Case Study: Databricks achieves faster, safer time-bound access and access reviews with Opal

Databricks cuts access review time by 97% with Opal

Databricks, a data and AI company with over 8,000 employees, faced challenges with manual and fragile access review processes using Python scripts. These processes were difficult to scale and could not meet strict security and compliance requirements from customers, including FedRAMP High. The company needed a solution to eliminate standing access and enforce least privilege.

By implementing the Opal solution, Databricks automated user access reviews (UARs) and established just-in-time, time-bound access to sensitive resources. This resulted in an 86,000% increase in access requests from 2023 to 2025 while simultaneously achieving a 97% decrease in the median time to approve or deny them. Opal enabled frictionless, automatic access reviews, provided FedRAMP High compliance through a self-hosted deployment, and became a key control for security and governance at scale.

Databricks