Thanks for posting, Adam. So OpenAthens is like an identity-provider-as-a-service? I didn't appreciate that before.
Peter On Feb 21, 2017, 1:01 PM -0500, Adam Snook <[email protected]>, wrote: > Dear All, > > It has been brought to our attention that there was some interest and some > questions about OpenAthens and Shibboleth. > > This is something we spend a lot of time thinking about. > > OpenAthens and Shibboleth are both built using a SAML protocol that means, > technically, single sign on will work between federations. > > If an institution is using Shibboleth for their single sign on and all the > resources they want to sign into are within InCommon, there is no need to > register with OpenAthens. However, they may be some resources within the > OpenAthens federation they want to access in which case they can register > with OpenAthens. This would be very rare. A full list of resources OpenAthens > connects to already is here: http://www.openathens.net/resources.php > > However, OpenAthens can be used instead of Shibboleth to register into single > sign on federations like InCommon, the UK Fed or the OpenAthens federation. > The benefit there is the managed platform that OpenAthens provides for > managing user accounts, setting up permissions and connections to resources. > OpenAthens also provides statistics and reporting tools to measure patron > engagement with resources. The institution would then be able to use > OpenAthens to register itself within a federation. > > OpenAthens can also connect to an existing user directory like Microsoft > Active Directory so the creation and management of user accounts only needs > to happen in one place. > > The goal of 'interoperability' means that there are always different ways of > managing single sign on across federations - but our goal, and the goal of > other federations, is to increase the scope and scale and connectivity of > federated single sign on so more people benefit. > > OpenAthens prides itself on being a tool for librarians to manage single sign > on and user accounts - while making any necessary connections to IT as simple > as possible. Which federation people then choose to use is really based on > which federation has the best coverage of resources for their patrons. > > The flexibility of single sign on federations can create complexity and we'll > be happy to answer any questions off-line. > > In addition to the above, OpenAthens also has service provider products > allowing organisations to make their content available to identity providers. > Service providers are currently using OpenAthens to make their content > available in over 20 access management federations. > > I hope this gives a little more of an overview to this list but if you do > have any additional questions, please let me know. > > Many thanks, > > Adam Snook > Technical Pre-Sales Consultant (IAM) > Eduserv > [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> > | +44 (0) 1225 437 722 | Skype: asnook8 > www.openathens.org | @openathens<https://www.twitter.com/OpenAthens> | > Blog<http://www.openathens.org/category/blog/> | > LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/company/openathens > Eduserv is a company limited by guarantee (registered in England & Wales, > company number: 3763109) and a charity (charity number 1079456), whose > registered office is at Royal Mead, Railway Place, Bath, BA1 1SR.
