Benefits of InCommon BaseCAMP: Hear it from Former First-Timers

A: We went there in 2020. We were really investigating options for replacing our current identity management system that we had been running since 2014. BaseCAMP was an introduction to the applications that we were looking at, and we wanted to … get to know people who were using them already.

We got exactly what we wanted out of that. We didn’t expect to go in and learn how to do everything to get it set up and running. We went in with the expectation of meeting people, finding out what questions we needed to ask and what we needed to do going forward to actually plan out our implementation.

A: I remember being inspired, if you will, by the presentation “What’s Next in Grouper” by Chris Hyzer. He had been talking about what they were going to be doing in the near future, and it honestly rang true with everything that we were trying to do at ISU. We didn’t know at the time when we were going into BaseCAMP that we needed Grouper. … That presentation told us that we needed Grouper and we started plans to implement it shortly thereafter.

A: I’d say it’s honestly open to a lot of different roles. The idea is to engage with more than just the leaders and the implementers of the technology and connect with the people who are utilizing the tools to achieve the outcomes that they are needing to meet in real-world situations. That’s the whole goal of BaseCAMP—in my opinion—to engage people and connect with them.

Being a part of BaseCAMP impacted me professionally by getting me into a network of users and administrators who have similar goals and environments but are also willing to talk about what they do on a daily basis. Previously, we had been in a closed source environment, a proprietary environment for our identity management system, and we had no say in how it was implemented.

With the [InCommon Trusted Access Platform] software, we are able to reach out to the people who develop the software and say, ‘Hey, it would be nice if we could do this.’ And within a couple of months, that feature will show up occasionally. It’s a great community to be able to reach out to people and get problems solved.

A: I wanted to learn about InCommon, Internet2, and anything related to IAM. It definitely met my expectations because of the range of the sessions that were offered, and it connected me to other schools and people who are in a similar role to me.

A: There definitely is. For me, it was having the opportunity to ask questions and have discussions. Sometimes, when you attend other training sessions, you may not have that opportunity. I really enjoyed … talking to presenters and peers to help solve similar problems.

A: Personally, it was such a good decision to ask my supervisor if I could attend. I now have a better understanding of the terminology and components of IAM.

A: I recommend [BaseCAMP] to anybody who deals with identity access management. You could be new, or you could be in your role for a while, but I really do encourage individuals who are new, like me.

A: BaseCAMP has something for everybody. Anyone [who is] new to identity management or [has been] working with IAM for a while will greatly benefit due to the various sessions, activities, and even the connections you make within training.