Compliance has a reputation for being paperwork. In practice the questionnaire is a proxy for a real question: if something goes wrong inside your product, can the customer explain it to their own regulator.
This piece walks through how we think about it at Paycux, what we have changed our minds about, and where the sharp edges are.
What is user provisioning?
What is user provisioning? deserves its own treatment. Write down the control before you automate it. A control nobody can describe in a sentence will not survive its first review, no matter how well it is implemented.
Write down the control before you automate it. A control nobody can describe in a sentence will not survive its first review, no matter how well it is implemented.
Why user provisioning matters
Why user provisioning matters deserves its own treatment. Separate the record from the data. Audit events are append-only and describe what happened; user records are mutable and describe who someone is. Keeping the two apart makes retention a job over a timestamp and erasure an operation on a row, instead of a negotiation between them.
Separate the record from the data. Audit events are append-only and describe what happened; user records are mutable and describe who someone is. Keeping the two apart makes retention a job over a timestamp and erasure an operation on a row, instead of a negotiation between them.
- Keep audit events append-only and separate from user records
- Describe each control in one sentence before automating it
- Produce evidence automatically, not by hand
- Decide retention per data category, in writing
Key benefits of automated user provisioning
That brings us to key benefits of automated user provisioning. Evidence is the deliverable. Not the policy document — the artifact that shows the policy was applied on a specific date to a specific system, produced without anyone editing a spreadsheet.
Evidence is the deliverable. Not the policy document — the artifact that shows the policy was applied on a specific date to a specific system, produced without anyone editing a spreadsheet.
Enhanced security
Consider enhanced security. Separate the record from the data. Audit events are append-only and describe what happened; user records are mutable and describe who someone is. Keeping the two apart makes retention a job over a timestamp and erasure an operation on a row, instead of a negotiation between them.
Evidence is the deliverable. Not the policy document — the artifact that shows the policy was applied on a specific date to a specific system, produced without anyone editing a spreadsheet.
Evidence is the deliverable.
Improved operational efficiency
That brings us to improved operational efficiency. Separate the record from the data. Audit events are append-only and describe what happened; user records are mutable and describe who someone is. Keeping the two apart makes retention a job over a timestamp and erasure an operation on a row, instead of a negotiation between them.
Separate the record from the data. Audit events are append-only and describe what happened; user records are mutable and describe who someone is. Keeping the two apart makes retention a job over a timestamp and erasure an operation on a row, instead of a negotiation between them.
Streamlined onboarding and offboarding
Consider streamlined onboarding and offboarding. Separate the record from the data. Audit events are append-only and describe what happened; user records are mutable and describe who someone is. Keeping the two apart makes retention a job over a timestamp and erasure an operation on a row, instead of a negotiation between them.
Evidence is the deliverable. Not the policy document — the artifact that shows the policy was applied on a specific date to a specific system, produced without anyone editing a spreadsheet.
Regulatory compliance
Consider regulatory compliance. Evidence is the deliverable. Not the policy document — the artifact that shows the policy was applied on a specific date to a specific system, produced without anyone editing a spreadsheet.
Separate the record from the data. Audit events are append-only and describe what happened; user records are mutable and describe who someone is. Keeping the two apart makes retention a job over a timestamp and erasure an operation on a row, instead of a negotiation between them.
Where this leaves us
The pattern repeats across every system we have looked at: the hard part is not the mechanism, it is keeping the mechanism honest as the surrounding assumptions change.
If you are working through the same problem and want to compare notes, the docs cover the mechanics and the console shows the behaviour on your own data.
Everything here, already built
Sign-in, enterprise SSO, directory provisioning, roles and an audit trail behind one API.