What started as product research turned into a lesson on why identity governance is still out of reach for many organizations.
When I started building Scimly Guard, I wasn’t trying to compete with enterprise identity governance platforms.
I simply wanted to understand the market.
So I spent weeks reading documentation, comparing products, watching demos, browsing Reddit discussions, reading analyst reports, and talking to IT professionals.
I expected to find dozens of affordable solutions for small and medium-sized organizations.
Instead, I found something surprising.
The market has incredible enterprise software.
But there aren’t many products built for organizations that simply want to perform practical access reviews without enterprise pricing or months of implementation.
The Enterprise Leaders
If you’ve worked in identity governance, you’ve probably heard of:
- SailPoint
- Saviynt
- Omada
- One Identity
- Microsoft Entra ID Governance
These are mature, feature-rich platforms.
They support:
- Identity lifecycle management
- Role management
- Access certifications
- Separation of duties
- Compliance automation
- Provisioning
- Large enterprise environments
They’re built for organizations managing thousands — or even hundreds of thousands — of identities.
That’s exactly what they’re supposed to do.
Then I Looked at the Cost
While comparing products, one thing became obvious.
Enterprise identity governance isn’t just software.
It’s often an entire project.
Depending on the platform, organizations may need:
- Implementation partners
- Consultants
- Training
- Cloud infrastructure
- Annual subscriptions
- Ongoing administration
For large enterprises, those investments often make sense.
But many smaller organizations don’t need every enterprise feature.
Sometimes they simply need answers to questions like:
- Which users are inactive?
- Which administrators don’t have MFA enabled?
- Are we paying for licenses that nobody uses?
- Are SCIM attributes complete?
- Can we generate a report before tomorrow’s audit?
That’s the Gap I Wanted to Explore
While researching, I kept asking myself:
“What if someone just wanted to connect their directory, run an analysis, generate an executive report, and move on?”
No lengthy deployment.
No complicated onboarding.
No subscription just to perform an access review.
That question eventually became Scimly Guard.
Why I Built Four Editions Instead of One
One thing I noticed while researching customers was that not everyone works the same way.
Some organizations only analyze exported CSV files.
Others manage Google Workspace.
Others are entirely on Microsoft Entra ID.
Consultants and MSPs often work with both.
Instead of forcing everyone into one expensive product, I decided to build four editions.
Base Edition — $250
Perfect for organizations that review exported user data.
Includes:
- CSV Access Reviews
- Risk scoring
- Executive PDF reports
- Markdown reports
- CSV exports
- High-risk user detection
- SCIM readiness analysis
- Mock data generator
- Built-in update checks
Ideal for consultants, auditors and smaller IT teams.
Google Workspace Edition — $450
Everything in Base Edition, plus:
- Live Google Workspace connection
- Google Admin SDK integration
- Access Reviews
- License waste detection
- Google directory analysis
- Built-in update checks
Designed for Google Workspace administrators.
Microsoft Entra ID Edition — $450
Everything in Base Edition, plus:
- Microsoft Graph integration
- Microsoft Entra ID connection
- MFA coverage analysis
- Stale administrator detection
- Live directory analysis
- Built-in update checks
Designed for Microsoft 365 administrators.
Full Suite — $999
The complete platform.
Includes:
- Base Edition
- Google Workspace integration
- Microsoft Entra ID integration
- Built-in update checks
- Executive reporting
- One installer
- One license
Designed for consultants, MSPs and organizations managing multiple environments.
Why We Chose Lifetime Licensing (For Now)
Most identity governance platforms use recurring subscriptions.
For Scimly Guard, I wanted early adopters to pay once and own their license.
During our launch period, every purchased edition includes a lifetime license with updates for that edition.
However, this won’t be permanent.
As Scimly Guard grows — with more integrations, new reporting capabilities, team features, and ongoing development — we plan to transition new customers to 2-year or 5-year licenses.
If you purchase during the launch period:
✅ You keep your lifetime license forever.
Future licensing changes will apply only to new customers after the transition.
This is simply our way of thanking the people who believed in the product early.
How Updates Work
Every edition — Base, Google Workspace, Microsoft Entra ID, and Full Suite — includes a built-in update checker. The app checks for a newer version, downloads it in the background, and prompts you to restart when it’s ready. No manually re-downloading the installer every time something changes.
Updates are free, for life, for every edition. There’s no extra charge, no separate upgrade fee, ever.
What does vary is the size of a given update, simply because each edition covers different ground. Base Edition updates focus on the core CSV engine — scoring, reporting, the analysis logic every edition shares. Google Workspace and Microsoft Entra ID Edition updates add improvements specific to that one live connector. Full Suite, since it includes both connectors plus the full CSV engine in one install, tends to see the most substantial updates — it’s simply covering more surface area.
Same policy everywhere: whatever improves your edition ships to you free, automatically, for as long as you own it.
Is Scimly Guard Trying to Replace SailPoint?
No.
SailPoint, Saviynt, Omada, and similar platforms solve enterprise-scale problems.
Scimly Guard is built for a different audience.
It’s designed for organizations that want practical access reviews, SCIM readiness analysis, and executive reporting without the complexity of a full enterprise identity governance deployment.
Sometimes “simple” is exactly what’s needed.
What’s Next?
Scimly Guard is still evolving.
The roadmap includes:
- More directory integrations
- Additional governance checks
- Better reporting
- Team collaboration
- More compliance-focused features
- Expanded automation
Every update is shaped by conversations with IT administrators, consultants, and security professionals.
Final Thoughts
Building Scimly Guard started as a technical challenge.
It became a lesson in understanding where enterprise software excels — and where there’s room for something simpler.
Identity governance doesn’t have to be complicated to be valuable.
Sometimes organizations just need a fast, privacy-first way to review access, identify risks, and produce reports they can actually use.
If that’s the gap Scimly Guard can help fill, then the months spent building it have been worthwhile.
Scimly Guard is available in four editions:
- Base Edition — $250
- Google Workspace Edition — $450
- Microsoft Entra ID Edition — $450
- Full Suite — $999
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