilizing administrative policies that define the permissions certain users or groups of users have for managing AD and Azure AD environments.”
• “Approval workflows (which can be constructed via a drag-and-drop graphical UI) for changes are supported”
• “The risks of unwanted changes, either by fault or fraudulent action, can be successfully mitigated.”
• “However, Active Roles is more than just a management tool for AD and Azure AD, as it also supports Identity Lifecycle Management capabilities beyond these environments.”
• “In summary, Active Roles can complement IGA solutions in large enterprises by adding strong features for increasing efficiency and automation in AD and Azure AD management,”