Streamlining SP Onboarding Working Group Charter
Name
Streamlining SP Onboarding Working Group Charter
Sponsor
Janemarie Duh
Working Group Chairs
- Tommy Roberson, Baylor
- Garrett King, Carnegie Mellon
Problem Statement
Currently, Identity Provider Organizations (IdPOs) provide onboarding guidance for new Service Providers (SPs). This process has allowed the InCommon Federation to scale but has contributed to variability and low interoperability in SP configurations. They also sometimes find themselves convincing an SP to join InCommon and having to explain the value proposition for federation.
InCommon has a Join InCommon page that contains information, but it isn’t clear to campuses, VOs, or Sponsored Partners, including Net+ services, what SPs should be doing to interoperate. A way to help Service Providers is to streamline the onboarding process to make it easier.
Mission/Goals
Having standards available that help SPs onboard will add to the value proposition for SPs in the InCommon Federation and reduce variance in configuration and increase interoperability.
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It is critical to note that differing implementation profiles exist. The working group will not redo work the community has already contributed in this area nor will the work product contain only changes to existing profiles. It will augment existing work by integrating similar information into the standards that it produces. As a starting point, the working group will use the CIC Cloud Services Cookbook to identify and document standards for SP operation within InCommon.
Scope
The working group will focus on identifying standards to reduce variance and improve interoperability among SPs. The standards will allow SPs to be measured according to an essential standard. The practices will include a level above the base that contains options such as applying for the Research and Scholarship Category. The standards should differentiate between what is necessary (must) and what is good to have (should) possibly determined by the type of SP.
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There are implications for IdPOs as well as SPs but they are out of scope for this activity. However, the standards will require significant review by IdPOs.
Membership
Participation in the working group is open to all who are interested, including organizations running IdPs or SPs. Institutions that have made suggestions to SPs on software configuration or integration documentation will bring value to the working group.
The Chair of the Working Group is appointed by the TAC and responsible for providing it with updates on the group’s progress.
Deliverables
Define a standard set of technical vocabulary to aid in the understanding of the configuration standards
Identify Service Provider implementation criteria using the CIC Cloud Services Cookbook
Document SP configuration standards including basic and optional levels that meet the requirements defined and scoped in the previous sections
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The working group’s deliverables will be a net gain for IdPs as well as SPs because SPs that conform to standards also drive IdPs to conform. The result will be better alignment of practices across the InCommon Federation and a decrease of variability in both SP and IdP configurations.
Expected End Date
The tentative end date of the Streamling SP Onboarding Working Group is late November to mid-December 2017. The configuration standards will need significant review by IdPs, as well as input from REFEDS. A paper is not expected in time for TechEx (October 15-18) but plan to have a BoF-like discussion that week.
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