Government Agency Automates Shared Mailbox Access Management
Reducing service desk workload and delivering ROI within eight months
Client Snapshot
Organisation: Mid-sized government agency
Industry: Public sector
Environment: Microsoft Exchange / Microsoft 365
Use Case: Shared mailbox access automation
Stakeholders: IT Operations, Service Desk, Business Teams.
Solutions: Activate Identity Lifecycle
The Challenge
Our customer, a mid-sized government agency, relied on its service desk to manually manage shared mailbox access requests. Each month, the IT team processed around 166 service tickets for mailbox updates, resulting in approximately 2,000 tickets per year. This manual process created unnecessary operational costs and slowed service delivery. Key challenges included:
High service desk workload from mailbox access requests
Limited visibility into who had access to shared mailboxes
Governance challenges because only Exchange administrators could view permissions
Slow fulfilment of access updates due to manual processing
They needed a more efficient and transparent way to manage shared mailbox access.
The Solution
We deployed Activate’s Identity Lifecycle solution to automate mailbox access management and streamline request workflows, introducing policy-driven access management tied to user roles and lifecycle events. Key capabilities included:
Automated Mailbox Access Management
Access rights can be granted, updated, or removed automatically based on predefined policies.
Self-Service Access Requests
Mailbox owners can approve or manage access requests without relying on the service desk.
Lifecycle-Based Access Control
Mailbox permissions are linked to joiner, mover, and leaver processes so access updates automatically reflect staff role changes.
Improved Governance and Visibility
Business users can see who has access to shared mailboxes, while all changes are logged and auditable.
Microsoft Exchange Integration
Activate applies changes through Microsoft Exchange APIs, allowing access updates to occur in minutes.
Business Impact
By deploying Activate’s Identity Lifecycle solution, our customer significantly reduced operational overhead while improving transparency and governance.
The organisation now benefits from:
Lower service desk workload
Faster mailbox access updates
Improved visibility and control of mailbox permissions
Consistent policy-based access management
The solution delivered immediate operational improvements and is expected to pay for itself within eight months, demonstrating a clear return on investment.
Key Outcomes of deploying Activate Identity Lifecycle
2,000 annual service desk tickets eliminated
~$63,000 annual cost reduction
Mailbox access updates completed in minutes instead of hours
Improved visibility of shared mailbox access
Consistent, policy-based access management