What does the IAM operations team (Fachbetreuung) do, and what does it expect from the system?
It operates the IAM system and supports its users; it expects routine processes to run automatically, with manual intervention only in exceptional cases.
The operations team (synonyms: Fachadministration, OPS team) is the group that runs the IAM day to day. Its two tasks:
- Operating the system (Betrieb der Anlage): keeping the IAM servers, connectors, data feeds and interfaces running, monitoring them and fixing failures.
- Supporting the users (Betreuung der Benutzer): answering questions, resolving login problems, handling special cases.
Its expectation is clear: routine processes run automatically. A new employee in the HR system should get their accounts without anyone typing them in; a leaver should lose access without someone remembering to do it. Manual intervention is reserved for the exception.
This expectation is a design requirement, not a convenience. In an organisation of thousands, manual account handling is slow, expensive and error-prone, and every error is either a person who cannot work or a person who keeps access they should not have. Designing the IAM processes so that the standard case is automated is therefore one of the central goals of IAM process work.
Go deeper:
eCH-0107: design principles for IAM — defines the IAM support actor and the requirement for economical, effective operation (in German).