Identity DNA

Identity DNA in Action: Streamlining Identity Management in a Complex Education Environment

Challenge

An education client managing a network of 50 schools, with over 3,000 staff and nearly 20,000 students, faced a complex and outdated identity management infrastructure. Their legacy on-premises platform struggled to keep up with the evolving requirements of identity lifecycle management (ILM). Multiple systems, including several HR and student platforms, complicated user provisioning, leading to inefficiencies and operational challenges for the IT team.

Our goal was clear: to simplify and scale their identity management process while retiring the cumbersome legacy solution.

Solution

Quorum was engaged to deliver a cloud-native approach using Microsoft Entra as the core Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) platform. Here’s how we approached and resolved the technical complexities:

• Retiring the Legacy IGA Platform: The first step was to phase out the on-premises IGA platform, which had become a bottleneck. The decision was made to migrate to Microsoft Entra, a cloud-native identity governance solution that could scale to meet the customer’s needs while offering real-time provisioning and integration capabilities.
• Integrating Multiple HR and Student Platforms: The education customer utilised three different HR/student platforms, each with its own data structure and identity logic. We used Identity DNA to bridge these systems with Microsoft Entra. By integrating these disparate platforms, we enabled seamless user provisioning from the source systems directly to the target directory services and Active Directory (AD). This streamlined workflow allowed for consistent and real-time identity updates across all users.
• Handling Applications without SCIM Support: A key challenge was integrating certain applications that did not support native SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management) APIs, which are critical for automating identity provisioning. To address this, we leveraged our Identity DNA Integration Service, which facilitated the seamless flow of identities into non-SCIM-compatible applications. This custom-built service allowed for flexible and scalable provisioning, despite the limitations of certain legacy systems.

Key Achievements

• Real-Time Timesheet Processing: One of the standout features was the implementation of real-time identity creation and provisioning. Casual teachers and staff, who are often hired at short notice, now had their identities created immediately, ensuring accurate tracking of their daily deployments. This directly improved cash flow management by allowing real-time timesheet processing.
• Access to Digital Classroom Assets: We migrated essential teaching resources to Microsoft Teams and SharePoint. With Dynamic Group Membership in Microsoft Entra ID, casual teachers could gain automatic access to Teams and learning materials the moment they arrived on campus. This was a critical improvement, driving better student outcomes through instant resource availability.
• Dynamic Group Management: By implementing Microsoft Entra Dynamic Group Membership, we automated resource allocation, including access to Microsoft Teams and various digital assets. This not only improved staff efficiency but also eliminated the manual overhead traditionally required to assign permissions and access rights.
• HR-Driven Provisioning and Application Integration: Through API-Driven Provisioning, we automated the creation, updating, and deprovisioning of users across both cloud and on-premises systems. Entra’s Application Provisioning service handled the identity flow into multiple applications, ensuring secure access across all platforms used by staff and students.

Technical Insights

• Streamlined Integration Across Platforms: One of the most critical technical achievements was the integration of three separate HR/student platforms into one seamless identity provisioning process. This reduced the risk of human error and provided real-time updates across the organisation, ensuring staff and students had immediate access to the resources they needed.
• Flexibility in the Absence of SCIM APIs: Applications without SCIM support are a frequent challenge in identity governance. Our Identity DNA Integration Service acted as a bridge, enabling Entra to provision identities into legacy systems that would otherwise require manual intervention. This service-based approach ensured that even non-standard systems could be included in the unified identity workflow.
• Cloud-Native Benefits: Moving from an on-premises identity management system to a cloud-native one provided significant scalability and flexibility. Microsoft Entra’s cloud-native architecture allowed for real-time updates, dynamic scaling, and reduced maintenance overhead, which was crucial given the large number of users in this environment.

Opportunities for Other Organisations

This case presents valuable insights for organisations facing similar identity management challenges, particularly those with complex user ecosystems and ageing on-premises solutions. The benefits of migrating to a modern, cloud-based identity governance platform like Microsoft Entra extend across industries and sectors.

• Simplifying Multi-Source Identity Management: Many organisations, such as healthcare providers, public sector bodies, or universities, deal with multiple HR, student, or employee platforms. By integrating these platforms into a unified identity provisioning service, organisations can streamline user onboarding and offboarding while reducing administrative overhead.
• Automating Identity Lifecycle Management: Organisations struggling with manual identity management processes will benefit from real-time, automated workflows. From financial services to retail, automating identity provisioning and deprovisioning can increase security and efficiency, ensuring only the right people have access at the right time.
• Addressing Non-Standard Systems: Many legacy applications lack support for modern SCIM APIs, making identity management a manual and time-consuming task. Identity DNA’s Integration Service is adaptable to these challenges, providing an opportunity for organisations reliant on non-SCIM systems to modernise their identity workflows without overhauling existing infrastructure.
• Enhancing Security and Compliance: For organisations in highly regulated sectors, like finance or government, the security and compliance benefits of cloud-native identity solutions are significant. Microsoft Entra provides advanced security controls, ensuring compliance with industry standards while reducing the risk of data breaches or unauthorised access.

Conclusion

This project underscores the importance of adopting a flexible and scalable identity management solution in today’s cloud-driven world. By leveraging Microsoft Entra and our Identity DNA platform, we not only solved the immediate challenges of user provisioning but also future-proofed the client’s identity management infrastructure.

With the legacy system retired, the client is now better positioned to manage identities across its entire ecosystem, ensuring secure, automated, and efficient access for staff and students alike. The same principles can apply across various sectors, making Microsoft Entra and Identity DNA the ideal solution for organisations seeking to modernise their identity management and access governance processes.