Create Your First Discovery

This guide walks you through creating your first discovery in Compass, from connecting your IAM systems to reviewing your AI-generated report.

Prerequisites

• A Compass account (sign up at app.usecompass.io)
• Access credentials for at least one IAM system (Azure AD, Okta, SailPoint, etc.)

Step 1: Define Your Problem Statement

When you create a new discovery, you'll start by describing what you want to assess. This helps the AI focus its analysis on the areas that matter most to you.

Examples of good problem statements:

• "We want to understand our current IAM maturity and identify the biggest governance gaps"
• "Our provisioning times are too long and we suspect orphan accounts are a problem"
• "We need to prepare for a SOX compliance audit and want to know where we stand"

The more specific your problem statement, the more targeted the AI's analysis will be.

Step 2: Select Connectors

Choose which IAM systems to include in this discovery. Each connector pulls specific metrics:

• Identity Providers (Azure AD, Okta) — User counts, group structures, MFA adoption, stale accounts
• Governance Platforms (SailPoint, Saviynt) — Access certifications, role mining, segregation of duties
• Privileged Access (CyberArk, Delinea) — Privileged account inventory, session monitoring, vault coverage
• Service Management (ServiceNow) — Ticket volumes, resolution times, provisioning workflows
• Cloud IAM (AWS, GCP) — Cloud role complexity, cross-account access, policy compliance

You can start with just one connector and add more later.

Step 3: Review Metrics

After Compass fetches data from your connectors, you'll see a summary of the metrics collected. This gives you a chance to verify the data looks correct before the AI generates its report.

If something looks off — for example, an unusually low user count — check your connector credentials and permissions.

Step 4: Confirm Methodology

Compass shows you the assessment methodology it will use, including:

• Which report sections will be generated
• What frameworks will be used for compliance scoring
• How metrics will be weighted

You can proceed with the default methodology or adjust the focus areas.

Step 5: Generate Report

Click "Generate Report" and Compass will:

1. Analyse your connector data
2. Cross-reference metrics across systems
3. Generate findings with severity ratings
4. Build an action plan with prioritised recommendations
5. Calculate benchmark comparisons

This typically takes 60–90 seconds. You'll see real-time progress as the AI works through each section.

Step 6: Review Your Report

Your report opens automatically when generation completes. See Understanding Your Report for a detailed guide on how to read and act on the results.

What's Next

• Connect more IAM systems to get a more complete picture
• Calibrate the report to refine the AI's assumptions (Pro plan)
• Dig deeper into specific findings (Pro plan)
• Rerun the discovery after making changes to track improvements