[Fim4l] New Email Forum for Service Providers

[Laura Paglione]

*[Please excuse the cross posting!]*

Announcing a new discussion forum for Service Providers:
the *Service Providers Operating Group*

This forum is a mailing list that is open to Service Providers registered
in any Federation - i.e., any system that uses Single Sign-On services from
universities or other federated identity providers. We expect discussions
to be non-technical, and focused on access and authorization topics of
interest to services, for example, signing into your service, and using
sign-in to gain access to appropriate resources and services.

A small FAQ is included below, and more information can be found at the
group's wiki page: https://wiki.refeds.org/display/GROUPS/SPOG

*TO JOIN*: Send an email to the mailing list owners
> spog-request at lists.refeds.org
> <spog-request at lists.refeds.org?subject=Request%20Access%20to%20SPOG%20mailing%20list&body=I'm%20requesting%20membership%20into%20the%20Service%20Provider%20Operating%20Group%3A%0A%0Aemail%3A%20%3Center%20your%20email%20here%3E%0Aservice%20name%3A%20%3Center%20the%20name%20of%20your%20service%20here%3E%0Aevidence%20of%20registered%20service%3A%20%3Csuch%20as%20your%20EntityID%20from%20a%20site%20like%20https%3A%2F%2Fmet.refeds.org%2F%3E>
> to request access. Also, see the wiki page for more information.


*+=+=+ A SMALL FAQ +=+=+*

*I'm not a Service Provider, how can I help?*
If you are a Federation Operator, please share this opportunity with your
Sevice Providers. If you are an Identity Provider, please encourage your
key services to participate.

*What do you mean, "Service Provider"?*
Service Providers use federated sign-on services (for example, from
universities and other institutions) to access their services. An important
component of Federated Identity Management is the "dance" between Identity
Providers and Service Providers that enable Single Sign-On services, and
the exchange of information about the individual involved from the Identity
to Service Provider.

*But aren't all Service Providers different?*
There is great diversity in Service Providers, though, at the core of the
FIM integration, significant similarities exist for implementation, need
for attributes, assurances, and more.

*Why create a group?*
While there are several specific-topic groups that advocate for the needs
of Service Providers (e.g., FIM4R, FIM4L), there currently isn't an easy
way to share information, understand needs, provide peer support or solicit
feedback across the entirety of the Service Provider community. The
inability to talk with this community as a whole can lead to assumptions
about what this community needs, thinks, and knows, some of which are
likely suffering from limited direct interaction. This group hopes to
provide a larger, unified voice for topics where there is similarity across
providers; we believe this will benefit the community as a whole.

*Why are only Service Providers invited to join?*
Participation is open to representatives from Service Providers from any
Federation. We will use tools such as the Metadata Explorer Tool (MET)
<https://met.refeds.org/> to verify participants. Our goal is to make this
a safe, collegial and targeted place to have discussions specific to
Service Providers. For this reason, it is only open to Service Providers.
Those who represent different types of entities are encouraged to include
someone who only works on the Service Provider work, or to FIRMLY wear
their Service Provider "hat" when interacting in this community. ANY
service provider can join. This group includes entities from commercial
organizations to virtual organizations.

*How much time is this going to take?*
This is a mailing list; there are no specific time requirements to
participate, and no work deliverables that you will be expected to
contribute to. We expect discussions to be non-technical, and focused on
access and authorization topics of interest to services, for example,
signing into your service, and using sign-in to gain access to appropriate
resources and services.


Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions
-- 
<https://about.me/lpaglione?promo=email_sig&utm_source=product&utm_medium=email_sig&utm_campaign=edit_panel&utm_content=thumb>
Laura Paglione
about.me/lpaglione
<https://about.me/lpaglione?promo=email_sig&utm_source=product&utm_medium=email_sig&utm_campaign=edit_panel&utm_content=thumb>
Innovation • Technology • Creation
lpaglione at SphericalCowGroup.com <lpaglione at sphericalcowgroup.com>
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