SaaS Offboarding Gaps: Why Removing a User Doesn't Always Revoke Access

Deprovisioning departed employees from SaaS products is often overlooked when authentication systems are designed. An administrator may remove a user from a customer organization, assuming access ends immediately, but that outcome depends on how the application handles account status, sessions, tokens, and connected services. Disabling an account at an identity provider blocks new sign-ins, yet existing application sessions can remain active unless the product detects the change and revokes them. The article suggests tools such as SCIM provisioning and centralized identity layers like Keycloak can help coordinate these steps. It concludes that SaaS providers need a defined offboarding process covering every form of access the application controls.