Single service comparison

GCP Cloud IAM models access as policy bindings attached to resources, with permissions inherited down the organization-folder-project-resource hierarchy; a binding at a parent cascades to all descendant resources automatically. Huawei Cloud IAM instead records permissions on user groups within the account and grants system-defined or custom policies per group; there is no equivalent automatic hierarchical inheritance across an org/folder/project tree, and multi-account governance is handled through Organizations rather than inheritance. Architects must re-express GCP hierarchical bindings as explicit per-account group-policy assignments on Huawei Cloud.

GCP relies on service accounts (special principals with keys or workload identity) for workload authentication and supports IAM Conditions for attribute-based, request-time policy refinement. Huawei Cloud IAM provides IAM users, user groups, agencies for cross-account delegation, and temporary security credentials (AK/SK + security token) for delegated access; fine-grained conditions are expressed through custom policy statements rather than a standalone Conditions construct. Federation on GCP uses Workload Identity Federation; Huawei Cloud IAM supports SAML, OIDC, and custom identity brokers for SSO, with IAM Identity Center as a separate option for workforce federation not covered by core IAM alone.

Both services are managed control-plane offerings with no per-call pricing, but operational responsibility differs. GCP policy is enforced globally through a single authorization layer; Huawei Cloud policy enforcement is account-scoped and integrates with enterprise projects for resource partitioning, alongside separate services such as CBH for privileged O&M and IAM Identity Center for centralized user federation. Treat core IAM as the parity layer and expect to compose additional Huawei services to cover GCP-wide governance, brokerage, and break-glass workflows rather than assuming one-to-one equivalence.

Start with an assessment of the GCP binding inventory: list allow policies per project and resource, capture custom roles, service accounts, workload identity pools, and conditions. Classify each binding by principal type, scope, and effect. On Huawei Cloud, translate GCP roles into system-defined or custom IAM policies, map service accounts to IAM users or agencies (for cross-account delegation), and decide whether workforce federation needs IAM Identity Center on top of core IAM based on IdP and SSO protocol alignment.

Rebuild the access model on Huawei Cloud: create user groups mirroring GCP group-based roles, attach translated custom policies, and configure agencies for any cross-account delegation previously expressed through GCP service-account impersonation. For SSO, configure SAML/OIDC trust (or Identity Center) with the enterprise IdP; for workload federation, provision temporary credentials rather than long-lived keys. Note that automatic hierarchical inheritance has no direct equivalent, so replicate parent-level bindings explicitly at each required account or enterprise-project scope, and plan a parallel-run period.

Validate before cutover: compare effective permissions for sample principals using Huawei Cloud policy simulation and the IAM user/group listings against the GCP source, and confirm that cross-account delegation, MFA, and critical-operation protection behave as expected. Run read-only workload tests with temporary credentials, then sequence the cutover principal-by-principal to limit blast radius. Keep the GCP allow policies read-only during the transition so any drift can be reconciled deterministically rather than ad hoc.

Mind the gaps and cost model: core IAM and IAM Identity Center are not charged per-policy on either side, but governance and break-glass tooling differ. Huawei Cloud CBH for privileged access and related security services are billed separately, so recalculate TCO for any auxiliary controls you adopt, not just IAM. Confirm regional availability for federation endpoints and policy limits for custom policies, and document the split between core IAM, Identity Center, Organizations, and CBH so auditors can trace each GCP concept to its Huawei Cloud equivalent.