Installation guide

Creating a Project Plan 21
 Is the synchronization one-way or two-way?
 Which system is the authoritative source for which attributes?
It is also important to consider the interrelationships of different values between systems.
For example, an employee status field in PeopleSoft might have three set values: employee,
contractor, and intern. However, the Active Directory system might have only two values: permanent
and temporary. In this situation, the relationship between the “contractor” status in PeopleSoft and
the “permanent” and “temporary” values in Active Directory needs to be determined.
The focus of this work should be to understand each directory system, how they relate to each other,
and what objects and attributes need to be synchronized across the systems. After the design is
complete, the next step is to create a proof of concept. Proceed to Section 2.3, “Proof of Concept,” on
page 21.
2.3 Proof of Concept
You create an test your proof of concept by using a sample implementation in a lab environment in
order to reflect your company’s business policy and data flow. The implementation is based on the
design of the data model developed during the requirement analysis and design and is a final step
before the production pilot. You perform the tests in the lab you created in Chapter 1, “Setting Up a
Development Environment,” on page 11.
NOTE: This step is often beneficial in gaining management support and funding for a final
implementation effort.
Chapter 3, “Technical Guidelines,” on page 23 contains information that can help you validate your
proof of concept. It contains technical guidelines to help make your Identity Manager deployment
successful.
As you create the proof of concept, you need to also create a plan to validate the data that you have in
your systems. This step helps you make sure that conflicts don’t occur between systems. Proceed to
Section 2.4, “Data Validation and Preparation,” on page 21 to make sure these conflicts do not occur.
2.4 Data Validation and Preparation
The data in production systems can be of varying quality and consistency and therefore might
introduce inconsistencies when synchronizing systems. This phase presents an obvious point of
separation between the resources implementation team and the business units or groups who “own”
or manage the data in the systems to be integrated. At times, the associated risk and cost factors
might not belong in a provisioning project.
You need to use the data model that you completed in the analysis and design phases. You should
also have a possible record matching and data format strategy in order to prepare the data correctly.
With the data model and format strategy defined, you can complete two important steps:
 Create production data sets appropriate for loading into the Identity Vault (as identified in the
analysis and design activities). This includes the probable method of loading (either bulk load or
via connectors). The requirement for data that is validated or otherwise formatted is also
identified.
 Identify performance factors and validate these factors against equipment being used and the
overall distributed architecture of the deployment of Identity Manager.
After the data is prepared, proceed to Section 2.5, “Production Pilot,” on page 22.