How Tikabu customers ditched spreadsheets and cut user access review (UAR) time by 85%

Executive summary

From a security standpoint, if you're operating in highly regulated industries – finance, insurance, media, legal – completing regular User Access Reviews (UARs) accurately, efficiently, and on time is table stakes. But for too many organizations, UARs are still run manually: spreadsheets, email chains, and a lot of crossed fingers. That approach doesn't just waste time; it opens them up to unnecessary security risk, frustrated teams, and audit stress.

By moving to Tikabu's Glue UAR platform, customers have eliminated spreadsheets and cut UAR cycle times by as much as 85%, saving hours per review cycle. Automated workflows, built-in reminders, and escalation alerts have likewise reduced manual email follow-ups by more than 90%, giving security and IT teams some much-needed time back to focus on cyber safety, not admin.

What's more, Glue UAR delivers something spreadsheets never could: a clean, defensible audit trail that stands up to both internal reviews and external regulator scrutiny.

"As organizations grow and security requirements increase, spreadsheets simply don't scale. Glue UAR makes User Access Reviews easier to run, easier to manage, and far more transparent – delivering real, measurable time savings and a more robust security posture."

The challenge: A spreadsheet nightmare

UARs should be boring – but in a good way. A predictable, repeatable check that confirms people have the access they need, and nothing they don't.

Instead, for many organizations, UARs are a recurring fire drill.

The traditional process usually starts the same way: export access data from multiple systems into Excel or CSV files, stitch it together manually, and email it out to managers or application owners for review.

From there, everything happens in inboxes. Security teams chase responses. Managers lose track of which spreadsheet is the latest version. Approvals trickle in late – or not at all. Nobody has a clear view of progress without manually reconciling data.

And the bigger the organization is, the worse this can become.

This manual approach creates real risk. Reviews become rushed. Managers rubber-stamp approvals just to clear the backlog. Deadlines slip. If there's an audit, teams scramble to prove what they reviewed, when, and by whom – often across disconnected files and email threads.

Meanwhile, access environments keep changing and becoming more complex. People join, move roles, leave. Contractors come and go. Applications multiply. Spreadsheets don't scale, and email doesn't enforce accountability.

What should be a core security control turns into an administrative time sink – big effort, increased frustration, and unnecessary compliance anxiety across the business.

The solution: Tikabu's Glue UAR, built for how teams actually work

Tikabu's Glue UAR fixes what spreadsheets never could.

Getting started is fast. Using automatic sync, customers pull identities and roles directly from their existing systems – no custom integrations, no manual data wrangling. Reviews always start with current access data, not last quarter's export.

From there, teams configure review strategies that match reality for risk levels and responsibilities. High-risk systems go to application or role owners. Lower-risk access flows to line managers. Different rules for different risk levels – without creating more work.

The user experience is clean, intuitive, and modern. Reviewers log in to the dashboard, see exactly what they need to check, and complete reviews in minutes, not hours. No training. No instructions. No confusion.

Behind the scenes, IT and security teams get real-time visibility: who's completed reviews, what's overdue, and where exceptions exist. There's no more guessing and no more spreadsheet archaeology.

More than simply digitising an old process, Glue UAR replaces it with something that's actually built for scale.

Those 'aha!' moments

Seeing Glue UAR's automation in action? This is where teams really feel the difference.

Before Glue UAR, follow-ups dominated UAR cycles. IT and security teams had to play the role of bad cop or nagging spouse, spending hours chasing managers for responses and approvals. Endless reminder emails. Awkward nudges. Escalations that relied on someone manually deciding when to intervene.

Glue UAR flips that on its head.

The platform automatically notifies reviewers when they need to take action, sends reminders as deadlines approach, and escalates an issue only when necessary or urgent.

The system handles the nagging – consistently, fairly, and on schedule. Security teams stop playing bad cop. Managers stop getting buried in ad hoc emails. Reviews move forward smoothly. Instead of tracking spreadsheets and inboxes, teams focus on what really matters: reviewing exceptions, managing risk, and improving access hygiene.

Plus, it's not just faster; it's calmer. And for teams that run UARs several times a year, that shift is changing the game.

The results: Less noise, better security

Once Glue UAR is in place, the impact is immediate and measurable:

• 85% faster UAR cycles, saving hours per review cycle
• 90% fewer manual follow-ups, thanks to automated reminders and escalations
• Higher-quality reviews, with fewer rubber-stamped approvals and better identification of unnecessary or outdated access
• Stronger security posture, driven by more accurate, risk-based access decisions
• Audit-ready by default, with complete tracking, reporting, and defensible evidence available on demand

Instead of treating UARs as a compliance chore, customers turn them into a reliable control – one that actually reduces risk.

Get stuck into Glue UAR

Glue UAR takes User Access Reviews out of spreadsheets and into the future of cyber security.

By automating the grind and making the process transparent, Tikabu helps organizations save time, reduce risk, and stay ready for whatever audit comes next – without the chaos.

Ready to secure your access?

Book a demo and see Glue UAR in action.

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