As we move to deploy a new, advanced identity governance administration tool, we are considering the IAM Program in multiple parts or phases. They are phases by virtue of time but also of where we are in the project and what steps the University takes toward a more cohesive technological environment.

Phase 1: Environment assessment and vendor selection

Over the past two years, IT Services has been hard at work making notes, delving into the nuts and bolts of our current identity systems, consulting with experienced technical experts, and hiring our new identity and access management champion. We dove deep on our particular technological environment and the business needs we have to meet with a system like this, one that marries access control and identity management, because it will impact all of our users at some point.

We also made sure to consult with various stakeholders across the university to gather current and future requirements for identity and access management. Our consultant partner, Moran Technology Consulting, was instrumental in this process as they created a high-level diagram and detailed account management information for us based on those meetings.

As such, we have selected a product that we are confident will meet our needs for our particular environment. The solution we have chosen, RapidIdentity by Identity Automation, is a robust tool that will grow with us as our needs change and as our environment matures.

Phase 2: Setting up RapidIdentity; account provisioning and deprovisioning

IGA installation

This phase will involve replacing our current account provisioning tool with the identity governance and administration (IGA) tool. The capabilities of the RapidIdentity software will allow us to provision (create), deprovision (delete), and manage user accounts.

This phase will be undertaken with careful consideration paid to the Workday implementation timeline, as the IGA tool will need to be in place before the Workday Platform deployment in July 2024.

We will also be implementing an identity hub. This will help connect our data (in Banner and Workday) and allow for real-time account management processes.

Governance

During the second phase of the IAM Program, we will also work to establish an IAM Governance Group in order to provide guidance and direction for the implementation of the IGA.

Fact-finding sessions

Representatives of the IAM Program (notably, our IAM champion and solution engineer, as well as key members of the governance group) will be scheduling meetings with stakeholders across the university to help us gather the necessary information for setting up the IGA tool. Be on the lookout for more information about this opportunity.

Down the road…

Some parts of this project will not be completed for some time, because business needs dictate that we focus on the above first and foremost. In the future, though, look for more information about the following:

• Single sign-on services (i.e., the red login screen that you see in front of every Miami service)
• Role-based access control (i.e., granting access to systems based on what your role is at the University)
• Application authorization and API services integration
• Account and access management workflows
• Privileged access management

IT Services is excited to announce our new partnership with IAM solution provider Identity Automation and implementation partner Moran Technology Consulting.

After several long months of putting together a request for proposal, paging through responses, deliberating functionalities of different tools, we have partnered with these companies to implement a new identity governance and administration (IGA) tool.

Read the full announcement in the IT News.

Our new IAM partner, Identity Automation, is a respected company with a lot of experience in the IAM arena, and especially the higher education sector. We are confident that they, along with our trusted consulting partner MTC, will be an invaluable resource as Miami matures in its IAM deployment.