DCO Web Portal : New account sign up and governance

[DCIM_Support]

Good day all, At Cyxtera... (and like most enterprises) we're constantly looking for ways to automate and deliver self service type functionalities for both internal and external customers. 

I'm curious if anyone else in the community would be interested in helping scope and define a new workflow which builds upon the DCO web portal functionality? AD feels like overkill and could be dropped in favor of a user driven workflow built right into the web portal. 

For example... here I include a mock up adding a "sign up" button. An additional "forgot password" link could be added as well since AD would no longer be an option.

Using Googles account sign up page as example... there would be a simple form that collects basic details with possibly a few check boxes for the user to pick from to specify permission levels. 

But generally speaking, once the user submits the request... an approval process would kick off emailing the admin of DCO. Some basic pages in the user management area would need to be created to show these requests, and an email should go out as well. So I'm curious what others in the community think about breaking away from AD and and forging a new path towards self-service options?

Two factor authentication is naturally a next step as well...

(CID:132654074)

[DCIM_Support]

Hi Wes

Interesting idea.  not sure how it goes in your part of the world but in mine,  (almost) all large corporates and governments use AD.  My experience has been demand for easier and better integration with AD.

Having said that, I still think it's a good idea and may be able to help, perhaps a review?

Cheers

Ed 

(CID:132654100)

[DCIM_Support]

Hi Ed, Our current process leverages AD... which has worked well with the obvious benefits. Mainly around users not having to remember multiple username and passwords, etc. It has however also added layers of complexity when we consider remote access, vpn... and virtualization of the clients themselves. Citrix Receiver to be specific.

But taking AD out of the equation for a moment... focusing instead on the "self-service" component, baking into DCO a mechanism for requesting access could be a great step towards cutting down on the number of touch points through the process. The goal is to reduce where possible as many steps in the process, avoiding the "red-tape".

So it's not that I disagree with your point, most are looking for deeper AD integration... we are in that camp too! But are we applying to much of an "IT" focus on a tool which ultimately is intended for operations. 

The process of managing and tracking users could use an update. Moving things to the web, and adding AD group sync really nice. Some basic metrics on who's currently logged in and other metrics would be nice. 

(CID:132654119)

[DCIM_Support]

Hi Wes

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I was thinking that the next natural step was to look at the integration of users between StruxtureWare Operations and the Ecostruxture IT services.

Do you see this working with the online services too?

Best,

Niels

(CID:134030145)

[DCIM_Support]

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