IAM: Identity and Access Management

IBM Cloud Identity and Access Management (IAM) controls who can access your resources and what they can do. Properly configured IAM is the foundation of a secure IBM Cloud environment.

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IBM Cloud Accounts

When you sign up for IBM Cloud, you create an account. The account owner has full control over:

• All resources in the account
• Billing and usage
• User invitations and access policies

Account Types

Type	Description
Lite	Free, no credit card required, access to Lite plan services
Pay-As-You-Go	Full catalogue access, pay only for what you use
Subscription	Commit to monthly spending for discounts

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Users and Access Groups

Users

You can invite users to your IBM Cloud account by email. Each user gets:

• A unique IBMid
• Console access (web UI)
• CLI and API access via API keys

Access Groups

Access groups let you organise users and assign permissions collectively: