Solving access challenges in decentralized teams

In decentralized teams, managing approvals across Snowflake, BigQuery, PostgreSQL, and other tools can be difficult. Slow workflows, inconsistent security policies, and scattered permissions can create operational bottlenecks. Without a streamlined process, it’s difficult to track who has access, for how long, and why.

A structured access request system can help teams avoid these issues. LichtBlick, a growing renewable energy provider, recognized the need for a scalable approach as their data operations expanded. Their manual approval process ensured security but required significant coordination across teams, sometimes delaying access for those who needed it.

When LichtBlick learned about Secoda’s Access Requests, they saw an opportunity to simplify their workflow while maintaining security and governance standards. The potential to improve efficiency without sacrificing control was exactly what they were looking for, so they decided to put it to the test.

Using Access Requests to simplify access management

LichtBlick works with a diverse set of data ranging from energy production and consumption metrics to customer and financial information. Their teams rely on access to the right datasets to support operations and decision-making, but as the organization grew, manually handling these requests became increasingly difficult.

The team adopted Secoda’s Access Requests to:

• Centralize data access approvals in a single workflow, reducing back-and-forth communication.
• Empower data owners to approve requests, minimizing delays caused by reliance on a central admin team.
• Enable structured requests, where users specify exactly what data they need, for how long, and why.
• Maintain security standards, ensuring the right access policies were followed without slowing teams down.

With a structured approval process, they reduced wait times for data access while maintaining a high standard of security and compliance.

Step 1: Shifting approvals to data owners

Many of the team’s datasets, such as energy infrastructure performance data, were managed by different teams with unique governance policies. Approvals required coordination with IT, which ensured security but could slow things down when multiple requests were pending.

Secoda’s solution shifted approval responsibilities to data owners, ensuring that the right people - those who understood the data best - made informed decisions about access. This:

• Reduced bottlenecks caused by centralized approvals.
• Allowed IT teams to focus on broader governance instead of day-to-day approvals.
• Ensured that access decisions remained aligned with security policies.

Step 2: Centralizing requests in a single workflow

Previously, LichtBlick managed access through a structured but time-consuming process. Teams followed clear security guidelines, but approvals required coordination between multiple stakeholders, often leading to delays.

By implementing Secoda’s structured system, they consolidated all approvals into one workflow, reducing the effort required to review and grant access while keeping a detailed record of each request.

Step 3: Enforcing structured access requests

To further streamline access while maintaining security, the team implemented structured request forms in Secoda, requiring users to:

• Specify exactly which datasets they needed access to.
• Provide a clear reason for their request.
• Set a time limit for access, ensuring permissions were reviewed periodically.

This structure helped standardize the process, ensuring requests were processed efficiently while still maintaining strict access controls.

Why centralizing access requests reduces risk

Teams without a structured access request process risk inefficiency and security gaps. Without a centralized workflow, teams often rely on informal approvals, such as:

• Direct messages or emails requesting access without an audit trail.
• Ad hoc approvals granting indefinite access without regular reviews.
• Inconsistent policies, where different teams follow different security standards.

These issues can lead to over-permissioning, compliance violations, and difficulty revoking access when employees change roles or leave the company.

Secoda’s Access Requests help teams reduce these risks by:

• Providing an auditable approval trail, ensuring every access decision is logged.
• Standardizing access policies, so approvals are consistent across teams.
• Enforcing expiration dates, preventing unnecessary long-term access.
• Automating approvals for trusted users, reducing admin burden without sacrificing security.

Even teams with established manual approval processes, like LichtBlick, face challenges. While their structured workflow ensured security, it required heavy coordination across teams, leading to delays and inefficiencies.

By automating approvals with Secoda, LichtBlick was able to:

• Centralize access tracking, eliminating unnecessary coordination.
• Speed up approvals, ensuring teams received the data they needed faster.
• Improve compliance reporting, simplifying SOC 2, GDPR, and internal security audits.

Whether a team lacks a process entirely or manages approvals manually, centralizing and automating access requests reduces overall risk.

What’s next for access requests?

With LichtBlick as an early adopter, more organizations are exploring Secoda’s Access Requests to address decentralization challenges. Currently supported for Snowflake and PostgreSQL, the feature will soon expand to BigQuery, Redshift, and MSSQL.

LichtBlick’s experience highlights how a centralized access request process improves governance, enhances efficiency, and reduces administrative overhead. For organizations scaling their data operations, structured access management ensures teams get the data they need faster while maintaining security and compliance.

Ready to streamline access and reduce risk like LichtBlick? Try out Access Requests in Secoda or talk to our team to learn how you can simplify approvals, stay compliant, and move faster—without compromising security.