The CUES project will offer a range of IAM services to Kentucky school districts:
Baseline Services: These include core IAM functionalities such as user authentication, authorization, and account management, ensuring that every user has secure and seamless access to necessary resources.
The baseline products are:
Lifecycle Management (Identity Management),
Delegated Password Reset Abilities
Authentication (SSO - One-Click Access, MFA)
Self-Service Password Reset
Managed Support — This will include a Technical Account Manager and Dedicated Support Engineers.
What does this mean for the districts:
Creation of a Universal Identity for all KY K12 users that can be used to access both local and state resources
Universal Identity Management (State and local user and group lifecycle management)
Managed Systems: Active Directory, Microsoft365, Google Workspace
Single Identity Authentication (MFA & Passwordless)
Federated state and local SSO portals
Compromised Credential Monitoring
Virtual Firewall & Geofencing
Critical Outcomes that will be achieved with RapidIdentity:
Zero-Day Start for Staff and Students. There is no lag between the time an identity is provisionally hired, enrolled, or accepted an offer and the time it takes to gain access to the digital resources required for their success. This will be a fully automated process governed by policy and business practice, seamlessly integrated with a variety of SIS/HRMS data sources.
Frictionless and secure authentication experiences tailored to the user, the context of the authentication event, and the resources that require access. Authentication methods accommodate the young or special needs (pictographic, QR Code) to the most privileged of access (Push, FIDO). This experience will be consistent across any widely supported device or browser (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android).
Enhanced and easy-to-navigate self-service and delegated account administration. This includes allowing users to leverage home email addresses, mobile phones, multi-factor methods, or security questions to self-service reset their own credentials. Additionally, distributing the help desk burden to empowered users on the school site (allowing teachers to reset a student’s password, librarians, etc.). This will reduce time at login for students, streamline and make user support and help desk more efficient, and return measurable instructional time in the classroom.
There is no vendor in the world today that has led and delivered on more education-focused “one to many” or distributed identity management programs than Identity Automation. A trusted partner is critical for long-term success, balancing the needs of the larger institutions with the accommodation required for smaller districts to achieve an equitable outcome for all Stakeholders.
Critical Outcomes will include a measurable and material reduction in help desk support for user account issues, ranging between 35% and 55%. Classroom instructional time will return commensurate with reduced and simplified authentication. Even a 30-second reduction per student per class day would return 27,000 hours per school week. Provisioning time will go from days to minutes.
Assurance of the right access at the right time for the right people is critical for reducing attack surface, mitigating risk, and protecting student and district data from bad actors or compromised access. Effective cybersecurity begins with comprehensive and policy-driven identity and access management.