Changes to InCommon's Role

A convergence of dynamics is driving changes with InCommon.

• The scope of responsibility is expanding to include stewardship of the InCommon-ready identity and access management software (including Shibboleth, Grouper, and COmanage) that have been integrated, developed, and containerized as part of the TIER (Trust and Identity in Education and Research) program.
• The software formerly known as "TIER" is now the InCommon Trusted Access Platform.
  
• The three-year TIER program is ending, including the $1,225,000 annual funding dedicated to software development and engineering.
  

Federation and associated software and services are critical access management infrastructure, essential for academic collaboration and cloud services. Operating within the Federation requires a robust identity management function as well as cost-effective software to interact with partners in the community. That identity and access and federation software is an organization’s InCommon springboard into the Federation community.

InCommon’s role has become more complex in the last few years as we moved to ensure an always-on 24/7 service. Now we are expanding to support trusted access software, making it as easy as possible to install, operate, and configure to ensure that any eligible organization can participate.

Changes to InCommon Fees

Over the past three years, 49 investor schools have provided $1,225,000 annually to support the TIER software engineering, development, and adoption. The proposed InCommon fee changes will, in part, replace that funding, and allow for the continued development and enhancement of core community-driven open source identity and access management software.

Below are the proposed fees, compared to current fees.  

InCommon Fees by Participant Level*

Current Participants

Current Cert-Only

Current Research Org

2020 Unified Fees

Level 1

$5,025

$4,138

$3,250

$12,000

Level 2

$4,025

$3,363

$2,700

$9,000

Level 3

$1,600

$2,088

$1,600

$6,000

Level 4

$1,180

$1,468

$1,180

$2,500

*Levels are based on Carnegie classifications (higher ed), FTE (research orgs), and annual revenue (sponsored partners).

Further Information About the InCommon Trusted Access Platform

All of the core software components, as well as the InCommon Federation itself, grew from the National Science Foundation-funded Internet2 Middleware Initiative, which formed in 1999. Over time, these components were enhanced and maintained by their own community and contract developers. The TIER program worked to integrate these components (through APIs and connectors), as well as make them easier to install and configure (with the use of containers, as an example). Additional components were added, based on community need and feedback, to form the TIER suite.

Community leadership, and feedback from community members, pointed to the need to continue the stewardship of what TIER has developed. Given the pervasive use by the community (for example, 90% of InCommon identity providers use Shibboleth), and the tight link between operating with the Federation and the need for robust software, the decision was made that InCommon would become the software steward.

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