Problem
The Manager Name field (which links a different Identity as the Manager) is not being retained when the manager value from the authoritative source is null, despite the guidance in SailPoint’s documentation:
Diagnosis
We’ve observed the following behavior with the Manager Name (manager) field in the Identity Profile:
- If the field is mapped to an attribute that may be null (e.g.,
manager employee number), and that attribute becomes null, SailPoint removes the manager value from the identity. - If the field is mapped to an attribute that is always non-null (e.g., the employee’s own
employee number), SailPoint retains the manager value even if the actual manager is missing in the source data.
Solution
To ensure manager information is preserved:
- Map the
Manager Name (manager)field to a non-null attribute, even if it has no direct relation to a manager (e.g., the user’s unique employee ID or key). - As long as the field is never null, SailPoint will invoke the Manager Correlation Rules to determine and retain the manager assignment appropriately.
It is also worth noting that even if you have a Manager Correlation Rule applied to an authoritative source, the rule will not be applied if the value of the manager attribute is null
As a rule of thumb, always map Manager Name (manager) to a non-null value.