Thinking of Modernizing Your CA SiteMinder Deployment? Now May Be the Perfect Time
New CA SiteMinder Plug-Ins Enable Coexistence and Just-In-Time User Migration Between SiteMinder and ForgeRock
The Agonizing Decision to Modernize or Stay Put
Whether it’s to adapt the realities of a digital transformation program, addressing problems with scaling to provide access to new apps and services, managing the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT), or the handling of challenges associated with a growing number of CIAM (customer IAM) and workforce users due to COVID-19, many organizations are currently exploring the options to update or “modernize” their existing legacy identity and access (IAM) systems.
What we now refer to as “legacy” IAM systems are, in fact, platforms developed 10 to 15 years ago, back when most applications were on-premises and built on a client-server model. Fast forward to today, and these systems are struggling to keep up with cloud-first enterprise application needs. Support options are dwindling because vendors and developers are not keeping pace to support the latest feature sets.
Legacy IAM systems are functionally at their end-of-life. While they may continue to crank along and seem to perform the old workhorse identity functions, they are unable to meet new business needs. For example, updates on these legacy systems are expensive and time-consuming, and stability challenges can arise as more identities and attributes are added. Integrating new apps is cumbersome. As many of these legacy solutions live on premises, the timeframe for new apps to “go live” is often measured in months, if not years. This is not exactly what you would call “agile IT.”
Modern identity platforms in contrast, are built to truly enable digital transformation, operate at IoT scale, provide continuous security, support cloud and hybrid deployments, seamlessly integrate new applications, and support security models like Zero Trust and the Gartner CARTA (Continuous Adaptive Risk and Trust Assessment) model. They are continuously adding new features and staying on the cutting edge of the market to keep organizations at a competitive advantage.
Not a “Rip and Replace” Decision
But why might now be a good time to consider making this move? Well, for starters, everything is going digital, and your users and customers are expecting an optimized, online digital channel experience. Access problems, slow app performance due to identity-related issues, and poor authentication experiences will send them looking for workarounds–which your competitors are more than happy to provide.
But just as importantly, the decision to migrate at this time isn’t a binary one. As “rip and replace” is an option for the few, what is needed is a more seamless, step-by-step approach that allows you to go at your own pace, migrate the apps you need to migrate, and achieve a smooth transition to a modern IAM solution with a committed innovator in this space.
ForgeRock and our partners are here to help. We have assisted countless organizations on the journey from legacy to modern. We stand ready to do the same for your organization, no matter how difficult the challenge or how complex your IAM system may be. We have built a robust set of tools, guides, and documentation to help you make the transition to modern IAM. And it’s all available to you for free.
Making It Easy: New CA SiteMinder Plug-Ins from ForgeRock
ForgeRock is excited to announce the latest of these tools – a new set of Open Source CA SiteMinder Plug-Ins joining the existing Oracle Plug Ins as part of its portfolio of Modernize IAM Accelerators. The CA SiteMinder Plug-Ins enable coexistence and just-in-time user migration between SiteMinder and ForgeRock, so you can migrate at your own pace. For instance, you can choose to migrate 10 apps per week, one app per month, or whatever your organization may call for. ForgeRock Accelerators enable this migration to occur without any disruption to your customers or employees. It’s all done in a totally transparent manner. One of the benefits of this approach is that you can make immediate use of the new capabilities of the ForgeRock platform – like Intelligent Access, self-service trees, and passwordless authentication.
Specifically, the new SiteMinder Plug-Ins for the Modernize IAM Accelerators can help in the following areas:
- Authenticate in SiteMinder and single sign-on (SSO) to ForgeRock
- Authenticate in ForgeRock and SSO to SiteMinder
- SSO to legacy apps integrated via CA agents
- Migration of user profiles
- Secure migration of user passwords
- Just-in-time (JIT) provisioning
- Modular and extensible for easier integration into current environments
- Open source so it relies on industry standard protocols and libraries
In the end the SiteMinder Plug-Ins are designed to help make migration seamless and invisible to the user, while having a significant impact in time to value around the design and build of coexistence and user migration strategies.
Learn more about modernizing legacy systems here, or contact your ForgeRock sales rep or partner today.
*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Forgerock Blog authored by Darryl Jonesn. Read the original post at: https://www.forgerock.com/blog/thinking-modernizing-your-ca-siteminder-deployment-now-may-be-perfect-time
