What Is a Business Role?

The term “business role” is associated with organizational structures in business environments. It is often used in conjunction with role-based access control (RBAC) where different permission roles are assigned to users depending on their access needs and position in the organization. Most identity and access management solutions are role-based, though other models exist as well.

Business roles are essentially bundled individual privileges which users need to perform their job duties. Such individual rights may include access to different programs, systems and applications. Role-based access control is conducted in accordance with the principle of least privilege.

The exact definition of the term business role may vary, depending on the approach that is followed. Some companies distinguish business roles from organizational roles and functional roles. If that is the case, the business role contains only the rights a user needs to fulfil his or her job responsibilities. The functional or organizational role, on the other hand, contains “organizational” privileges, such as access to time recording systems.