Use Dedicated Admin Accounts for Professional Services & Consulting
How professional services & consulting organizations should implement PA-02 for Microsoft 365 security and compliance.
For professional services & consulting companies using Microsoft 365, use dedicated admin accounts is a security priority. This guide explains how PA-02 helps professional services & consulting organizations protect their identity infrastructure while meeting industry-specific compliance mandates.
Why Professional Services & Consulting Organizations Need This Control
Professional Services & Consulting organizations face specific regulatory requirements including soc2, iso27001, cis. The PA-02 control helps address these requirements by:
- Administrative roles are assigned to dedicated admin accounts (e.g., admin-john@contoso.com)
- Daily work accounts do not hold privileged role assignments
- Admin accounts are cloud-only (not synced from on-premises AD)
When an attacker compromises a daily work account through phishing or malware, they should not gain admin access. Dedicated admin accounts limit blast radius and enable stricter controls like device requirements.
Industry-Specific Considerations
When implementing PA-02 in a professional services & consulting environment, consider:
- **Regulatory requirements**: soc2, iso27001, cis may mandate specific configurations
- **Risk tolerance**: Professional Services & Consulting organizations typically have moderate to low risk tolerance
- **Audit frequency**: Plan for regular compliance reviews
- **Documentation**: Maintain detailed records for regulatory inspections
How to Configure
PA-02 requires the following configuration:
- Administrative roles are assigned to dedicated admin accounts (e.g., admin-john@contoso.com)
- Daily work accounts do not hold privileged role assignments
- Admin accounts are cloud-only (not synced from on-premises AD)
Requires organizational process change
Follow the steps above in your Microsoft Entra admin center to enable this control.
Professional Services Compliance Requirements
Professional Services organizations must comply with these frameworks, all of which address use dedicated admin accounts:
Why This Control Matters for Professional Services
When an attacker compromises a daily work account through phishing or malware, they should not gain admin access. Dedicated admin accounts limit blast radius and enable stricter controls like device requirements.
Common threats in professional services & consulting:
- • Client data breaches
- • Insider threats from departing consultants
- • Business email compromise
For professional services & consulting organizations, PA-02 is a key component of a compliant Microsoft 365 security posture. TrueConfig helps you implement and maintain this control while meeting industry-specific requirements.
Ready to secure your professional services Microsoft 365 environment?
TrueConfig continuously monitors your tenant against professional services best practices, including this control and 6+ others.