LEARN. PRACTICE. GROW.Concept and mechanism
An access review records decisions about access need, but decision and application are separate steps. With auto apply off, completing the review does not automatically execute removals. Even when results are applied, limitations exist: synchronized groups need source changes; dynamic groups remain rule-dependent; access through group relationships can need additional remediation. Identify the authority source and relevant paths before claiming someone lost access. For direct members of a supported cloud group, apply authorized results and verify final state. Do not use Completed as a universal synonym for Result applied or the latter as proof of absence of every possible access path.
Guided application
Investigation uses sources serving different purposes. Sign-in logs help explain authentication and policy evaluation; audit logs record administrative changes; provisioning logs show synchronization operations toward targets. Correlate identifiers, resource, and time without attributing a change to the last sign-in merely through proximity. In fictional handover between international shifts, describe confirmed facts, hypotheses, executed actions, and remaining work. Successful sign-in can coexist with failed SaaS-account creation. The application team needs to know which operation failed; IAM needs role-change context; the incident manager needs owners and deadlines. The summary can be short if it contains evidence references and clear criteria for declaring recovery or removal complete.
Review Deny on an AD-sourced group: route remediation to the on-premises owner and verify propagation.
Common pitfalls
Decision as execution; cloud as every group’s source; last sign-in as actor; one resolved stage as recovered service.
Related topics: Tenant, scope, and objects · Hybrid identity and partners · Methods and emergency access
Follow each decision to its observed effect and retain owners for remaining work.
Reference: Complete access reviews · SC-300 objectives effective 2026-04-27; product documentation reviewed 2026-10-01; 2026-10-28 English update compared separately