Project Meccano

1
Project Meccano

• ICT Services Resource Accounting and
• Usercode Management System

2
Introduction

• Project name Meccano
• Future system name ICTS Account
• Our goals
• 1. ID Management
• 2. Improved resource accounting mechanisms
• 3. Fit the Requirements

3
Project Outcomes

• 1. Establishment of the infrastructure for
  Federated ID Management.
• 2. Reduction in the risk associated with
  maintaining 20 year old Fortran programs running
  on an aging VMS infrastructure.
• Reduction in operational effort required from
  departmental administrators, computer support and
  Helpdesk staff.
• 4. Future proofing of the infrastructure and
  system architecture which can react to changes
  in technology and be extended as needed.
• 5. A template for evaluation of Open Source
  software.

4
The Project Team

• Core members
• Emma de Lacey, Ronan Phelan, Geoff Wain, Andrew
  Lorenc, Ed Havelaar, Gayle Cook
• Project Owner
• Charles Brown, Infrastructure Systems Support
  Manager, ICTS
• Project Sponsor
• John Vargo, ICTS Interim Director
• Quality Assurance Group
• BSS - Joe Hallmark QA - Hamish Duff / Risk
  Assessor

5
What has been done so far

• Submitted a business case with a detailed budget
• Received approval for an 18 month - 2 year
  project
• Assembled the project team, developed a
  communications plan
• Surveyed other NZ and Aussie universities about
  their ID management and resource accounting
  systems and experiences
• Started the project!

6
Who we have talked to

• Responses from
• University of Auckland
• AUT
• Waikato
• Lincoln
• Murdoch
• University of Queensland
• University of Adelaide
• Macquarie
• James Cook University

• Still to contact
• Massey
• Victoria
• CAUDIT
• University of Melbourne
• Deakin
• University of NSW
• Swinburn
• University of Sydney
• Griffith

7
Main Components of the Solution

• User Provisioning Automation
• What - username creation/deletion, email, access
  groups, etc.
• How - automated processes
• Why security, support for business processes,
  effort reduction
• Resource Accounting
• What - internet traffic, printing, etc.
• How - billing / reporting / limits /
• Why - fair cost recovery / controlling user
  behavior
• Identity Management
• What - single sign-on, common authentication,
  credentials synch.,
• How LDAP / AD / Federation
• Why - risk reduction, improved security, future
  proofing

8
Federated Identity Management (FIM)

• What is Federated Identity Management?
• How does it work?
• Who is using it?
• Why bother?

9
Requirement Specifications

• 1. Interface to the following systems
• UCSMS (Jade)
• UCPeople (PeopleSoft)
• UCFinance (Oracle)
• UCInterface
• EARS (UCOpportunity)
• PHAROS
• pCounter
• CSGold (DIEBOLD)
• Windows Active Directory
• LDAP
• Switchview
• UCPhone
• Checkpoint Firewall
• MS Exchange
• Departmental Feeds

10
Requirement Specifications

• 2. Internet usage accounting
• - process the huge logs in an acceptable time
  frame
• - charge staff, students and visitors
  differently
• - archive logs
• - differential charges for international/
  national traffic
• - differential charges by time of day
• - enable/ disable access as required
• 3. Print usage accounting
• - IT and departmental print queues, differential
  rates
• 4. Email usage accounting
• - limit mailbox sizes
• - expand mailboxes and charge if required

11
Requirement Specifications

• 5. Other types of charging
• - disk storage, tape storage
• - file servers, web servers, terminal servers
• - dial-in, broadband, wireless
• - mobile services (Blackberry, Global Roaming)
• - network connections
• - telecoms charges, CD writing, hire equipment,
  etc.

12
Requirement Specifications

• 6. Differential charging model
• - type of user staff, student, visitor, home
  user
• - monthly reports to departments
• - history of transactions to user
• - departmental users operate on credit
• - students, etc., debit from card account
• - real-time charging v. hourly/nightly
  transactions

13
Requirement Specifications

• 7. User account control
• - group users
• - automatic notifications
• - departmental administrators higher level of
  control
• - create/delete/flag usercodes
• - web based user interface
• - drip feed accounts
• - specify which resources money will be
  assigned to
• - automatic invoicing of external accounts.

14
Requirement Specifications

• 8. Reporting, Logging, Operation
• - history of transactions for users
• - balances for users
• - low balance warnings
• - support for logging in different formats
• - run on MS Windows servers
• - run 24 x 7
• - cope with peak loads at enrolment.

15
Strategy

• A single package
• Not classified as an enterprise application
• Software vendors offer parts of a solution we
  require, i.e. IP traffic, print charging,
  Identity management
• Hardware solutions are available, IP traffic via
  routers
• Two options available to the solution
• Write the whole solution in-house - we would
  rather not
• High risk
• Complex integration management
• High skill range required

16
Strategy cont

• Purchase modules and integrate them
• Currently evaluating different systems / modules
• Identity Management Systems
• Novell, Sun, Oracle, Microsoft
• Print charging systems
• Pharos, pCounter
• IP collection systems
• CISCO, Proxy servers
• Develop integration software
• Planning to use Service Orientated Architecture
• Choose systems that are easy to talk to, i.e.
  using Open Standard W3C, OASIS, WS-I
• Expose information/feeds to departments using
  Open Standards

17
Proposed Implementation Plan

• Big Bang
• turn the big switch
• Modular approach
• Solve one area at a time
• Test and release each module when complete
• Do regressive and integration testing
• Phased introduction
• Work on core functionality of high risk items
  first
• Implement communication infrastructure
  technologies
• Iterative releases building on previous releases
  adding functionality
• Do regressive and integration testing

18
Communication Plan

• Advisory Group
• Anne Scott / Peter Kennedy /
• Margaret Adam Library
• Barbara Paterson HR System Manager
• Jess Hollis UCTL Blackboard
• Glen Davies Interact
• Paul Strange ICTS Workrooms
• Bruce Muschamp BSS Diebold
• Marilyn McLaren Diebold
• Ken Beatson SRD, Web Team
• Lynne O'Donoghue Finance, UC Finance
• Trudi Zawodny Student Admin, SMS
• Allen Witt Maths, Computer Analyst - IT Feed
• Adrian White COSC, Computer Programmer
• Mike Shurety College of Engineering
• Des Breeze UCCE, Flexible Learning/ Distance
  Students
• David Buckley ICTS Security Consultant
• Kathy Arbuckle Education Plus
• administrator? Arts, Science, Education,
  Commerce

19
Communication Plan

• Wider Stakeholders
• Infrastructure Support, ICTS
• Business Systems Support, ICTS
• Helpdesk, Desktop, Workrooms, ICTS
• IT Support staff in other departments
• UCCE, Distance Learning (Angela Willington main
  user of FLS)
• Dennis Parker, UC Opportunity, EARS
• College Managers
• Students Reps

20
Communication Plan

• Acceptance Testing Group
• Representatives from the Advisory and Wider
  Stakeholders groups, to be decided later.
• Possibly Mark Andrews, Deborah Pearson, Chris
  Rodd, Sean Lowry
• Ad-hoc Risk Assessment Group
• Lynne ODonoghue, Financial
• Anne Scott / Gail Pattie, Library
• Deborah Pearson, Operational
• Ken Beatson, Marketing

21
Information Dissemination

• Seminars - like this
• Web site - to be set up
• Mailing list this already includes the Wider
  Stakeholders Group
• Newsletter
• Shared mailbox meccano_at_canterbury.ac.nz
• Please send any ideas or questions to one of the
  members of the Advisory Group

22
Questions
?