Originally published on Medium:
👉 https://medium.com/@puja.2apr/okta-beginner-series-part-2-users-and-groups-aad2d8d178cc
Okta Beginner Series (Part 2): Users & Groups Explained 👥
Managing users one by one?
That doesn’t scale. ❌
This is exactly where Users & Groups in Okta come in.
👤 What are Users in Okta?
A user is simply a person who can log into the system.
Each user has:
- Username
- Assigned applications
- Permissions
🔍 Types of Users
In real organizations, users can be:
- Employees
- Contractors
- Partners
Each type may need different access.
👥 What are Groups in Okta?
Groups are collections of users.
Instead of assigning apps individually:
👉 You assign apps to a group
Then add users to that group.
⚡ Why Groups Matter
Without groups:
❌ Assign apps one-by-one
❌ Hard to manage
With groups:
✅ Assign once → applies to many users
✅ Easy on-boarding/off-boarding
💡 Best Practice
👉 Always assign applications to groups, not individual users.
🏢 Real-World Example
Let’s say:
Group: Developers
Apps: GitHub, Jira
New developer joins?
👉 Add them to the Developers group
They instantly get access to everything they need ✅
🔄 On-boarding & Off-boarding
On-boarding:
- Create user
- Add to group
- Access granted automatically
Off-boarding:
- Remove user from group
- Access revoked instantly
🎯 Final Thoughts
Users & Groups are the foundation of scalable access management.
If you understand this well,
you’re already thinking like an IAM professional.
💬 How do you currently manage access in your projects?
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