Project Overview

The NSF Middleware Initiative group NMI-EDIT Consortium, defines Identity Management as "an integrated system of business processes, policies, and technologies that enable organizations to facilitate and control their users' access to online applications and resources — while protecting confidential personal and business information from unauthorized users. It represents a category of interrelated solutions that are employed to administer user authentication, access, rights, access restrictions, account profiles, passwords, and other attributes supportive of users' roles/profiles on one or more applications or systems."

Our Identity Management project will provide the University's Carbondale campus with new Network ID creation and management processes as well as new authentication and authorization tools. This web site provides an overview of our project efforts.

Project Goals

• Reduce the number of credentials users must maintain by providing users with a common username and password for access to network based services and resources.
• Provide improved self-service tools that aid in the maintenance of computing accounts and passwords.
• Reduce the visibility and use of SSN's in identity related processes.
• Provide a service infrastructure that supports portal applications and single sign-on capabilities.
• Provide improved account provisioning, de-provisioning, and access to network resources through the use of centralized authentication and authorization services and associated business rules and policies.
• Provide improved reporting and logging of account and security related events.
• Provide a centralized resource for basic affiliation and directory information.

Project Scope

• User identity and service provisioning and management - Replace and/or update current Network ID provisioning processes.
• Authentication and authorization - Replace and/or update current tools and processes, to Include:
  
  • Authentication Services: a process for verifying a subject's identity. This is commonly performed through the use of a username and password.
  • Authorization Services: a process for determining eligibility to access network applications and services based on user type and business rules.
• Enterprise directory services - Implement a specialized database containing standardized information structures for people, groups, locations, services, and other resources, to include:
  
  • Data integration with source systems such as the Banner Student Information System, AIS, and Human Resources applications.
  • Automated information replication processes needed to support non-centralized campus based applications and services.

Project Duration

• We anticipate that this project will start during the summer of 2008 and will extend into 2010