IBM Security Identity Governance and Intelligence, Version 5.2

Organization unit

An organization unit is a basic element of an organization. An organization can be hierarchically structured in different ways according to different classifications.

For example, some organizations are organized by a geographical classification.

Figure 1. Geographical organization

Others must be organized through a hierarchy of functional units.

Figure 2. Hierarchical organization

Others might use a combination of both approaches.

Figure 3. Mixed organization

Other possible classifications can be built as well.

In the IBM® Security Identity Governance and Intelligence Core Model, every type of organization can be described as a hierarchy of organization units (OUs). Every OU in the hierarchy is displayed as an expandable directory tree if associated child elements exist with a free number of distinct levels in the hierarchy. A single OU is aggregated to a set of users and to a set of entitlements that can be assigned to every user.