As the IT landscape becomes more complex and sysadmins must provision users to an increasing number and variety of resources, many admins search for user provisioning software to add to their stacks. However, not all user provisioning software works the same way or has the same capabilities, so we’ve developed this resource to help guide the search for the right tool.
Evaluation Checklist
As you evaluate your options, the following questions can help help you identify specific needs:
Do you anticipate that your organization will add users or grow substantially (e.g. merger, acquisition, or scaling)?
If your organization plans to scale, you’ll want to ensure your user provisioning software can accommodate both your current environment and any future changes that come with growth. If your organization is a Windows®-only shop right now, will the user provisioning software accommodate the acquisition of a Mac® shop?
What resources do you need to provision users to (think: systems, networks, file servers, apps)? Do you anticipate growing adoption of SaaS apps?
As with the above question, the user provisioning software you use needs to accommodate a wide breadth of resources, including SaaS apps and productivity suites like G SuiteTM or Office 365TM. If you anticipate that your organization’s portfolio of SaaS apps will grow, you’ll want to select a solution that enables single sign-on (SSO) as well.
What protocols are vital to your provisioning functions?
Do you need RADIUS functionality to authenticate users to networks? Do you need LDAP functionality to authenticate users to legacy apps, Samba file servers, and NAS appliances? Do you need SAML functionality for SaaS apps? Select user provisioning software can provide these capabilities without additional servers or difficult networking requirements.
Do you need to achieve regulatory compliance?
Depending on your industry, you’re likely subject to a number of compliance regulations about your identity and access management (IAM) strategy. The right user provisioning software can help you achieve compliance.
Do you want to automate your user provisioning workflow?
The right user provisioning software can enable user provisioning automation with tools like group-based provisioning, (Read more…)
*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Blog – JumpCloud authored by Cassa Niedringhaus. Read the original post at: https://jumpcloud.com/blog/user-provisioning-software-evaluation
Source: https://securityboulevard.com/2020/05/how-to-evaluate-user-provisioning-software/
