Prepare for your first assessment

Start with the decision you need to make

An assessment is most useful when it starts with a specific question. Are you reviewing privileged identities, clarifying data platform access or preparing for internal control?

Agree in advance on who will use the result and what a successful review should enable. This helps select relevant sources and avoids collecting information without a clear purpose.

Define the platform and data scope

• Identify the tenants, subscriptions, accounts and workspaces to include.
• Agree on relevant object types and metadata.
• Document platforms and controls outside the scope.
• Clarify how identities can be correlated across sources.

A smaller, documented scope can be a better starting point than a broad collection whose coverage no one can explain.

Establish read access and operational boundaries

Source systems determine the API permissions and licences required. A read-only assessment still needs controlled access to sensitive metadata. Agree on the technical identity, ownership, network requirements and credential handling.

Also establish where execution takes place, who can access results and how failures or partial collection will be handled. Product access and user identities should not be combined without a deliberate design.

Agree on evidence, retention and completion

Each result should link to a source, a run and a collection time. Agree on how findings will be reviewed, who owns follow-up and which conclusions require further validation.

Retention and deletion should cover raw output, reports and any local copies. Document responsibility for each part.

Corinio · An introduction