Identity Co-Analyst & Contextual Information

How ICA Captures the Context That Powers Intelligent IGA

From 12 Weeks to 10 Days

🎯 The Critical Connection

Contextual information is the foundation of what Identity Co-Analyst captures and documents during IGA requirements gathering. ICA's entire purpose is to systematically gather the contextual factors that govern access decisions—transforming complex, multi-dimensional context into clear, implementable requirements specifications.

ICA's Approach to Capturing Contextual Information

1. Built-In Contextual Expertise

ICA includes pre-built questionnaires designed by veteran IGA specialists that specifically target all six contextual dimensions:

👤 User Context

  • Employee attributes (department, title, location)
  • Employment status and lifecycle stage
  • Organizational hierarchy
  • Historical access patterns

🔐 Access Context

  • Application sensitivity and classification
  • Permission types and privilege levels
  • Business justifications
  • Duration and scope of access

🌍 Environmental Context

  • Time-based access requirements
  • Location restrictions
  • Device requirements
  • Network access policies

🏢 Organizational Context

  • Business structure and relationships
  • Project assignments
  • Seasonal business cycles
  • Regulatory environment

⚠️ Risk Context

  • Separation of Duties requirements
  • Toxic combination identification
  • Risk scoring methodologies
  • Anomaly detection requirements

🤝 Relationship Context

  • Manager approval chains
  • Delegation and backup procedures
  • Acting roles and temporary assignments
  • Cross-functional collaboration

2. Conversational AI that Understands Context

ICA's conversational intelligence is specifically designed to capture nuanced contextual information:

Context-Aware Follow-Up Questions

ICA uses conditional logic to adapt questions based on stakeholder responses:

ICA: "Does your organization require time-based access restrictions?"
Stakeholder: "Yes, we need to restrict access to financial systems during certain periods."
ICA (adapting): "I understand you need time-based restrictions for financial systems. Let me gather the specifics:
• Which specific time periods should be restricted?
• Should this apply during business hours only, or 24/7 with exceptions?
• Do you need different restrictions for different roles?
• What should happen when legitimate users need access during restricted periods?"

Remembers Previous Context

Earlier in survey: Stakeholder mentions they work in healthcare
Later question from ICA: "Given that you're in healthcare, do you need to track access to Protected Health Information (PHI) for HIPAA compliance? Should PHI access require specific contextual factors like user location or device compliance?"

Interprets Nuanced Responses

ICA uses OpenAI GPT-4o + Weaviate vector database to understand contextual nuances in natural language:

Example Translation

Stakeholder says: "We only want developers accessing production during approved change windows"

ICA documents as:

  • Time-based context: Developer production access restricted to change control windows
  • User context: Applies to Developer role
  • Access context: Production environment systems
  • Integration requirement: Link with change management system calendar

3. ICA's Contextual Intelligence Features

💬

Plain Language Capture

Stakeholders describe contextual requirements in business terms, and ICA translates to technical specifications automatically.

🔀

Conditional Logic

Advanced Survey Builder creates intelligent question flows that adapt based on contextual responses.

🤖

AI Interpretation

LangChain orchestration understands complex contextual scenarios and structures them properly.

📋

Multi-Dimensional

Captures all six contextual dimensions simultaneously across all stakeholders.

🎯

Domain Expertise

Built-in IGA knowledge ensures no critical contextual factors are missed.

📄

Auto Documentation

Generates professional contextual requirements documents instantly.

4. ICA's Output: Comprehensive Contextual Documentation

REQUIREMENT: Time-Based Production Access Control
  • USER CONTEXT: Developer role
  • ACCESS CONTEXT: Production environment systems
  • TIME CONTEXT: Approved change windows only (documented in change management system)
  • EXCEPTION PROCESS: Emergency access requires Director approval + post-access review
  • IMPLEMENTATION: Integrate with ITSM change calendar, enforce at authentication layer
REQUIREMENT: Automated Role Assignment Based on Context
  • TRIGGER: New hire onboarding (HR system integration)
  • USER CONTEXT: Department = Sales, Location = US, Manager = Sales VP
  • ACTION: Auto-assign "Sales Representative - US" role
  • ACCESS CONTEXT: CRM (Salesforce), CPQ system, Sales Portal
  • TIME CONTEXT: Effective on start date
  • DURATION: Permanent (until role change or termination)
REQUIREMENT: Risk-Adaptive Certification Frequency
  • HIGH-RISK ACCESS: Quarterly certification
    Context: Financial systems, Admin rights, SOX-scoped applications
  • MEDIUM-RISK ACCESS: Semi-annual certification
    Context: Standard business applications with sensitive data
  • LOW-RISK ACCESS: Annual certification
    Context: General collaboration tools, public resources

5. How ICA Solves Contextual Requirements Challenges

❌ The Traditional Problem

  • Business stakeholders don't know how to articulate context in technical terms
  • Analysts miss critical contextual factors in interviews
  • Documentation of contextual rules is inconsistent across stakeholders
  • Complex multi-dimensional context is hard to capture in spreadsheets
  • Conditional logic and branching scenarios are difficult to document
  • 12+ weeks of back-and-forth trying to clarify contextual nuances

✅ ICA's Solution

  • Conversational interface allows stakeholders to describe context naturally
  • Built-in expertise ensures all critical contextual dimensions are explored
  • Intelligent follow-ups capture the complete contextual picture
  • Conditional logic adapts questions based on contextual responses
  • AI interpretation translates business context into technical specifications
  • Under 10 days to capture complete contextual requirements

6. Real-World ICA Contextual Requirements Examples

1 Healthcare Break-Glass Access

ICA: "Do clinical staff need emergency access to patient records?"
Stakeholder: "Yes, ER doctors need to access any patient record during emergencies."
ICA: "Let me capture the contextual details:
• When should this emergency access be available?
• Where should it work from?
• What level of logging and review is required?
• Should there be automatic notifications?
• How quickly should access be granted?"

ICA Documents:

  • USER CONTEXT: ER physician, On-call status = Active
  • TIME CONTEXT: During on-call shift hours only
  • LOCATION CONTEXT: Hospital network or hospital-approved VPN
  • ACCESS CONTEXT: PHI access, All patient records
  • RISK CONTEXT: High-risk break-glass scenario
  • AUDIT CONTEXT: Real-time SIEM alert, Manager notification, Post-access review within 24 hours

2 Contractor Access Management

ICA Captures:

  • USER CONTEXT: Employment Type = Contractor
  • TIME CONTEXT: Contract End Date (from HR system)
  • AUTOMATED ACTION: 30-day advance warning to manager
  • AUTOMATED ACTION: 7-day advance warning to contractor and manager
  • AUTOMATED ACTION: Auto-revoke all access on contract end date + 1 day
  • EXCEPTION PROCESS: Contract extension requires HR system update to extend access
  • AUDIT REQUIREMENT: Report all contractor access expiration events

3 Separation of Duties Context

ICA Documents:

  • ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT: Procurement process
  • ACCESS CONTEXT: Purchase Order Creation + Approval permissions
  • RELATIONSHIP CONTEXT: Cannot be assigned to same user
  • RISK CONTEXT: SOX compliance requirement, High risk
  • ENFORCEMENT: Hard block at role assignment time
  • EXCEPTION PROCESS: CFO approval required for exceptions, logged for audit
  • SCOPE: Applies to all users in Finance and Procurement departments

7. ICA's Post-Survey Contextual Analysis

After stakeholders complete surveys, ICA provides AI-powered assessment with contextual insights:

Contextual Insights Generated:

  • "Multiple stakeholders mentioned time-based restrictions but specified different time windows—recommend clarification meeting"
  • "Identified 15 distinct contextual access rules across departments—may need role hierarchy to manage complexity"
  • "SoD requirements mentioned by Finance but not captured for IT systems—potential gap to address"
  • "Location-based access restrictions inconsistent between EMEA and APAC regions—requires policy standardization"

Contextual Completeness Check:

  • ⚠️ "Privileged access requirements mentioned but no break-glass procedures defined"
  • ⚠️ "Temporary access process described but no duration limits specified"
  • ⚠️ "Contractor access restrictions mentioned but contract end date tracking not addressed"

Benefits of ICA's Contextual Requirements Gathering

⚙️ For IGA Administrators

  • Complete contextual requirements in 10 days vs. 12 weeks
  • No critical contextual factors missed
  • Consistent contextual documentation
  • Platform-agnostic requirements
  • AI identifies conflicts and gaps

👔 For Business Stakeholders

  • Describe contextual needs in plain language
  • No need to understand ABAC or policy engines
  • AI guides through relevant dimensions
  • Complete surveys at own pace
  • See context translated to technical specs

🛡️ For Security & Compliance

  • All risk context systematically documented
  • SoD with full organizational context
  • Audit trails show context driving decisions
  • Regulatory context captured
  • Exception scenarios documented

🏗️ For IAM/IGA Architects

  • Professional-grade contextual documentation
  • Clear business-to-technical mapping
  • Attribute sources identified for ABAC
  • Integration points defined
  • Edge cases documented
6
Contextual Dimensions
Captured
10
Days to Complete
Requirements
100%
Context Coverage
Guaranteed
70%
Time Reduction
vs Traditional

🎯 The Bottom Line

Contextual information is complex, multi-dimensional, and critical to effective IGA—but traditionally impossible to capture efficiently.

Identity Co-Analyst transforms contextual requirements gathering by:

  • Systematically exploring all six contextual dimensions through expert-designed questionnaires
  • Adapting intelligently based on stakeholder responses using conditional logic
  • Interpreting naturally when stakeholders describe context in business terms
  • Documenting comprehensively with all contextual factors in professional specifications
  • Identifying gaps where contextual requirements are incomplete or conflicting
  • Accelerating dramatically from 12 weeks to 10 days for complete contextual requirements

Identity Co-Analyst doesn't just capture requirements—it captures the context that makes those requirements actionable, implementable, and aligned with how your organization actually operates.