Federating a Distributed World: Asserting Next-Generation Identity Standards

In the last few years, federated identity management—the agreements, standards, and technologies that make identity and entitlements portable across autonomous domains—has become a topic of significant interest for higher education. This Burton Group research discusses federation standards and products, which are sufficiently mature that early adopters have successfully deployed federated sign-on environments. Standards groups are extending federation protocols into more complex scenarios, such as cross-domain authorization, provisioning, and service delivery. Burton Group (www.burtongroup.com) provides technically in-depth research and advisory services for colleges and universities, government agencies, and commercial enterprises. Burton Group's practical and unbiased research and advice helps technologists make smart IT infrastructure decisions in increasingly complex environments. Burton Group covers directories, identity management, application platforms, architecture, and network and telecom infrastructure topics. Like ECAR, Burton Group is an unbiased advocate for the user and more than 80% of Burton Group's clients are user organizations rather than suppliers. EDUCAUSE member institutions can become users of Burton Group research services through EDUCAUSE pricing. Burton Group is an ECAR partner and can be contacted by email at slesueur@burtongroup.com or by telephone (801-373-5767.