Understanding Organization Admin, Folder Admin, and Project IAM Admin Roles in GCP

I am fascinated by the hierarchical and subtle cascading relationship among these interwoven triads.

1. Organization Admin
2. Folder Admin
3. Project IAM Admin

Similarities:

• All grant control over IAM policies: These roles allow you to manage access to Google Cloud resources by assigning IAM roles to users and groups.
• Hierarchical structure: They operate within a hierarchical structure. Organization Admin sits at the top, followed by Folders (optional), and then Projects at the bottom.

Differences:

Scope of control:

• Organization Admin: This is the most powerful role, controlling the entire organization’s resources. They can manage IAM policies at the organization level, affecting all folders and projects that cascade down the line. An analogy is the CEO of a company, with authority over all departments and branches.
• Folder Admin: This role manages a specific folder within the organization. They can control IAM policies for that folder and all its resources(projects and subfolders). An analogy is the departmental manager, overseeing a specific department and its teams.
• Project IAM Admin: This role focuses on a single project. They can manage IAM policies for that project, controlling access to its resources. An analogy is the project manager, responsible for access control within their project.

Permissions:

• Organization Admin: They have the broadest range of permissions, including creating projects, and folders, and setting organization-level IAM policies. While they can’t directly create projects within folders (requires additional permissions), they can control who can.
• Folder Admin: Their permissions are limited to the folder they manage. They can create and manage subfolders within it, move projects in and out, and set IAM policies for the folder and its contents.
• Project IAM Admin: Their permissions are specific to the project. They can’t create projects or folders but can manage access to the project’s resources and configure IAM policies for the project.

In essence:

• Organization Admin is like the CEO, with full control over all the organization’s IAM policies.
• Folder Admin is like a department manager, overseeing access within their assigned folder and its projects.
• Project IAM Admin is like a project manager, responsible for access control within a specific project.

Choosing the right role:

• Organization Admin: Use this role sparingly, for accounts that need complete control over the organization’s IAM policies.
• Folder Admin: Use this role for managing access within a specific department or grouping of projects.
• Project IAM Admin: This role is ideal for granting granular access control within individual projects.

You can implement a secure and efficient IAM strategy in your GCP environment by understanding these roles and their appropriate uses.