Step 1 - Establish an Access Governance Structure

A strong governance structure is essential to identify and resolve access management concerns. Clear governance also supports improved communication, faster problem resolution, and stakeholder buy-in.

Checklist

 Establish goals and objectives. Clear enterprise-level goals and objectives can help you build a more streamlined, cost-effective, and efficient access control environment. They also enable stakeholders to understand and work toward a common vision to improve access control.

 Coordinate with partners. Work with other agencies, data providers, and other stakeholders as you implement your access control measures to build trust, share information and provide secure interoperability.

 Communicate with stakeholders. Develop an outreach and awareness program that communicates agency goals and objectives to stakeholders, so they understand the benefits and rationale for implementing access control measures.

 Consolidate tools and technologies.Assess your current suite of access control tools and technologies. Can anything be consolidated or is it time to procure or developed new solutions to streamline processes and save money? Depending on the magnitude of changes, you may also need to update to your Staffing Plan.

 Secure funding. To identify funding for your program, develop a business case and perform a cost/benefit analysis for required access control measures to help you secure the funding you need for your access control implementation.

 Assess risk. Perform and analyze resource risk assessments to determine which security and access control requirements will be needed to protect your agency. Evaluate risks against authoritative standardssuch as those set by the Office of Management and Budget [OMB], the Interagency Security Committee [ISC], or the National Institute of Standards and Technology [NIST]).