Systems and methods for delegating access to resources hosted in a distributed computing environment are described. In one aspect, a server hosts a set of resources. The server receives a request from a user to perform an operation with respect to one of the hosted resources. Responsive to receiving the request, the server determines whether the user has already been delegated authority to perform the operation. The delegated authority is independent of whether the user is a member of an administrators group associated with any resource of the server.