IT Glossary
Identity lifecycle management governs access from onboarding to offboarding. Learn its stages, how it links to JML, and how Corma automates it.
July 3, 2026
Identity lifecycle management is the end-to-end process of managing a digital identity from creation to deletion. It covers provisioning at onboarding, ongoing changes such as role moves and attribute updates, periodic access reviews, and deprovisioning at offboarding. The goal is that every identity holds exactly the access it should at every stage, with no gaps and no leftovers.
The identity lifecycle runs through four stages. Create and provision grants accounts and role-based access. Maintain and change adjusts access for moves and updates. Review verifies and right-sizes access. Deactivate and delete revokes access and reclaims licenses.
A growing company connects its HRIS so identities are born, updated, reviewed, and retired automatically across 100+ apps. Without lifecycle management, each stage is a manual ticket, which is where delays, over-provisioning, and forgotten accounts creep in. Lifecycle management is the discipline; the JML process is its day-to-day expression.
Identity lifecycle management is the overall discipline of governing an identity from creation to deletion. JML (Joiner-Mover-Leaver) is the practical model describing its key transition stages.
It keeps access accurate at every stage, which improves security, speeds onboarding, supports compliance, and reclaims unused licenses.
An authoritative source such as an HR system, which signals joins, changes, and departures that automatically update access.
