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Recertification Overview

Recertification cycles provide a periodic, auditable process for reviewing and re-approving access rights and data product ownership. They ensure that every resource is reviewed within a defined window, keeping your organization compliant and access hygiene up to date.

Recertification

Why Recertification?​

Over time, access grants accumulate and data product ownership drifts. Users change teams, projects end, and responsibilities shift — but the permissions remain. Recertification addresses this by enforcing periodic reviews that verify whether existing access and ownership are still appropriate.

Benefits include:

  • Compliance readiness — Demonstrate to auditors that every resource is reviewed on schedule
  • Access hygiene — Remove stale permissions and outdated ownership assignments
  • Accountability — Every decision is tracked with timestamps and reviewer identity
  • Risk reduction — Surface high-criticality resources that require attention

Key Personas​

PersonaRoleWhat They Do
Space AdminCycle OwnerCreates cycles, configures filters and templates, monitors progress
Data StewardReviewerReviews individual audit items — approves or rejects each resource
Compliance OfficerAuditorVerifies that every resource was reviewed within the cycle window

Cycle Types​

Recertification supports two cycle types that determine which resources are scanned and reviewed.

Product Cycles​

A Product cycle (product) scans all non-archived data products in the space. Each audit item represents a single data product that needs re-certification. Use product cycles for periodic ownership reviews, data catalog hygiene, and classification validation.

Access Cycles​

An Access cycle (access) scans all source system roles in the space. Each audit item represents a single source system role (e.g., "analyst_readonly" on Snowflake). Use access cycles for compliance-driven role reviews, least-privilege enforcement, and regulatory requirements such as GDPR or SOX.

Lifecycle​

Every recertification cycle moves through a defined set of states:

open → in_review → completed
         ↘ cancelled
StatusMeaning
OpenCycle is active — audit items can be populated or added
In ReviewFrozen for review — reviewers are making approve/reject decisions
CompletedAll items decided — the cycle is read-only
CancelledCycle was aborted before completion

A cancelled cycle can be reopened to resume the review process.

Audit Item Statuses​

Each audit item within a cycle tracks the decision for a single resource:

StatusMeaning
PendingAwaiting review
ApprovedResource is re-certified — no action needed
RejectedResource failed review — follow-up action required
ExpiredThe review window passed without a decision

How It Works​

The typical recertification flow is:

  1. Create — A Space Admin creates a new cycle, choosing a type and due date
  2. Configure — Optionally set filters (tags, product type, criticality) to scope the review, and define request templates
  3. Populate — The system scans the space and creates audit items for each matching resource
  4. Review — Stewards review each audit item, approving or rejecting resources
  5. Recertify — For items that need formal re-approval, recertification requests are created and routed through the workflow system
  6. Complete — Once all items are decided, the cycle is marked as completed

Integration with Workflows​

Cycles can be linked to a workflow definition. When a recertification request is created for an audit item, it is automatically routed through that workflow — enabling multi-step approvals, governance-based routing, and full audit trails.

Integration with Access Requests​

Recertification requests are a special type of access request. When an approver approves or rejects a recertification request, the corresponding audit item's status is automatically synchronized. This means the cycle detail page always reflects the current state of each review.

Learn More​