In identity management, onboarding is the addition of a new employee to an organization's identity and access management (IAM) system. The term is also used if an employee changes roles within the organization and is granted new or expanded access privileges.

Conversely, offboarding refers to the IAM processes surrounding the removal of an identity for an employee who has left the organization. The term may also be used to describe the restriction of certain access rights when an employee has changed roles within the organization.

Onboarding and offboarding procedures must be documented to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. To avoid errors that could result from a manual offboarding procedure, experts suggested automating the process through a talent management system.

See also: role-based access control (RBAC), federated identity management, identity chaos

24 Nov 2009