Lifecycle management is crucial for protecting company data and ensuring compliance with regulations like SOX, GDPR, and PCI DSS. It involves creating, adjusting, and deleting digital identities based on changing circumstances. Key elements of lifecycle management include provisioning, automated monitoring, role-based access control (RBAC), and deprovisioning. Lifecycle management helps organizations automate access and permission management, improve security posture, streamline audits and compliance, and reduce manual work. Challenges such as app sprawl, access debt, over-permissioned accounts, inappropriate access, and limited visibility can be mitigated through proper implementation of lifecycle management strategies.