Enterprise Active Directory (EAD) is one of the components of the Identity and Access Management Program (IAM) at UBC. EAD is a directory service used for authentication and authorization to centrally managed Microsoft Windows based services (i.e. VDI, VSS, H:/Drive, and FASMail) deployed university wide.
Departments have been flattening their AD directories and onboarding to the EAD service offering to take advantage of shared resources steadily since 2010.
The following lists some of the advantages of consolidating stand-alone technology and processes under a shared EAD services umbrella:
- Reduce the number of separate sign-ons
- Ensure that the same username / password is used on most systems
- Simplify and automate provisioning and de-provisioning
- Reduce overall identity-related administration
- Consolidate and deliver consistent directory service
- Manage digital identity data in a way that is person-centric, not system-centric
- Use local administration and control for local resources
