How the University of Ulster Simplified IAM with New Era’s Able+ Solution

Overview

The University of Ulster reduce the cost and complexity of managing its Associates’ user identities by adopting Able+, our Identity and Access Management (IAM) solution.

Challenges

The University of Ulster is a research university with approximately 28,000 students. It also has around 2,500 associates. Because they are not employees, these associates’ records were managed by an in-house application, rather than the HR system.

Like many organisations, the University uses Microsoft Active Directory (AD) and Azure AD for user authentication. Previously, the University provisioned Associates with AD user accounts using a competitor’s product, based on the in- house application’s data.

However, the University faced the following issues:

• The competitor product was hard to use, requiring the use of costly professional services
• This external dependency reduced the University’s agency, as it was hard to configure without help
• Because it was hard to configure, the solution sometimes created unintended outcomes

Solution

We worked with the University to design a new solution for their Associate users based on our SaaS IAM solution, Able+.

• The in-house application was replaced by Able+, using a tenant in the Azure UK South datacentre
• A set of user-friendly forms enables authorised staff to manage Associate accounts within Able+
• A number of automatic workflows transparently manage the identity lifecycle processes, using manual approvals where needed
• These workflows are configured and managed using Able+’s intuitive Workflow Designer
• These accounts are synchronised with both on-premise and Azure AD

The Outcome

The benefits to the University in adopting Able+ include:

• Reduced the cost of IAM by replacing its previous, more costly, solution with Able+
• Avoided the need for on-going professional services because its trained staff can manage the solution’s workflows
• Resolved the operational issues caused by the previous solution, and
• Simplified its systems by consolidating solution functionality within Able+.

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