Empowering Campus Connectivity with Secure IAM for Students & Faculty

Overview

A renowned university in the United States, committed to delivering exceptional technology resources to its students, faculty, and staff, faced challenges in managing access credentials across its systems. At the heart of their operations was the need for a simple, secure, and user-friendly way to manage passwords while improving security. Partnering with Tellestia, the university transformed its identity and access management (IAM) practices with a cutting-edge WSO2 IAM solution, ensuring a seamless user experience and strengthened cybersecurity.

The Challenge

Every semester brought a predictable yet overwhelming challenge for the university’s IT help desk. Students and staff returning from semester breaks often forgot their passwords, leading to a flood of support calls. Adding to the strain was the influx of thousands of new accounts to onboard each semester.

This situation created mounting pressures:

• High call volumes overwhelmed the help desk.
• Prolonged resolution times frustrated users.
• Security risks escalated as users resorted to weak, easily guessed passwords.

"Our students and staff rely on IT systems but the overwhelming backlog of issues at the start of each semester was unmanageable," shared the university’s Director of Information Services. The institution needed a reliable solution to reduce help desk dependency, enable password self-management, and enforce robust security standards.

The Objective

The university sought to achieve:

• A drastic reduction in help desk call volumes and response times.
• An intuitive, self-service solution for users to manage password resets independently.
• Stronger password policies to enhance security across all systems.
• A user-friendly process to simplify password management for students, faculty, and staff.

The Solution

Tellestia implemented the WSO2 Identity and Access Management (IAM) platform, an open-source, modern, feature-rich solution tailored to the university’s needs. The platform offered:

• Adaptive and strong authentication for enhanced security.
• Federated Single Sign-On (SSO) to streamline user access across systems.
• Automatic password synchronization to simplify password updates.
• Self-service password reset options to empower users.

This solution enabled users to securely manage a single strong password across all systems. If a password was forgotten, the self-service feature allowed users to reset it independently using verification methods such as security questions or hardware tokens—eliminating the need to contact the help desk.

"With the IAM solution in place, our students and staff no longer struggle with forgotten passwords, and our IT support team can focus on higher priorities," said the Director of Information Services.

The Impact

Since deploying the WSO2 IAM platform, the university has achieved remarkable outcomes:

• Significant Help Desk Relief: A dramatic reduction in support calls has freed up IT resources for strategic initiatives.
• Enhanced Security: Strong password policies, synchronized across systems, have bolstered the institution’s defenses against security threats.
• Improved User Experience: Students, faculty, and staff enjoy a seamless login experience and self-service capabilities.
• Lower IT Costs: Fewer support requests have translated into operational savings.

By addressing the university’s unique challenges, Tellestia delivered more than just a solution—it created a secure, efficient, and scalable IAM framework tailored to their goals. With a streamlined user experience and fortified security, the university is well-equipped to meet the demands of its growing academic community.