December 2020 Update
Internal IAM Project
The Internal IAM project includes a re-engineering of Penn’s core IAM infrastructure, replacing decades-old, custom-built identity management systems and processes with a standards-based, modern solution to strengthen Penn’s overall security posture and ability to comply with emerging global regulatory requirements. The new IAM solution will be implemented in phases. Recent progress includes:
- In November, the IAM team kicked off the Design Phase of the project, with design of the new IAM system targeted for completion by March 2021.
- Planning for the required technical architecture has been completed. Deployment of the development and testing environments is targeted for January 2021.
- After our integration partner, Identity Works, has completed their review of previously gathered requirements, the team will host follow-up sessions with our client partners to gather any remaining information on system connectivity, data schema, and provisioning. These sessions will take place in Q3 of FY21.
- Phased implementation of the new IAM system is targeted to begin in April 2021 and will carry into Fiscal Year 2022. The goals are to replace the current IAM infrastructure (Penn Community) with minimal disruption to existing services and to put in place the foundation for future improvements. Penn Community will remain available in parallel with the new IAM system to provide ample time to migrate all current Penn Community clients.
Related IAM Work
- Two-Step for O365 – Most PennO365 users are now using Two-Step, with enrollment exceeding 10,000 users. PennO365 works with the University’s multi-factor authentication service, Two-Step Verification, providing dramatically improved security to both PennKey and PennO365 credentials. We encourage IT groups on campus to recommend use of Two-Step with O365 for users who are not already enrolled. Administrators interested in using the Two-Step for O365 toolkit for their users should contact help@isc.upenn.edu.
- The IAM Policy Working Group – This group continues its work to establish the University’s first comprehensive set of Identity and Access Management policies, including policy statements, best and acceptable practices, and technical standards documents. Current work is focused on the practices of security event auditing, identity creation, and identity proofing. A draft audit policy has been completed and is currently under review.
Questions & Feedback
ISC values your feedback. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please contact penn-iam@upenn.edu.
We look forward to sharing more progress with you soon!
The Penn IAM Team
