Earlier this year the JIBS committee on behalf of the JIBS User Group recently conducted a survey about the implementation of Shibboleth across UK HE/FE & Research sectors. The results of this survey have now been published as a report on the JIBS website.
Thanks to June Hedges (JIBS treasurer) for all her work compiling this report.
Showing posts with label Shibboleth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shibboleth. Show all posts
Friday, November 06, 2009
Friday, September 21, 2007
Shibboleth is coming, Athens is on the way out
What does this mean for UK academic institutions ?
Shibboleth is the common name for a new method of authentication, which is expected to have significantly replaced the use of Athens by this time next year. To the user, Shibboleth functions exactly the same as AthensDA; the user is only required to login to their local institution, and then they will be able to access electronic resources to which they are entitled without a further login. In order to provide Shibboleth capability, institutions will have to install software known as a Shibboleth Identity Provider, and join the UK Access Management Federation.
Institutions may instead choose not to implement Shibboleth, and stay with Athens. However after July 2008 they will have to pay a fee to Eduserv to use Athens, as JISC will no longer be funding it. In order that their users can access resources protected purely by Shibboleth, such institutions will have to use the Athens-to-Shibboleth gateway, and they will also have to join the UK Access Management Federation.
Mimas is planning to only provide Shibboleth interfaces, and no longer Athens ones, for its authenticated services after July 2008, for the same funding reason. (Note that IP authentication will remain an option where it is currently provided by Mimas.)
Some services may still only provide Athens interfaces after July 2008, but institutions that have switched to Shibboleth will be able to access such services via the Shibboleth-to-Athens gateway (at no extra cost).
Therefore the important message for all UK academic institutions is: if you haven't done so already, join the UK Access Management Federation as soon as possible (it's free), and seriously consider implementing a Shibboleth Identity Provider. Decide what route you are going to take, and test it with as many resources as possible, well before July next year. Whichever route you take will have cost and/or resource implications, and you may need to inform service providers which route you have chosen. If you do nothing, your users may lose access to many electronic resources.
More information is available from the JISC and UK Access Management Federation websites.
Shibboleth is the common name for a new method of authentication, which is expected to have significantly replaced the use of Athens by this time next year. To the user, Shibboleth functions exactly the same as AthensDA; the user is only required to login to their local institution, and then they will be able to access electronic resources to which they are entitled without a further login. In order to provide Shibboleth capability, institutions will have to install software known as a Shibboleth Identity Provider, and join the UK Access Management Federation.
Institutions may instead choose not to implement Shibboleth, and stay with Athens. However after July 2008 they will have to pay a fee to Eduserv to use Athens, as JISC will no longer be funding it. In order that their users can access resources protected purely by Shibboleth, such institutions will have to use the Athens-to-Shibboleth gateway, and they will also have to join the UK Access Management Federation.
Mimas is planning to only provide Shibboleth interfaces, and no longer Athens ones, for its authenticated services after July 2008, for the same funding reason. (Note that IP authentication will remain an option where it is currently provided by Mimas.)
Some services may still only provide Athens interfaces after July 2008, but institutions that have switched to Shibboleth will be able to access such services via the Shibboleth-to-Athens gateway (at no extra cost).
Therefore the important message for all UK academic institutions is: if you haven't done so already, join the UK Access Management Federation as soon as possible (it's free), and seriously consider implementing a Shibboleth Identity Provider. Decide what route you are going to take, and test it with as many resources as possible, well before July next year. Whichever route you take will have cost and/or resource implications, and you may need to inform service providers which route you have chosen. If you do nothing, your users may lose access to many electronic resources.
More information is available from the JISC and UK Access Management Federation websites.
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