When aggregating an identity’s accounts, what is a key consideration?

When aggregating an identity’s accounts, a critical consideration is to avoid aggregating accounts before provisioning is complete. This is important because incomplete provisioning can lead to inconsistent or inaccurate identity data being integrated into the system. If accounts are aggregated before provisioning, it may result in a mismatch between the accounts that exist in different systems and what is actually provisioned for the user, leading to potential security risks or access issues.

The aggregating process typically aims to create a unified view of all accounts associated with an identity. If this process begins while provisioning is ongoing, the identity data may be in a transient state, which could compromise the reliability of the aggregation. Ensuring that provisioning is fully complete before aggregation can help maintain data integrity and ensure that only valid and up-to-date accounts are included in the identity management system.

Other options do not align with the best practices for managing identities and account aggregation. For instance, using a single source for all accounts may not always be feasible or practical due to diverse systems and applications in use, while the standardization of account attributes is generally vital for effective identity management, contradicting the idea that it is unnecessary.