Case study using idm and a web portal as a gateway to the cloud june 2012
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Judson ISD implemented identity management and a web portal to provide single sign-on access to cloud applications in order to reduce costs and staffing needs. The portal authenticates users and passes credentials to automatically log them into Live@Edu for student email and Schoology as a learning management system. Automating account creation and management from existing user directories simplified deployment and administration of cloud services.
Case study using idm and a web portal as a gateway to the cloud june 2012
- 1. Case Study: Using Identity Management & a Web Portal as a Gateway to the Cloud Steve Young, CTO Judson ISD, San Antonio, TX syoung@judsonisd.org
- 2. About Judson ISD ∗ 4th largest public school district in Bexar County, Texas (San Antonio area) ∗ 22,500 students and 3,000 employees ∗ 31 IT staff members ∗ Over 7500 desktops, laptops, tablets ∗ Additional 3,200 virtual desktops ∗ 189 virtual servers ∗ More info at http://www.judsonisd.org/district/technology/
- 3. Why A Cloud Approach? ∗ We cannot do it all ∗ Staff size decreasing ∗ Budgets are shrinking ∗ Student population & number of schools increasing ∗ Huge value proposition with many online services ∗ Constituents want 24/7 services and cloud services are 24/7 ∗ Classroom learning can be extended outside of normal school day
- 4. Cloud (SaaS) Advantages ∗ Generally very high up time ∗ Offer cutting edge services ∗ Low Cost or predictable recurring costs ∗ Quick Deployment ∗ Lower technical barriers to entry ∗ Often can implement without additional staff ∗ If……..
- 5. We Can Automate Account Management ∗ Judson ISD had automated creation, update, & retiring of student & staff accounts, file shares, email accounts and groups with UMRA (User Management Resource Administrator) ∗ This allows MANY systems user information to be automated, not just Active Directory ∗ Timeliness of data is increased, as is security ∗ Users do not have to wait for accounts to be created, as they are created when the source HR or SIS data is created
- 6. Leveraging Identity in a Web Portal ∗ We offer web/Cloud applications via our MyJISD Stoneware portal to: ∗ All users (staff and students) ∗ To any device ∗ To any location (in or out of network) ∗ At any time ∗ On guest network or in Starbucks ∗ To do this we must know who users are and pass their credentials to disparate web applications
- 7. Two Cloud (Saas) Examples
- 8. Live@edu ∗ We did not want to host student email accounts – too much time, $$, etc. ∗ We also wanted to automate account management ∗ We used Tools4Ever and their UMRA product to automate Live@Edu account management from AD ∗ We authenticate students via AD into our portal and auto log them into Live@Edu ∗ This could also be done via UMRA for Google Apps
- 9. Schoology ∗ We wanted to provide a simple to use LMS for staff and students to use at will without any technology intervention –chose Schoology. ∗ My team worked with them to be an early adopter of their API/SSO to synchronize account data and manager users. ∗ We wrote a custom web app to synchronize and manage Schoology users ∗ We authenticate students via AD into our portal and auto log them into Schoology
- 10. In Summary ∗ Cloud (SaaS) deployments can be extremely efficient and cost effective ∗ But managing users can require a lot of staff time ∗ Automated identity management from source systems is critical ∗ Identities must be further synced with SaaS systems to keep costs and staff time to a minimum ∗ A portal that can pass credentials from AD and from an SSO lockbox allows users an easy one stop shop for all their applications from anywhere on any device