Activate Access Hub provides a centralised, user-friendly way for employees to request, approve, and manage services across the organisation. It automates the full service lifecycle — from creation and approval through to provisioning and eventual removal — reducing manual effort and ensuring consistency, compliance, and efficiency.

Activate offers an intuitive end-user catalogue where users can browse or search for available services such as software, hardware, phones, or other business resources. Each catalogue item includes key details such as description, pricing, and approval requirements. Catalogue Managers can add metadata, organise categories, and manage items directly from the Activate Web Portal.

Where supported, Activate uses native connectors to automatically provision services such as software or application access. For services requiring manual fulfilment (for example, hardware requests), Activate can assign requests to fulfilment queues or raise tickets in an integrated service desk system.

Service desk ticketing requires the Activate Service Desk Integration product.

Services Manager allows organisations to capture additional data during a request using configurable forms. Simple web forms are built directly in the Activate Web Portal, while more advanced forms can be designed in Activate Studio. Collected data can be used for automation or passed through for manual processing.

Activate supports multi-level business approval workflows, ensuring each service request is properly authorised. Different services can have unique approval paths, and all actions — approvals, declines, and changes — are recorded for audit purposes.

Users can view and manage their current services from the portal, including updating or removing services as needed. The system can also suggest related or prerequisite services — for example, prompting users to request VPN access when ordering remote access tools.

Activate supports time-bound service assignments, ideal for temporary access or leased resources. When the expiry date is reached, services are automatically de-provisioned, either through automation or by generating a manual service desk task.

Each service catalogue item can have multiple business approvers responsible for managing and authorising requests. Approvers are notified automatically and can act directly from email or within the portal.

Activate provides full visibility into who has access to each service and complete audit trails across all provisioning activities. Business users and approvers can view service ownership, pending requests, and approval history from within the Activate Web Portal.

By automating service delivery and governance, Activate Services Manager simplifies the request process, reduces manual workload, and ensures services are delivered quickly, securely, and within defined business rules.

Overview

Features

Microsoft’s cloud platform providing infrastructure, networking, storage, and application services. In Activate, it’s used as the hosting environment or for integration with Microsoft 365 and Entra ID services.

Azure

DotNetVersion

Microsoft Entra Connect (formerly Azure AD Connect) is a tool that syncs on-premises Active Directory identities with Microsoft Entra ID, enabling hybrid identity and seamless access to cloud resources.

Microsoft_Entra_Connect

Active Directory (AD) is Microsoft’s directory service that stores and manages user accounts, devices, and permissions, enabling secure authentication and centralized access control within a Windows network.

Active_Directory

ActivateJobService

ActivateAdministrator

SupportedPowerShellVersions

SupportedOSVersions

SupportedSQLVersions

Name that identifies the instance of Activate.  This is only used by Administrators and isn't displayed to end users.

instance_name

An installation type of Activate where there is no local domain connection, all authentication, authorisation and identity management is handled by Entra ID.

Cloud_Only

Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) is Microsoft’s cloud-based identity and access management service, providing secure authentication, user lifecycle management, and access control for Microsoft 365 and other apps.

Microsoft_Entra_ID

A software switch that enables or disables functionality at runtime without redeploying code. In Activate, they are configured under //Resources/Configuration/FeatureFlags.

feature_flag

Microsoft module for managing Exchange Online, using modern authentication and REST API–based cmdlets for faster, more reliable automation of mailboxes, compliance, and organisation settings.

EXO_V3_PowerShell_Module

An Organizational Unit (OU) is a container in Active Directory used to organise users, groups, computers, and other objects within a domain. OUs help structure resources logically and apply group policies for easier management and administration.

A User Type is a template in Activate that defines rules, attributes, and behaviours for a category of users (e.g., Employee, Contractor), ensuring consistent user account setup and configuration.

User_Type

A resource object in Activate representing a physical or virtual Exchange Server

Exchange_Server_Resource

Defines the object type that the resource will emulate or operate as.

Class_parameter

Clonesthe selected inherited parameter to make a local copy to override the value

Override

Runs the Activate Provisioning Server and performs actions across target systems.

Orchestrator_Account

A complete, immutable log of identity-related events, including provisioning actions, access approvals, and policy evaluations.

Audit_Trail

An integration module that enables Activate to read/write data from external systems (e.g., provisioning accounts in Azure AD).

Connector

A periodic process where managers or data owners validate that users still require their existing access — critical for compliance.

Access_Certification_and_Review

A user-initiated process to gain access to new systems or roles, often requiring manager or system owner approval.

Access_Request

Any downstream application or service where identities need access (e.g., Active Directory, Okta, Salesforce).

Target_System

The authoritative system from which identity data is imported (e.g., HRIS like Workday or SAP SuccessFactors).

Identity_Source

An access control model that uses user, resource, or environment attributes (e.g., department = "HR", location = "US") to make access decisions dynamically.

ABAC_Attribute-Based_Access_Control

An access control model where users receive permissions based on assigned roles. This model helps enforce least privilege.

RBAC_Role-Based_Access_Control

A collection of entitlements assigned based on a user’s job function or department. Roles simplify access management and are often tied to policies (e.g., "Finance Analyst Role").

Role

A specific access right or permission within a system (e.g., "Read-only access to Salesforce Reports"). Entitlements can be grouped into roles.

Entitlement

The removal or disabling of user accounts and access when they are no longer required — for example, when an employee leaves the organization.

Deprovisioning

The automated process of creating accounts and granting access to systems or applications based on a user’s role or attributes.

Provisioning

A digital representation of a user (employee, contractor, service account, etc.) within an organization. Each identity is typically linked to a unique identifier, such as an email address or employee ID.

Identity

This is the process of bringing on a new user

Onboarding

Hierarchical Role-Based Provisioning automates user access by assigning roles based on organisational structure, ensuring users inherit the correct permissions and resources aligned to their position or function.

Hierarchical_Role-Based_Provisioning

A group email address that automatically forwards messages to all its members, allowing you to send emails to multiple recipients at once.

Distribution_List

An expression is a conditional statement using Activate expression syntax.

expression

AzureProductName

Automated Provisioning

Activate Knowledge Centre

For Engineers

For Architects

For Service Desk

For C-Suite and Decision Makers

For Partners & Analysts

Welcome to Activate Knowledge Centre

What is Activate?

Key terms

System Overview

Solution Architecture Overview

Areas of Automation

Key Components

Deployment Models

Security Architecture Overview

Azure/EntraID and Activate

Workflow Designer

Platform Governance and Operations

Core Architecture