There are two ways that individual learners can gain access to Harvard Business Impact products, SSO Implementation and Direct Access (Manual Login).
SSO Implementation
Harvard Business Impact recommends Single Sign On (SSO) for seamless access to our products. The SSO implementation will be led by an assigned Technical Engagement Manager from Harvard Business Impact. The client is responsible for engaging any resources needed to set up SSO for their institution.
Harvard Business Impact generally recommends SSO options that support anytime, anywhere access to our products. In general, the client authentication system is the best SSO partner for Harvard Business Impact, rather than an LMS system. However, there are times when an LMS or LXP provides superior access. Your Harvard Business Impact Technical Engagement Manager can provide client-specific guidance when there are multiple SSO options.
Harvard Business Impact utilizes SP-initiated SAML 2.0 protocol for SSO. Our SSO software is Ping Federate. SSO can be used to provision (create) learners automatically or to authenticate learners against a list provided by the client. The standard user record for Harvard Business Impact includes first name, last name, email address and a unique identifier. Some Harvard Business Impact products can accept additional user attributes in the user record.
Learners can be expired quarterly or monthly by sending a list to Product Support.
Direct Access (Manual Login)
Under certain circumstances, it may be better for individual learners to access Harvard Business Impact products through manual login with a username and password. This option may be preferred if there is no SSO solution available or when there is a very small user base for the product.
Harvard Business Impact will provide the client with a spreadsheet for adding learners to the product. Email address is commonly used as the Harvard Business Impact username for manual login. The standard user record for Harvard Business Impact also includes first name and last name. Some Harvard Business Impact products can accept additional user attributes in the user record.
Learners can be added, expired, and changed monthly by sending a list to Harvard Business Impact Product Support.
Next Steps
Please contact your Relationship Manager to schedule a call regarding SSO integration with your SSO authentication team. Topics of discussion will include:
- Provisioning users vs authenticating against a list of pre-registered users.
- Ensuring that all users can access correctly through SSO.
- Data points to be passed through SSO.
- Choosing the right unique identifier for your institution.
- Requirements for LMS/LXP integration (if applicable).