Privileged Identity Management (PIM) & Admin Hardening

Protect the keys to your kingdom - remove standing admin access, enforce just‑in‑time elevation, and harden identity administration across Entra ID, Azure, and Microsoft 365.

Privileged Identity Management (PIM) in Microsoft Entra ID helps organisations reduce the risk associated with permanent administrator permissions. Instead of long‑lived privileged assignments, PIM supports just‑in‑time access to privileged roles with time‑bound activation, approval workflows, and additional controls such as MFA at activation. PIM also provides visibility through alerts, role assignment auditing, and access review processes - enabling security teams to understand who has elevated access and why.

LW IT Solutions delivers PIM & Admin Hardening as a targeted security programme. We assess your current admin role model, remove unnecessary standing privileges, implement a controlled elevation model, and align administrative access with Zero Trust principles. The result is a safer, auditable admin operating model that reduces lateral movement risk, protects identity infrastructure, and gives your organisation consistent control over privileged roles across Entra ID, Azure resources, and Microsoft 365 workloads.

Talk through your requirements and leave with a clear next-step plan.

Book a discovery call

Service Overview

Highlights

Just-in-time elevation for Entra ID, Azure, and Microsoft 365 roles
Time-bound activation with MFA and approval support
Clear separation of admin and standard user identities
Break-glass access design and documentation
Operational focus on audits, alerts, and access reviews

Business Benefits

Significantly reduce risk from compromised admin accounts by removing standing privileges
Limit blast radius through time-bound, just-in-time elevation for privileged roles
Improve visibility and auditability of who has admin access and when it is used
Strengthen identity security by enforcing consistent admin hygiene across Entra ID, Azure, and Microsoft 365
Provide a clear, supportable operating model for administrators and security teams

Typical use cases

Organisations with permanent global or security administrator assignments
Security programmes responding to identity-related incidents or audit findings
Enterprises adopting zero trust principles for identity administration
Tenants preparing for external audits or regulatory scrutiny
IT teams needing clearer control and accountability for privileged access

Objectives & deliverables

What Success Looks Like

Remove standing admin access and reduce the blast radius of compromised identities
Implement just‑in‑time role activation with time limits and stronger verification controls
Increase auditability of admin actions and improve incident investigation readiness
Improve governance of privileged roles with access reviews and consistent operational processes
Establish a secure admin operating model: separate admin accounts, break‑glass access, and controlled elevation

What You Get

Privileged access assessment pack: current risks, role mapping opportunities, and priority remediation actions
PIM configuration design: activation, approvals, assignment model, and governance recommendations
Implemented PIM policies for agreed roles and scopes (Entra ID / Azure / Microsoft 365 as scoped)
Admin hardening pack: account model, emergency access plan, and admin hygiene actions
Operational runbook: how admins request/activate, how alerts are handled, and how reviews are executed
Rollout plan and communications notes for admin stakeholders

How It Works

Discover - confirm scope (Entra roles, Azure roles, M365 roles), stakeholders, and risk appetite.
Assess - review current privileged assignments, admin accounts, and audit/logging posture.
Design - define least-privilege role model and activation policy standards.
Implement - enable PIM, configure activation/approval policies, and remediate standing admin access.
Pilot - test with a limited admin cohort, validate workflows, and refine operating guidance.
Rollout - expand to all targeted roles and embed ongoing governance (reviews and alert handling).

Engagement Options

Assessment Only - privileged access review with findings and remediation roadmap
PIM Core Enablement - implement PIM for priority Entra ID and Microsoft 365 roles
Full Admin Hardening - PIM plus admin account model, break-glass access, and governance
Operate & Review - ongoing access reviews, alert tuning, and role model refinement

Common Bundles

Customers who use this service often bundle with these services

Conditional Access Design & Rollout
Design and roll out Conditional Access policies with testing, pilot groups, break glass controls, and reporting that reduces risk without disrupting users.

Passwordless & Strong Authentication
Deploy passwordless and strong authentication using Microsoft Entra ID, reducing credential risk while improving sign-in experience for users.

Identity Governance (Access Reviews & Entitlements)
Implement identity governance with access reviews, entitlement management and lifecycle automation to control access duration, justification and audit evidence.

Email Security Assessment
Independent assessment of email security covering mail flow, phishing controls, SPF, DKIM, DMARC and user protections and operational readiness.

Data Security Assessment (Purview-led)
Purview-led assessment identifies data risk, validates protection controls, and produces a prioritised roadmap across labels, DLP, and investigations.

Compliance Manager Assessments
Configure Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager assessments with clear ownership, prioritised improvement actions, managed evidence, and reporting that supports audits.

CIS Intune Benchmark Assessment
Assess Microsoft Intune against CIS Benchmark guidance, identifying configuration gaps and delivering a prioritised hardening backlog with staged remediation.