The 3 IAM Metrics Every CISO Should Be Tracking

If you’re a CISO, you already know identity and access management (IAM) isn’t just an IT problem, it's a business problem.

Bad IAM leads to security gaps, compliance nightmares, and even revenue losses. And yet, too many companies track vanity metrics that look great on a dashboard but don’t actually tell you if your IAM program is working.

So, let’s cut through the noise. Here are the three IAM metrics every CISO should be tracking the ones that actually matter for security, compliance, and operational efficiency.

1. Time to Provision and Deprovision Users

Why This Metric Matters

Onboarding and offboarding employees should be a smooth, automated process. But in reality? It’s often a slow, manual mess.

A delay in provisioning means employees can’t do their jobs efficiently. But a delay in deprovisioning? That’s a security disaster.

If a former employee, contractor, or vendor keeps access to critical systems after they leave, that’s an open door for data breaches, insider threats, and compliance violations.

How to Track It

You should be measuring:

? ? Average time to provision new users (from the moment HR approves the hire to full access being granted).

? ? Average time to deprovision users (how long it takes to fully remove access after termination).

Industry benchmark: Best-in-class organizations can provision users in less than 24 hours and deprovision them within minutes of termination. If you’re taking days (or worse, weeks), you’re exposed to major security risks.

How to Improve It

• Automate IAM workflows using identity governance tools like Okta, SailPoint, or Ping Identity.
• Integrate IAM with HR systems to trigger instant access provisioning/deprovisioning.
• Implement Just-In-Time (JIT) access for high-risk roles this way, users only get access when they need it and lose it automatically when they don’t.

2. Percentage of Orphaned and Dormant Accounts

Why This Metric Matters

Every CISO should be terrified of orphaned accounts. These are user accounts that still exist even though their owners shouldn’t have access anymore.

Example?

A former contractor’s account is still active six months after their project ended. Their credentials are sitting there, waiting to be stolen, misused, or sold on the dark web.

Dormant accounts are just as bad. If an account hasn’t been used in months, it’s a hacker’s dream. Attackers love taking over dormant accounts because they’re less likely to be noticed.

How to Track It

You need to regularly audit:

Orphaned accounts – User accounts without an active owner (employees, vendors, contractors).

Dormant accounts – Accounts that haven’t been used in 60+ days but are still enabled.

Industry benchmark: The best IAM programs keep orphaned accounts at <1% of total accounts and actively disable dormant accounts after 30-60 days.

How to Improve It

Schedule automated account reviews every 30 days to detect orphaned accounts.

Set up auto-disabling policies for dormant accounts after 60 days of inactivity.

Use Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to ensure accounts are tied to roles, not people when someone leaves, access disappears automatically.

3. Number of Privileged Access Violations

Why This Metric Matters

Privileged accounts are the crown jewels of your IT environment.

Admin accounts, database access, cloud root accounts if these get compromised, attackers can wreak havoc.

The problem? Many companies over-provision privileged access, meaning way too many users have way too much power. Even worse, many of these accounts never get reviewed after they’re assigned.

If an attacker gains access to a privileged account, they can disable security tools, exfiltrate data, or even delete backups all while staying under the radar.

How to Track It

Number of users with unnecessary admin access – If you have more admins than necessary, you’re begging for trouble

Privileged access usage – Are admins using their elevated permissions only when needed? If not, that’s a red flag

Privileged access review frequency – How often are you auditing privileged access? If the answer isn’t at least quarterly, you’re doing it wrong.

Industry benchmark:

• 80%+ of employees should have standard, non-privileged access.
• Privileged access should be reviewed every 90 days.
• Use cases for privileged access should be logged and monitored in real time.

How to Improve It

• Implement Least Privilege Access (LPA) – Employees should only have the permissions they absolutely need.
• Use Privileged Access Management (PAM) tools like CyberArk, BeyondTrust, or HashiCorp Vault.
• Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on all privileged accounts with no exceptions.

Final Thoughts: Track What Matters

CISOs don’t need fancy graphs and vanity metrics. They need real security insights that tell them whether their IAM program is actually keeping the company safe.

If you only track three IAM metrics, make it these:

• Time to provision and deprovision users – If offboarding is slow, you’re at risk.
• Percentage of orphaned and dormant accounts – If these exist, you have attack entry points.
• Number of privileged access violations – If privileged access isn’t locked down, your entire infrastructure is vulnerable.

IAM isn’t just about security it’s about efficiency, compliance, and risk reduction. And the best IAM programs don’t just track these metrics. They optimize them.

So, what’s your biggest challenge with IAM? Let me know in the comments.