IDM provides integration with other systems to automate and improve management of accounts and access.
Ever wondered why you have to tell many different university departments if something such as your name or address changes? Or why some details about you remain out of date even when you think you've updated them?
There are currently many different sources of information about staff and students at the University and you will have often seen that the information in these different places is inconsistent. Usually this is because the systems are updated by different people and there are no automatic processes to update information between the systems. The Identity Management project (IDM) is an ongoing process to ensure standardisation across all linked systems.
IDM is working to harmonise staff and student information and integrate key systems to this. The new Identity Management system will be used to create new University IT accounts and access services automatically. The new Identity Management system will automatically incorporate staff and student data from the staff and student record systems.
This means that it will be much easier to keep all of your information held at work up-to-date because IDM will make sure that changes to information are automatically available to integrated systems. During the project, information from the telephone and e-mail directory, HR and student records, library cards, access cards and more will be integrated.
IDM will ultimately make it easier for the university to keep your information up-to-date and make any amendments. It will also make it easier to set up new University IT accounts and control access to buildings, car parks and IT systems. It will
Reduce the University's reliance on current fragile and unconnected systems
Centralise people's contact details
Help the University with the leavers process
Provide centralised data for future smart University ID cards which will give access to buildings, car parks and the library
Manage students' identities in Gmail
We already know that the data held in each of current systems is inconsistent and we also know that no single system is completely accurate. This means that as we merge systems together we will have to make decisions about which source is the most accurate for most people. For some this will mean that changes you have already requested may get overwritten or reversed, e.g. your preferred first name or title in the Outlook Address Book.
We will try to avoid this situation by working with Human Resources and Student Affairs to review the accuracy of their data as we merge. We ask for your patience and support with this.
The IDM system is now live and is controlling various aspects of both staff and student accounts. The plan is to extend IDM to other key data sources over the coming months.