Just-in-Time (JIT)
What is Just-in-Time (JIT)?
Just-in-Time (JIT) means that products and semi-finished goods are delivered only when needed. This saves on inventory costs, among other areas. In this article, we first explain this efficient business concept and its background in more detail. We then show that this JIT mechanism can also be applied effectively in IT environments. We take a close look at the specific capabilities of JIT Access and JIT Provisioning to improve your Identity and Access Management.
Origin of the Just-in-Time Method
Just-in-Time (JIT) is originally a management strategy developed in Japan and first applied by the industrial conglomerate Toyota. JIT is often used together with concepts such as Kaizen and Lean Management. Each of these methods aims to optimize operations and production while adding as much value as possible at minimal cost.
How Does Just-in-Time Work in a Business?
JIT was specifically developed to minimize waste and optimize efficiency in production and logistics processes. The goal is to organize the entire supply chain so that raw materials and components are delivered shortly before actual production. Finished products are then produced at the right moment so they can be forwarded directly to customers. This offers important advantages, although there are risks to consider:
Just-in-Time Advantages: All unnecessary material storage costs money. Warehouse space is expensive, items get damaged, and there is a risk of leftover stock. With JIT, you optimize inventory, and that positively affects profitability.
JIT Disadvantages: At the same time, this can only be organized with close collaboration among all suppliers, customers, and logistics providers. That is highly complex, and if something goes wrong anywhere, the entire chain can stall immediately; operations can effectively come to a halt because a single component is missing.
Is JIT Cost-Effective?
It is not guaranteed that a JIT approach will always deliver the desired return. This differs per organization and depends on business objectives and customer expectations. From a cost perspective, JIT is often the ideal choice. However, if delivery reliability is critical, you may opt for a different operating model.
Just-in-Time IAM
Just-in-Time originated in the industrial sector, where it can optimize production. At the same time, the same JIT philosophy can be applied in other domains. These range from healthcare, retail, and supermarkets to hospitality, quick-service restaurants, and construction. Even within IT automation, you can apply JIT principles, particularly for issuing licenses, accounts, and access rights.
Organizations use Identity and Access Management systems to ensure their IT users receive the correct digital accounts and the required access rights.
Principle of Least Privilege and Lower Licensing Costs
The basic principle is that people should only have access to the functionality and data they need to do their jobs. This is called the Principle of Least Privilege. You also want users to receive those accounts and rights only when they actually need them, not earlier. We therefore want to grant access rights Just-In-Time and revoke them promptly. This improves information security and prevents unnecessary use of expensive licenses. Two concepts are relevant here:
Just-in-Time Provisioning. This focuses on creating user accounts only when they are truly needed. We prefer not to have unused licenses and accounts sitting idle in our systems.
Just-in-Time Access. This is the next step. We want to grant certain usage rights to users with an account only for a defined period when they are actually needed. If someone else inadvertently gains access to such an account, the potential damage is limited.
We provide some examples below.
Just-in-Time Provisioning
With automated user provisioning in modern IAM solutions such as HelloID, we ensure that accounts and associated permissions are granted only when needed. We use user attributes such as role, department, and other characteristics. That data is kept up to date in systems such as HR and is passed to the IAM platform through a direct integration.
This allows us to automatically provide a new employee on the contract start date with user accounts and access rights that match their role and department. If they later change roles or departments, their accounts and rights are adjusted immediately. Your IAM provisioning functionality processes all changes just-in-time. If someone leaves the organization, the platform promptly blocks accounts and rights.
JIT Provisioning Via Identity Provider and SSO
This approach already aligns closely with the principles of Just-in-Time (JIT) provisioning. Some organizations, however, require an even more rigorous JIT model. A common example is guest accounts for partners or customers. These accounts are often optional, and it’s not known in advance if—or when—they will be used. In such cases, creating a user account in advance is unnecessary and undesirable.
Identity providers such as Entra ID therefore offer JIT Provisioning, in which an account is created only when the user signs in to the system for the first time. The Single Sign-On settings already indicate that the user is entitled to this application, but the account is created only now. This prevents unused accounts from lingering in your systems.
Just-in-Time Access
The previous examples focused on granting accounts and associated baseline rights at the right time. There may also be specific rights that you want to make available only at defined moments. Solutions are available for that as well.
JIT Access in Privileged Access Management
For admin accounts, also called privileged accounts, you often want to reduce security risks by granting administrators elevated rights to servers, databases, cloud environments, and applications only temporarily. Once the administrator completes a task, the elevated rights are revoked. This form of Just-in-Time Access, or JIT access, is used by Privileged Access Management systems.
These systems help prevent unauthorized access and misuse of privileged accounts. Examples include CyberArk, BeyondTrust, and Microsoft PIM. Within such systems, elevated rights are granted temporarily and then automatically revoked after a specified time.
Conditional Access
Another option to prevent users from accessing applications and data at all times, from any location, is Conditional Access. A person then has a permanent account and defined rights, subject to additional conditions. They may apply only during business hours or from the corporate network. In the evening or when you sign in remotely, you automatically have limited access rights.
Access Rights Management for Contingent Staff
Many organizations have employees and contractors who work rotating shifts at different locations and departments. Such a worker often needs different access rights for each shift. For example, if you schedule a nurse for different shifts, they must be able to view data from different departments and patients in the Electronic Health Record.
Fortunately, most organizations schedule such shifts with a planning tool. By connecting that scheduling application as an additional source system to your IAM platform, we can ensure that each user is automatically provisioned with the correct rights for each shift. As an employee, you have your baseline accounts and rights by default, and the additional rights needed to perform the upcoming shift are added just in time.
Just-in-Time Account and Access Rights Management?
With the HelloID Provisioning module, you ensure that every employee automatically receives access to the required accounts and access rights at the right time. We explain more about it here, and in this case, we share more about integrations with online scheduling applications to automatically provide your contingent staff with the right data for every shift.