Introducing: The Fates (a new IT team!)
In Greek mythology, the Fates were in charge of the destiny of humans – who you are, what your life has in store. In a similar vein, our new team directs the fate of your Miami account!
Introducing: The Fates (a new IT team!)
For the past several years, IT Services has focused on improving account management and identity practices as part of our IAM project. This has looked like launching our new identity governance and administration tool (IGA), RapidIdentity; working on our IAM forecast; and creating new affiliations for alumni and enrollment-eligible 黑料社区s, among other activities.
All of this work has gone a long way toward improving how we manage identities and process accounts at Miami . . . but none of this has been achieved in a vacuum. There is a whole team of people behind these accomplishments!
The Fates, named lovingly after the Greek goddesses tasked with managing the destinies of mortals, is a newly minted team within IT Services comprising the folks who work full-time behind the scenes of IAM and RI at Miami. RI is our IGA tool, which in the extended metaphor here may be the sewing implements – scissors, sewing needles, thimbles – used by the Fates to enact change on the destinies (or accounts) of Miami users. As with any tool, however, RI is made effective by the people who manage it.
Let’s meet them!
Josh Senn: IAM Solution Engineer
Josh is our IAM expert. He’s in charge of the technical implementation of IAM at Miami. This involves managing RI, which automates user access to IT systems based on established business processes. In other words . . . his job is to make sure our digital identities (who we are; what our jobs are; what systems we need to use) provide us with access to the right systems and working with RI to cross all of our I’s and dot all of our T’s.
“What I love most about my work is problem-solving,” he said. “There's satisfaction in developing solutions that make tasks easier and processes more efficient. Implementing solutions that help others work more effectively makes all of the work worth the effort.”
(Psst . . . Check out our profile of Josh from when he first started as the IAM Solution Engineer!)
Tim Ward: Senior Application Analyst I
Tim is an integral part of the team. He is in charge of ensuring that the changes we make (to business processes and to RI itself) meet our operational needs. Support teams need to provide accurate, effective support to Miami users, and that depends on our ability to build reliable, transparent services that log information clearly and provide as much feedback as possible.
He also helps analyze data from incoming support requests to see how we can make interactions with our systems run more smoothly, such as with the recent change to entity account creation.
“We determined that a number of tickets were being created when new entity accounts were created as RI was not immediately aware of these accounts and their passwords, and worked with the Iterators to integrate the new features in the IAM Portal application with RI,” he said about the experience.
“My favorite part of the work is building features that allow our users to better express their identity,” he said. “A recent example would be a bug we fixed that was preventing users from being able to display diacritical marks in their names. As soon as it was brought to our attention, we were able to identify the bug and implement a fix so names with special characters can now be spelled correctly in Miami systems. It's really great to know that the work we do can have tangible (positive) effects on our users.”
Erin Mills: Program Manager
Erin is, in more ways than one, the glue that keeps this team on the runway (yes, yes, we’re mixing our metaphors here). As Program Manager, she facilitates meetings, keeps track of tasks, communicates with business partners, and maintains a meticulous record of all the work being done behind the scenes in support of the IAM efforts.
“My main responsibilities are to keep things moving, keep an eye on the progress we are making, and take action when action is needed,” she said. “You can think of me as an air traffic controller, directing conversations, keeping flights (IAM projects and initiatives) organized on their way to the runway, and being sure the flights take off and land successfully. Much like the controller, average travelers aren't thinking about me. If you're able to travel safely and quickly (login and access your systems), I don't get much thought. And that's what I like!”
Truly, the work wouldn’t be done as quickly or as efficiently without Erin directing traffic. She has brought a technical background to the role, which has been a huge part of the success of the project. She also serves as the team’s unofficial emotional support person, cheering them on during meetings and preaching the good tidings of IAM to all who hear.
“My favorite part of this work, and all my work, is helping the people around me understand each other and come to agreements and compromises,” she said. “A good, successful day for me manifests when my team makes progress and feels happy and appreciated.”
We’re grateful for the hard work and dedication of these folks that are driving our IAM goals at Miami. Rest assured: If you have account access issues, these folks are here to help.