ILM

Identity Lifecycle Management (ILM): In information systems, identity management (i.e. IdM), sometimes referred to as identity management systems, is the management of the identity life cycle of entities (subjects or objects) during which: 1. the identity is established: a. a name (or number) is connected to the subject or object; b. the identity is re-established: a new or additional name (or number) is connected to the subject or object; 2. the identity is described: a. one or more attributes which are applicable to this particular subject or object may be assigned to the identity; b. the identity is newly described: one or more attributes which are applicable to this particular subject or object may be changed; 3. the identity is destroyed.

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SPML

Service Provisioning Markup Language (SPML): is an OASIS-approved standard intended to provide an XML framework for managing the provisioning and allocation of identity information and system resources within and between organizations.

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OASIS

Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS): is a not-for-profit consortium that drives the development, convergence and adoption of open standards for the global information society. The consortium produces more Web services standards than any other organization along with standards for security, e-business, and standardization efforts in the public sector and for application-specific markets. Founded in 1993, OASIS has more than 5,000 participants representing over 600 organizations and individual members in 100 countries.

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RA

Requesting Authority (RA): This is the client application (e.g. a HR system or web portal) that wants to manage an entity (e.g. a user or account) on some Provisioning Service Target(s) (PST). Therefore it creates a well-formed SPML request and sends it to a Provisioning Service Point (PSP). SPML requests describe operations to be performed by the PST(s). An RA must not directly send these requests to any PST.

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PST

Provisioning Service Target (PST): The endpoint for any provisioning request, representing a container for the PSOs it manages. A PST may be a traditional Windows domain or directory service instance or any backend application managing its own (user) objects. The PST accepts SPML requests from the PSP and finally translates these requests to some internal API calls to manage its objects. After performing the desired operation, the PST sends an SMPL response to the PSP, which in turn is send to the RA or stored on the PSP.

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PSP

Provisioning Service Point (PSP): Also called the SPML server or simply "provider", this software component takes the request from the client, processes it and returns with a (SPML) response. The value added by the PSP to the overall system is in its capabilities of directing and 'orchestrating' these requests.

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PSO

Provisioning Service Object (PSO): Any data entity or information object on a target, uniquely (within the namespace of the target) identified by an ID.

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VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) also called IP Telephony, Internet telephony, Broadband telephony, Broadband Phone and Voice over Broadband is the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or through any other IP-based network.

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IMS

The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is an architectural framework for delivering internet protocol (IP) multimedia to mobile users. It was originally designed by the wireless standards body 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), and is part of the vision for evolving mobile networks beyond GSM. Its original formulation (3GPP R5) represented an approach to delivering "Internet services" over GPRS. This vision was later updated by 3GPP, 3GPP2 and TISPAN by requiring support of networks other than GPRS, such as Wireless LAN, CDMA2000 and fixed line. To ease the integration with the Internet, IMS as far as possible uses IETF (i.e. Internet) protocols such as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). According to the 3GPP[1], IMS is not intended to standardise applications itself but to aid the access of multimedia and voice applications across wireless and wireline terminals, i.e. aid a form of fixed mobile convergence (FMC). This is done by having a horizontal control layer that isolates the access network from the service layer. Services need not have their own control functions, as the control layer is a common horizontal layer.

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TM Forum

The TM Forum provides leadership, strategic guidance and practical solutions to improve the management and operation of information and communications services. Its open membership of more than 600 companies comprises incumbent and new-entrant service providers, computing and network equipment suppliers, software solution suppliers and customers of communications services. TM Forum has been contributing to the Information and Communications Services (ICS) Industry for over 18 years.

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OSS

Operations Support Systems (also called Operational Support Systems or OSS) are computer systems used by telecommunications service providers. The term OSS most frequently describes "network systems" dealing with the telecom network itself, supporting processes such as maintaining network inventory, provisioning services, configuring network components, and managing faults. The complementary term Business Support Systems or BSS is a newer term and typically refers to "business systems" dealing with customers, supporting processes such as taking orders, processing bills, and collecting payments. The two systems together are often abbreviated BSS/OSS or simply B/OSS.

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BSS

Business Support Systems (BSS) are the components that a telephone operator or telco uses to run its business operations. The term BSS is no longer limited to telephone operators offering mobile to fixed and cable services but also can apply to service providers in all sectors such as utility providers. Typical types of activities that count as part of BSS are taking a customer?s order, managing customer data, managing order data, billing, rating, and offering B2B and B2C services. Business Support Systems are linked to Operational Support Systems (OSS) in the enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM) that maps processes into the functional areas of Fulfilment, Assurance and Billing where Assurance is typically covered by OSS platform. BSS and OSS platforms are linked in the need to support various end to end services. Each area has its own data and service responsibilities.

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OSS/J

The OSS/J Initiative extends from its core membership to relationships throughout the entire telecommunications and Java development communities worldwide. This extended community provides a growing family of Certified Products and Referenced Components, plus Affiliated Services and Open Source activities. The OSS/J ecosystem is driving the creation of componentized based end-to-end OSS/BSS solutions that support the lean operator.

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WS-Security

Web Services Security (WS-Security): is a communications protocol providing a means for applying security to Web Services. On April 19 2004 the WS-Security 1.0 standard was released by Oasis-Open. On February 17 2006 they released version 1.1. Originally developed by IBM, Microsoft, VeriSign and Forum Systems, the protocol is now officially called WSS and developed via committee in Oasis-Open. The protocol contains specifications on how integrity and confidentiality can be enforced on Web Services messaging. The WSS protocol includes details on the use of SAML and Kerberos, and certificate formats such as X.509. WS-Security describes how to attach signature and encryption headers to SOAP messages. In addition, it describes how to attach security tokens, including binary security tokens such as X.509 certificates and Kerberos tickets, to messages. WS-Security incorporates security features in the header of a SOAP message, working in the application layer. Thus it ensures end-to-end security.

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SAML

Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML): is an XML standard for exchanging authentication and authorization data between security domains, that is, between an identity provider (a producer of assertions) and a service provider (a consumer of assertions). SAML is a product of the OASIS Security Services Technical Committee. The single most important problem that SAML is trying to solve is the Web Browser Single Sign-On (SSO) problem. Single sign-on solutions are abundant at the intranet level (using cookies, for example) but extending these solutions beyond the intranet has been problematic and has led to the proliferation of non-interoperable proprietary technologies. SAML has become the definitive standard underlying many web Single Sign-On solutions in the enterprise identity management problem space. SAML assumes the principal (often a user) has enrolled with at least one identity provider. This identity provider is expected to provide local authentication services to the principal. However, SAML does not specify the implementation of these local services; indeed, SAML does not care how local authentication services are implemented (although individual service providers most certainly will). Thus a service provider relies on the identity provider to identify the principal. At the principal's request, the identity provider passes a SAML assertion to the service provider. On the basis of this assertion, the service provider makes an access control decision.

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Kerberos

Kerberos is the name of a computer network authentication protocol, which allows individuals communicating over a non-secure network to prove their identity to one another in a secure manner. It is also a suite of free software published by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that implements this protocol. Its designers aimed primarily at a client-server model, and it provides mutual authentication ? both the user and the server verify each other's identity. Kerberos protocol messages are protected against eavesdropping and replay attacks. Kerberos builds on symmetric key cryptography and requires a trusted third party. Extensions to Kerberos can provide for the use of public key cryptography during certain phases of authentication.

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X.509

In cryptography, X.509 is an ITU-T standard for public key infrastructure (PKI). X.509 specifies, amongst other things, standard formats for public key certificates and a certification path validation algorithm.

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SOAP

Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP): is a protocol for exchanging XML-based messages over computer networks, normally using HTTP/HTTPS. SOAP forms the foundation layer of the Web services stack, providing a basic messaging framework upon which abstract layers can be built. There are several different types of messaging patterns in SOAP, but by far the most common is the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) pattern, in which one network node (the client) sends a request message to another node (the server) and the server immediately sends a response message to the client. SOAP is the successor of XML-RPC, though it borrows its transport and interaction neutrality and the envelope/header/body from elsewhere, probably from WDDX.

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SSH

Secure Shell (SSH): is a network protocol that allows data to be exchanged over a secure channel between two computers. Encryption provides confidentiality and integrity of data. SSH uses public-key cryptography to authenticate the remote computer and allow the remote computer to authenticate the user, if necessary. SSH is typically used to log into a remote machine and execute commands, but it also supports tunneling, forwarding arbitrary TCP ports and X11 connections; it can transfer files using the associated SFTP or SCP protocols.

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LDAP

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP): is an application protocol for querying and modifying directory services running over TCP/IP. A directory is a set of objects with similar attributes organized in a logical and hierarchical manner. The most common example is the telephone directory, which consists of a series of names (either of persons or organizations) organized alphabetically, with each name having an address and phone number attached. Due to this basic design (among other factors) LDAP is often used by other services for authentication. An LDAP directory tree often reflects various political, geographic, and/or organizational boundaries, depending on the model chosen. LDAP deployments today tend to use Domain name system (DNS) names for structuring the topmost levels of the hierarchy. Deeper inside the directory might appear entries representing people, organizational units, printers, documents, groups of people or anything else which represents a given tree entry (or multiple entries). Its current version is LDAPv3, which is specified in a series of Internet Engineering Task Force Standard Track Requests for comments (RFCs) as detailed in RFC 4510.

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ISP

An Internet service provider (abbr. ISP, also called Internet access provider or IAP) is a business or organization that provides consumers or businesses access to the Internet and related services. In the past, most ISPs were run by the phone companies. Now, ISPs can be started by just about any individual or group with sufficient money and expertise. In addition to Internet access via various technologies such as dial-up and DSL, they may provide a combination of services including Internet transit, domain name registration and hosting, web hosting, and colocation.

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TSP

A Telecommunications Service Provider or TSP is a type of Communications Service Provider that has traditionally provided telephone and similar services. This category includes ILECs, CLECs, and mobile wireless companies. While some people use the terms Telecom Service Provider and Communications Service Provider interchangeably, the term TSP generally exclude ISPs, cable companies, satellite TV, and managed service providers. TSPs provide access to telephone and related communications services. In the past, most TSP's were government owned and operated. in most countries, due to the nature of capital expenditure involved in it. But today there are many private players in most regions of the world, and even most of the government owned companies have been privatized.

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ASP

An application service provider (ASP) is a business that provides computer-based services to customers over a network. Software offered using an ASP model is also sometimes called On-demand software or software as a service (SaaS). The most limited sense of this business is that of providing access to a particular application program (such as medical billing) using a standard protocol such as HTTP. The need for ASPs has evolved from the increasing costs of specialized software that have far exceeded the price range of small to medium sized businesses. As well, the growing complexities of software have led to huge costs in distributing the software to end-users. Through ASPs, the complexities and costs of such software can be cut down. In addition, the issues of upgrading have been eliminated from the end-firm by placing the onus on the ASP to maintain up-to-date services, 24 x 7 technical support, physical and electronic security and in-built support for business continuity and flexible working.

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MSP

A managed service provider (MSP), is a company that receives income from services, typically on a monthly basis. Recently, Managed Service Provider is a company that manages information technology services for other companies via the Internet. An MSP is a "company that offers continuous outsourcing of an IT function -- it works on a recurring revenue model; it monitors and fixes things proactively; and it does all this over the Internet, rather than having to work hands-on at a client's office." Common services provided by MSPs include remote network, desktop and security monitoring, patch management and remote data back-up, as well as technical assistance.

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