Fujitsu UnifIDone Deployed by Institute of National Colleges of Technology at 51 Schools across Japan

Tokyo, July 17, 2012

Fujitsu and the Institute of National Colleges of Technology (KOSEN) today announced that, by deploying the Fujitsu UnifIDone integrated ID management package, KOSEN has developed an authentication system for centrally managing user data on shared systems that are used by faculty at national colleges of technology throughout Japan. By installing the new system at KOSEN's datacenter and distributing ID management services to each college, KOSEN has been able to integrate the colleges' previous authentication systems, which had been independently developed and operated by each college, into a single system.

As a result, KOSEN will be able to deploy a unified authentication system across all of its colleges. To accompany the construction of the new system, KOSEN has also upgraded the firewall⁽¹⁾ systems at each college with identical equipment, thereby enabling the deployment of a standardized hardware-based security environment. In addition, the institute is working to strengthen its security of operational processes by establishing uniform policies for data security across all of its colleges.

Starting this July, KOSEN will utilize the system to begin offering a new web-based paystub system that will enable faculty members to view paystub information from within school networks.

Background

KOSEN develops and operates business systems that are shared by all 51 of its colleges. As for the utilization of these systems, connectivity is restricted using an authentication system at each college in order to ensure that the appropriate services can be employed by faculty members based on their access privileges.

In order to optimize the use of its ICT resources at national institutes of technology throughout Japan, as well as to streamline administration and maintenance while strengthening information security, KOSEN recently took steps to integrate the authentication systems that had previously been independently operated by each college and deploy a standardized data security environment.

Measures Taken and Results

1. Standardization of authentication systems

Fujitsu UnifIDone, an integrated ID management package for universities, was deployed in constructing an authentication system at KOSEN's datacenter, which will deliver ID management services to each national college of technology. This, in turn, will allow for the centralization of user data on the institute's shared system. Furthermore, by leveraging Fujitsu's UnifIDone package, construction of the new system was completed in a mere three months.

2. Standardization of firewall equipment

By supplying identical equipment to upgrade the firewall systems at each college, the process for accessing networks at each school has been standardized.

3. Uniform data security policy

In addition to standardizing its authentication systems and firewall equipment, KOSEN has also established a uniform data security policy for all of its colleges.

Through the implementation of these measures, KOSEN has been able to standardize the system's administration and maintenance procedures, while also improving operational efficiency. Moreover, as a result of integrating the colleges' authentication systems and purchasing firewall systems in bulk, procurement costs and required man-hours were both minimized.

System Configuration

The new system employs the Fujitsu UnifIDone integrated ID management package for universities, which is installed in KOSEN's datacenter as well as at each national college of technology. Utilizing the UnifIDone package, information stored in ID management databases in each college is automatically aggregated to an integrated ID database within KOSEN's main datacenter. Because the UnifIDone package features ID management functionality that can centrally manage user IDs from multiple types of systems, user IDs created on each shared system are able to be utilized at any college with a single username and password. By employing the UnifIDone package that has been installed at each college, it is possible to integrate the user ID management for the different systems that are used by faculty and students in each school.

In constructing the system, a serious challenge arose in integrating the personal information of users on KOSEN's shared systems that would be utilized by the new authentication system. The format and content of personal information maintained by the previously disparate authentication systems employed at different colleges had not been standardized, making it necessary to aggregate the over 50 different personal information databases into a single database. Responding to this challenge, each national college of technology collaborated with Fujitsu in performing comprehensive operational analysis to ensure that, in designing the database for KOSEN's datacenter, current operations at each college would not be affected.

Yoshinobu Matsuno, an associate professor in the Department of Electronics and Information Engineering of Ariake National College of Technology and a member of KOSEN's Expert Committee on Information Infrastructure, expressed the following: "From development of the authentication system to its deployment at the 56 campus locations of our 51 colleges nationwide, Fujitsu was able to complete the entire process in a short period of time. It was a demonstration of the benefits of using a large vendor with a nationwide presence. I am looking forward to having the new authentication servers employing UnifIDone serve as the foundation for the authentication systems for KOSEN and each national college of technology."

Future Plans

KOSEN will ensure that any new shared system it builds is compatible with the authentication system to promote greater efficiency and rationalization. It will also connect the new authentication system for each national college of technology with the Academic Access Management Federation (GakuNin), which is run by the National Institute of Informatics, with the aim of improving user convenience by enabling users to access services such as GakuNin's CiNii Scholarly and Academic Information Navigator with a single username and password. In addition, it also aims to promote greater interaction and collaboration with research institutions as a result of KOSEN's participation in GakuNin.

Leveraging the experience and knowledge it has accumulated in the field of education, Fujitsu will offer consulting, system development, and operational support services that aid in the creation of ICT environments supporting the institutions of higher learning that train the practical engineers of tomorrow.