OneSync: Why Account Provisioning Matters
Pain Points and Priorities
Sometimes education CIOs have to prioritize very technical problems that non-technical peers might think are a lesser priority, principally because they are not well understood. But when a teacher can’t access her accounts, or a student isn’t finding his work inside a learning application, those problems become all too real, and the priority becomes very clear.
Pain points, however, should not be the critical driver for prioritization, which is why ClassLink has introduced OneSync, a new account provisioning platform that streamlines the directory management function for school IT teams. OneSync not only addresses a pain point that many schools face, namely the frustrating and laborious process for managing directories, but it also augments core function responsible for enabling access to digital.
Introducing OneSync
OneSync serves as a hub that connects any number of data sources, including student information, HR, and OneRoster database, to one or multiple directories, including Microsoft Active Directory, Azure/O365, and Google. OneSync not only automates account provisioning, but it also provides bidirectional account syncing, enabling schools to maintain accurate reports and quickly and securely eliminate old or out of date accounts from their directory. Coupled with our RosterServer, which leverages OneRoster from IMS Global Learning, schools can now seamlessly provision Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams simultaneously, something no platform could provide until now.
Why Account Provisioning Matters
As we continue to drive innovation in education technology, it’s important to understand that a lot of behind the scenes work goes into creating meaningful engagement between students and teachers. This work includes everything from building the physical infrastructure to support a technology-rich environment or designing an ecosystem that enables access at the enterprise, classroom, and individual levels. And all of this work can thrive or come undone based on the efficacy and accuracy of account provisioning.
ClassLink has been focused on users who already have a district identity and leveraged that identity to assist with rostering and single sign-on. Since we are passionate about students and teachers having easy access, we sought to tackle the issue of easily and quickly creating the user identity, allowing access promptly and bridging the gap between entry and access.
Initially, we were hesitant to enter this space, but our customer base, many of whom utilize the manual approach, urged us to create a tool to automate this process. Other districts, unhappy with the current solutions, due to their high cost and lack of flexibility approached us as well. Having experienced our clean and friendly user interface, they felt that we could provide something far more useful and efficient.
Learn More
For more information about adding OneSync to your existing ClassLink account or to schedule a time to speak with us about ClassLink for your school, Request a Personalized Demo.
Related: Passwords, Permissions and Student Data—How One District Got Account Provisioning Right as seen on EdSurge.com.