SAP’s Identity Authentication Service: What You Need to Know

You may have already heard that SAP will require all customers to move to the Identity Authentication Service (IAS) by the end of 2022. But why is this so important and how will it affect you?

One Point of Access for All Products

First off, SAP will be discontinuing the Single Sign-On (SSO) function in SAP’s SuccessFactors Platform so you’ll need alternative log-in access, which is where IAS comes in. This is a good thing because IAS will now act as the “one-stop shop” for access to all of your SAP products. Customers can now connect the sign-on process for their users instead of setting up SSO for each product. This will make for a much better day-to-day experience.

Although SAP has not given a definitive date for when they will force current SSO customers to move to IAS, we encourage everyone to consider doing this sooner rather than later to avoid any last-minute rush.

IAS and Internal vs. External Learners in SAP SuccessFactors Learning

Customers who are already using the integrated external learner solution can continue to use it. Those who want to start offering learning to non-employee users have two alternatives in place via the integrated external user feature:

1. SAP SuccessFactors Learning customers can create users as internal users in the SAP SuccessFactors Platform and use its authentication system.

2. This is recommended for users with a working relationship, such as contingent workers.

3. Mobile, theming, and SAP Jam integration are also available.

4. SAP SuccessFactors Learning customers can opt to create Learning-only users in Learning rather than the SAP SuccessFactors Platform.

5. This is recommended for non-workers such as customers, distributors, or partners.

6. This method does not currently support mobile, theming, or SAP Jam integration.

7. Authentication for external Learning-only users is currently native to Learning but will be migrating to the SAP CI Identity Authentication Service.

IAS Is Required for Report Story

IAS is required when implementing Report Stories in Report Centre. Report Stories allow report authors to build dynamic reports and analytics dashboards based on suite-wide transactional data and share them with business users. Report Story is part of the SuccessFactors Platform license and is available to all customers. So, before you can embark on implementing Report Stories, you must have IAS enabled.

The Five-step Process to Implement and Enable IAS

The process of migrating to IAS requires tasks to be performed in the SAP SuccessFactors Admin Center, the Identity Provisioning Service (IPS) Administration Console, and in the Identity Authentication Service (IAS) Administration Console. These steps are as follows:

1. Initiate IAS upgrade in Upgrade Center (UC)

2. Set up corporate identity provider (IDP) in the IAS administration console

3. Configure log-in options, user groups, and password policies in the IAS administration console

4. Configure Identity Provisioning Service (IPS) settings and setup sync jobs within the IPS administration console

5. Enable IAS in UC

Timing Is Critical for SAP IAS

The end of SAP’s deadline draws near: SAP requires all customers to move to IAS. Starting now will help ensure that users experience minimal disruption and new implementations are no longer being supported by SAP.