Identity & Access Management for Startups

Centralized identity management is not optional once your team exceeds a handful of people. This skill covers practical, production-ready configurations for SSO, SCIM provisioning, MFA enforcement, and access governance using the three most common identity providers for startups: Google Workspace, Okta, and Azure AD (Entra ID).

2. Google Workspace as Identity Provider

Google Workspace is the most common starting IdP for startups. Combined with the GAM CLI tool, it provides powerful automation.

Install GAM (Google Apps Manager)

# Install GAM on Linux/macOS
curl -s -S -L https://gam-shortn.appspot.com/gam-install -o /tmp/gam-install.sh && bash /tmp/gam-install.sh && rm /tmp/gam-install.sh

# Authorize GAM with your Workspace domain
gam oauth create

# Verify connection
gam info domain

Create Organizational Units

Organizational units (OUs) control policy inheritance and app access.

# Create OUs for team structure
gam create org "Engineering"
gam create org "Engineering/Backend"
gam create org "Engineering/Frontend"
gam create org "Operations"
gam create org "Operations/IT"
gam create org "Finance"
gam create org "Contractors"

# Move a user into an OU
gam update user alice@company.com org "Engineering/Backend"

# List all OUs
gam print orgs

Configure a SAML App in Google Workspace

# Export the Google IdP metadata (download from Admin Console or use GAM)
# Admin Console: Apps > Web and mobile apps > Add app > Search for app > Download IdP metadata

# For a custom SAML app, you need:
# 1. ACS URL (from the service provider)
# 2. Entity ID (from the service provider)
# 3. Name ID format (usually EMAIL)

# Example: Add a custom SAML app via Admin Console API
gam create samlapp "Internal Dashboard" \
  acs_url "https://dashboard.company.com/saml/acs" \
  entity_id "https://dashboard.company.com" \
  name_id_format "EMAIL" \
  name_id "user.primaryEmail"

# Assign the app to an OU
gam update samlapp "Internal Dashboard" org "Engineering" enabled on

# Verify SAML app status
gam print samlappinfo "Internal Dashboard"

SCIM Provisioning with Google Workspace

# Enable auto-provisioning for supported apps
# Google Workspace supports automatic user provisioning for apps like:
# Slack, Zoom, Box, Dropbox, Asana, GitHub Enterprise

# List provisioned apps
gam print tokens

# Force sync provisioning for an app
gam sync samlapp "Slack" users

# Bulk create users from CSV
# users.csv format: firstname,lastname,email,org,password
gam csv users.csv gam create user ~email \
  firstname ~firstname lastname ~lastname \
  password ~password org ~org \
  changepassword on

Enforce MFA at the Workspace Level

# Enforce 2-step verification for the entire domain
gam update org "/" 2sv enforced

# Enforce 2SV for a specific OU
gam update org "Engineering" 2sv enforced

# Set enforcement date (give users time to enroll)
gam update org "/" 2sv enforced enforceddate 2026-04-15

# Check 2SV enrollment status for all users
gam print users fields isEnforcedIn2Sv,isEnrolledIn2Sv

# Find users who have NOT enrolled in 2SV
gam print users query "isEnrolledIn2Sv=false" fields primaryEmail,name

3. Okta Setup

Okta offers a free tier for startups (Okta for Startups program -- up to 100 users) making it an excellent choice for teams that need a dedicated IdP.

Initial Okta Configuration via API

# Set your Okta domain and API token
export OKTA_ORG_URL="https://company.okta.com"
export OKTA_API_TOKEN="your-api-token"

# Verify connectivity
curl -s -H "Authorization: SSWS ${OKTA_API_TOKEN}" \
  "${OKTA_ORG_URL}/api/v1/org" | jq '.companyName'

# Create a user
curl -s -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: SSWS ${OKTA_API_TOKEN}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "${OKTA_ORG_URL}/api/v1/users?activate=true" \
  -d '{
    "profile": {
      "firstName": "Alice",
      "lastName": "Engineer",
      "email": "alice@company.com",
      "login": "alice@company.com"
    },
    "credentials": {
      "password": { "value": "TempP@ss123!" }
    }
  }' | jq '.id'

Create Groups for RBAC

# Create groups
for group in "Engineering" "Operations" "Finance" "Contractors" "AdminAccess"; do
  curl -s -X POST \
    -H "Authorization: SSWS ${OKTA_API_TOKEN}" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    "${OKTA_ORG_URL}/api/v1/groups" \
    -d "{\"profile\": {\"name\": \"${group}\", \"description\": \"${group} team group\"}}" \
    | jq '{id: .id, name: .profile.name}'
done

# Add user to group
USER_ID="00u1abc123"
GROUP_ID="00g1def456"
curl -s -X PUT \
  -H "Authorization: SSWS ${OKTA_API_TOKEN}" \
  "${OKTA_ORG_URL}/api/v1/groups/${GROUP_ID}/users/${USER_ID}"

Add a SAML Application in Okta

# Create a SAML 2.0 application
curl -s -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: SSWS ${OKTA_API_TOKEN}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "${OKTA_ORG_URL}/api/v1/apps" \
  -d '{
    "name": "custom_saml_app",
    "label": "Internal Dashboard",
    "signOnMode": "SAML_2_0",
    "settings": {
      "signOn": {
        "defaultRelayState": "",
        "ssoAcsUrl": "https://dashboard.company.com/saml/acs",
        "audience": "https://dashboard.company.com",
        "recipient": "https://dashboard.company.com/saml/acs",
        "destination": "https://dashboard.company.com/saml/acs",
        "subjectNameIdFormat": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress",
        "attributeStatements": [
          {
            "type": "EXPRESSION",
            "name": "email",
            "namespace": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:basic",
            "values": ["user.email"]
          },
          {
            "type": "EXPRESSION",
            "name": "groups",
            "namespace": "urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:basic",
            "values": ["getFilteredGroups({\"00g1def456\"}, \"group.name\", 50)"]
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }' | jq '{id: .id, label: .label, status: .status}'

# Assign group to application
APP_ID="0oa1xyz789"
curl -s -X PUT \
  -H "Authorization: SSWS ${OKTA_API_TOKEN}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "${OKTA_ORG_URL}/api/v1/apps/${APP_ID}/groups/${GROUP_ID}"

Okta MFA Policy

# Create an MFA enrollment policy requiring WebAuthn + TOTP
curl -s -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: SSWS ${OKTA_API_TOKEN}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "${OKTA_ORG_URL}/api/v1/policies" \
  -d '{
    "type": "MFA_ENROLL",
    "name": "Require Strong MFA",
    "status": "ACTIVE",
    "settings": {
      "factors": {
        "webauthn": { "enroll": { "self": "REQUIRED" } },
        "google_otp": { "enroll": { "self": "OPTIONAL" } },
        "okta_email": { "enroll": { "self": "NOT_ALLOWED" } },
        "okta_sms": { "enroll": { "self": "NOT_ALLOWED" } }
      }
    }
  }' | jq '{id: .id, name: .name, status: .status}'

4. Azure AD / Entra ID

Azure AD (now Microsoft Entra ID) is common at startups using Microsoft 365 or Azure cloud.

Azure CLI Setup

# Install Azure CLI and sign in
az login

# Set the default tenant
az account set --subscription "your-subscription-id"

# Verify tenant
az ad signed-in-user show --query '{name:displayName, email:userPrincipalName}'

Create Users and Groups

# Create a user
az ad user create \
  --display-name "Alice Engineer" \
  --user-principal-name "alice@company.onmicrosoft.com" \
  --password "TempP@ss123!" \
  --force-change-password-next-sign-in true

# Create security groups
for group in "SG-Engineering" "SG-Operations" "SG-Finance" "SG-Admins"; do
  az ad group create --display-name "$group" --mail-nickname "$group"
done

# Add user to group
USER_OID=$(az ad user show --id "alice@company.onmicrosoft.com" --query id -o tsv)
GROUP_OID=$(az ad group show --group "SG-Engineering" --query id -o tsv)
az ad group member add --group "$GROUP_OID" --member-id "$USER_OID"

# List group members
az ad group member list --group "SG-Engineering" --query '[].{name:displayName, email:userPrincipalName}' -o table

Conditional Access Policies via Graph API

# Require MFA for all users accessing cloud apps
# Uses Microsoft Graph API
ACCESS_TOKEN=$(az account get-access-token --resource https://graph.microsoft.com --query accessToken -o tsv)

curl -s -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/identity/conditionalAccess/policies" \
  -d '{
    "displayName": "Require MFA for all users",
    "state": "enabledForReportingButNotEnforced",
    "conditions": {
      "users": {
        "includeUsers": ["All"],
        "excludeGroups": ["'${BREAKGLASS_GROUP_OID}'"]
      },
      "applications": {
        "includeApplications": ["All"]
      }
    },
    "grantControls": {
      "operator": "OR",
      "builtInControls": ["mfa"]
    }
  }'

# Block legacy authentication (critical for security)
curl -s -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/identity/conditionalAccess/policies" \
  -d '{
    "displayName": "Block legacy authentication",
    "state": "enabled",
    "conditions": {
      "users": { "includeUsers": ["All"] },
      "applications": { "includeApplications": ["All"] },
      "clientAppTypes": ["exchangeActiveSync", "other"]
    },
    "grantControls": {
      "operator": "OR",
      "builtInControls": ["block"]
    }
  }'

Contents

• 5. SSO Integration Patterns
• 6. SCIM Provisioning
• 7. MFA Enforcement
• 8. Role-Based Access Control
• 9. Audit & Compliance
• 10. Offboarding
• Quick Reference

When to Use This Skill

Reach for this skill when:

• First SSO setup -- You are moving from individual app logins to centralized authentication.
• Compliance audit preparation -- SOC 2, ISO 27001, or HIPAA requires documented access controls, MFA enforcement, and audit logs.
• Team growth inflection -- You are crossing 15-20 employees and manual onboarding/offboarding is becoming error-prone.
• Vendor security questionnaires -- Customers are asking about your identity posture and you need to demonstrate controls.
• Incident response -- You need to revoke access quickly across all systems for a departing or compromised user.

Signs you are overdue:

• Shared passwords in a spreadsheet or chat channel.
• No central audit log of who accessed what and when.
• Offboarding takes more than one business day.
• Developers have standing admin access to production.

Limitations

• Infrastructure commands can disrupt services: confirm target host/scope and have backups/snapshots before mutating state.
• Docs-only import: upstream scripts and templates not bundled.