It’s not uncommon for higher education institutions to approach us (with great haste) about our Single Sign-On (SSO) solution for PeopleSoft Campus Solutions. Lately, I’ve noticed an uptick in the urgency. Nobody’s hair is literally on fire, but after speaking with a handful of universities, it sure feels that urgent. Here’s what’s happening.
The COVID-19 Pivot Strikes Again
When COVID-19 first caused colleges and universities to shut down their campuses and rapidly switch to online learning, that was their primary focus. Pretty much all non-essential IT (and PeopleSoft) projects were immediately put on hold. After an intense focus on student, staff, and faculty safety and performing herculean feats to enable remote learning and remote access for thousands, IT departments are back to focusing on data security and access.
This summer, many institutions around the country were cautiously optimistic they could reopen in the fall and were making plans to welcome back faculty and students into something they hope will resemble normal campus life. IT and security teams were also busy, reviewing priorities, projects, and budgets. They know that thousands of students, faculty, and staff depend on the institution’s applications to keep operations running smoothly.
Unfortunately, all this planning and optimism might be for naught. Almost daily, universities that had released detailed plans for in-person classes in the Fall have reversed themselves and said they will go almost entirely online. Because of these sudden changes, some IT departments are quickly pivoting to adapt their systems to better handle remote access and excessive self-service demands.
And that’s the urgency we’re experiencing: To improve productivity, enhance security, and improve the overall user experience, universities are (urgently) turning to a SAML SSO solution for PeopleSoft Campus Solutions. Why? Because the first step in addressing usability is ensuring authentication is secure, without causing user friction.
Enable PeopleSoft SSO with SAML-Based IdPs
The good news is that Appsian can help universities meet this urgent request in two weeks or less. We provide the only turnkey SAML integration solution for PeopleSoft without any custom development or additional hardware. You can allow thousands of users (students and faculty) to access multiple applications, not just PeopleSoft, using a single login on any device.
Customers can also use multiple IdPs concurrently, including Okta, Ping, ADFS, Shibboleth, Azure, and more, ensuring that any patchwork of systems used across groups, buildings, and departments are accessible and secure.
The More Things Change, the More Changes You Have to Make
COVID-19 has utterly wrecked the college experience for students, but requirements for accessing and securing applications for the upcoming school year haven’t changed for IT departments.
What’s changed is the urgency to make sure that applications, data, transactions, and lectures are accessible and secure.
At the end of the day, institutions must pivot their operations to ensure that applications can be seamlessly accessed. For no other reason than friction causes abandon – and when students are 100% virtual, abandon is far more likely.
The quickest way to improve usability and security for PeopleSoft Campus Solutions is with a SAML Single Sign-On SSO.
Contact us today to learn how you can make this happen in 2 weeks!
