IAM, PAM, IGA, and CIEM: The 4 Layers of Identity Fabric

Introduction: four complementary layers, not competing tools

A clear observation emerges regularly during security audits: organizations deploy identity solutions in silos, without a comprehensive architectural vision. Yet IAM, PAM, IGA, and CIEM are not competing products — they are four distinct functional layers of the same coherent architecture, commonly referred to as the Identity Fabric.

Each layer addresses a specific question and covers a distinct scope within the identity and access lifecycle. In isolation, they create blind spots. Integrated, they form a robust defense mesh, particularly suited to Microsoft 365 and Azure environments, where Microsoft Entra ID plays a transversal role across multiple layers.

IAM: the foundation of authentication and authorization

Functional scope

Identity and Access Management (IAM) constitutes the first layer of the Identity Fabric. It answers the fundamental question: Who are you, and what can you do?

Its functions cover:

• Authentication (AuthN): identity verification via password, MFA, certificates, FIDO2
• Authorization (AuthZ): permission control based on roles or attributes (RBAC/ABAC)
• Single Sign-On (SSO): unified access to multiple applications from a single authentication
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): second factor required to reduce attack surface
• Basic lifecycle management: provisioning and deprovisioning of employee identities

Representative solutions

Major players in this segment include Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, Ping Identity, and ForgeRock. In the Microsoft ecosystem, Entra ID is the cornerstone of any Identity Fabric architecture, serving as the identity provider (IdP) for all M365 and Azure services.

PAM: protecting high-privilege access

Functional scope

Privileged Access Management (PAM) constitutes the second layer. It addresses a distinct problem: How do you protect critical assets (Tier-0) and corporate secrets?

PAM is often described as the vault of the Identity Fabric. Its capabilities include:

• Password Vaulting: encrypted storage and automatic rotation of secrets and passwords for privileged accounts
• Session Recording: recording and playback of administrator sessions for audit and forensic purposes
• Just-In-Time Access (JIT): temporary, on-demand privilege elevation, limiting permanent exposure
• Secrets Management: centralized management of API keys, certificates, and tokens used by applications
• Least Privilege Enforcement: systematic application of the principle of least privilege

Why PAM is under-integrated

In the majority of organizations, PAM remains the least mature layer. Yet this is where defense against ransomware and post-compromise lateral movement is played out. An attacker who obtains standard credentials without PAM access remains confined to a limited perimeter; an attacker who compromises an unvaulted administrator account can reach the entire infrastructure.

Reference solutions include CyberArk, BeyondTrust, Delinea, and HashiCorp Vault. On the Microsoft side, Entra Privileged Identity Management (PIM) offers native JIT capabilities for Azure AD and Azure RBAC roles.

1# Example: activate an eligible role via Microsoft Graph (Entra PIM)
2# Prerequisites: Microsoft.Graph module installed and authenticated
3 
4$body = @{
5    action = "selfActivate"
6    principalId = "<user-object-id>"
7    roleDefinitionId = "<role-definition-id>"
8    directoryScopeId = "/"
9    justification = "Scheduled maintenance - ticket #INC-0042"
10    scheduleInfo = @{
11        startDateTime = (Get-Date).ToUniversalTime().ToString("o")
12        expiration = @{
13            type = "AfterDuration"
14            duration = "PT2H"
15        }
16    }
17}
18 
19Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Method POST `
20    -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/roleManagement/directory/roleAssignmentScheduleRequests" `
21    -Body ($body | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 5)

IGA: access governance and compliance

Functional scope

Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) is the third layer. Its guiding question: Should this user still have this access, and can you demonstrate it to auditors?

IGA intervenes where IAM stops. It is not merely about verifying identity — it governs the relevance of rights over time:

• Joiner-Mover-Leaver (JML) Lifecycle: automation of provisioning, role changes, and access revocation
• Access Certification Campaigns: periodic campaigns to recertify rights by business owners
• Separation of Duties (SoD): detection and prevention of conflicting role combinations
• Role Mining and Role Engineering: analysis of actual rights to build coherent, auditable roles
• Audit Trail: complete traceability of access decisions to meet regulatory requirements (ISO 27001, SOC2, NIS2)

IGA in the Microsoft ecosystem

Microsoft Entra ID Governance natively integrates IGA functionality directly into the Entra platform: Access Reviews, Entitlement Management, and Lifecycle Workflows. This IAM+IGA convergence within the same platform represents a significant architectural advantage for Microsoft-centric organizations.

Specialized solutions include SailPoint, Saviynt, and Oracle Identity Governance.

CIEM: visibility into cloud and machine entitlements

Functional scope

Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) is the fourth layer, the newest and often the least covered. Its question: Who has access to what in the cloud — whether human or machine?

CIEM addresses a reality unique to cloud environments: non-human identities (service accounts, managed identities, workload identities, AI agents) proliferate far beyond human identities, creating an invisible attack surface for traditional IAM and IGA tools.

Its key capabilities:

• Entitlement Discovery: exhaustive mapping of all effective rights in multi-cloud environments (Azure, AWS, GCP)
• Permission Right-Sizing: identification of excessive rights and recommendations for reducing to least privilege
• Workload Identity Management: governance of identities assigned to VMs, containers, serverless functions, and CI/CD pipelines
• Non-Human Identity (NHI) Governance: control of service principals, managed identities, and API tokens
• CIEM + CSPM Integration: correlation between cloud rights and infrastructure security posture

Growing importance in the age of AI

With the proliferation of AI agents and automated workloads, non-human identities now represent the majority of active identities in an Azure tenant. CIEM thus becomes the critical layer for governing these entities. Leading players include Wiz CIEM, Sonrai Security, Ermetic (acquired by Tenable), and Saviynt.

Comparative architecture: the four layers at a glance

How the four layers articulate within a Zero Trust model

The interdependence of layers is at the heart of the Zero Trust model. Each layer feeds the others according to a logic of continuity:

• IAM authenticates and establishes identity → it feeds IGA which governs its rights
• IGA certifies the legitimacy of access → it informs PAM which accounts deserve to be elevated
• PAM protects critical access → it reduces blast radius in case of IAM compromise
• CIEM extends visibility to the cloud → it complements IGA for machine identities outside HR scope

This articulation can be schematized as follows:

1[IAM] ──Verified Identity──► [IGA] ──Certified Rights──► [PAM] ──Protected Access──► Tier-0 Resource
2                                                            │
3                                                            ▼
4                                                         [CIEM] ──► Cloud & Machine Identities

Roadmap: building your Identity Fabric progressively

1# List all active Global Admins (permanent) in Entra ID
2Get-MgDirectoryRoleMember -DirectoryRoleId (Get-MgDirectoryRole | Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -eq "Global Administrator" }).Id | Select-Object Id, DisplayName, UserPrincipalName

1# List all Managed Identities and their Azure RBAC roles
2Get-AzADServicePrincipal | Where-Object { $_.ServicePrincipalType -eq "ManagedIdentity" } | ForEach-Object {
3    $sp = $_
4    $roles = Get-AzRoleAssignment -ObjectId $sp.Id
5    [PSCustomObject]@{
6        Name        = $sp.DisplayName
7        ObjectId    = $sp.Id
8        Roles       = ($roles.RoleDefinitionName -join ", ")
9        Scopes      = ($roles.Scope -join ", ")
10    }
11}

Conclusion: think mesh, not tool catalog

Adopting an Identity Fabric posture is not about successive acquisition of four products. It requires an architectural vision where each layer is deployed with awareness of the others, with bidirectional information flows and centralized governance.

In a Zero Trust context, real value emerges from orchestration:

• An identity verified at entry (IAM)
• Privileged access controlled and temporary (PAM)
• Governance auditable and certifiable (IGA)
• Visibility exhaustive on cloud and machines (CIEM)

For organizations engaged in the Microsoft ecosystem, the convergence of Entra ID + Entra ID Governance + Entra PIM + Defender for Cloud provides native coverage of all four layers, reducing integration complexity while maintaining openness to specialized third-party solutions.

Construct your Identity Fabric as a unified system — not as a collection of tools.

References

• Microsoft Entra ID — Official Documentation
• Microsoft Entra ID Governance
• Entra Privileged Identity Management (PIM)
• Microsoft Defender for Cloud — CSPM
• NIST SP 800-207 — Zero Trust Architecture
• Gartner — Identity Fabric Framework