Office 365 - Authentication across domains?

[garethEds]

Not sure if I've got the title of the subject right, but here is the scenario.

 

In Wales we have an 'All-Wales' Office 365 tenancy. We logon with @.net with a password (obviously).

 

However, this is different to our local/on-site domain username and password. We had/have our own tenancy which works amazing with SSO/ADFS and using a script allows us to map a drive (onedrivemapper script).

 

The issue we have is that the LEA are forcing us to use the All Wales option which means we can no longer have our mapped drive.

 

Can anyone think of a way without using middle companies (iAMCloud etc) to do this? People log in to their onsite account but get a mapped drive access to the All Wales OneDrive area? This then being mapped to O:\ to create a filer window option?

 

The way the LEA want it is to remove any local storage and simply depend on OneDrive. We could have done this with our option and script but cannot do it with the All-Wales option.

 

Any advice appreciated. If I need to explain anything in more depth please ask.

 

I'm looking for a Jedi Master to help with this...

 

Gareth

[Matt_Renato]

Is the 'All Wales' tenancy linked to a single domain? Do you still have access to the admin portal?

[garethEds]

@Matt_Renato : Yes the 'All-Wales' tenancy is indeed a single domain.

 

Admin Portal - no. Not a chance. Still got access to our own tenancy admin portal. The All Wales admin is controlled by Welsh Government.

[ModeratelyGruntled]

Is this the 'HwbMail' - the WAG's Office 365?

 

We looked at this a while ago but as they wouldn't delegate us permission to administer our own users (!) we decided to stick with our own 365 tenancy.

 

How are they forcing you to use it? I know we have Hwb accounts, we just don't use them.

[garethEds]

@ModeratelyGruntled : Yes indeed it is the WAG tenancy for Office 365

 

Where are you based?

 

We are indeed being forced to use it by the LEA.

[welshman]

No schools should be forced to use WAGs O365. IMHO the tenancy is not fit for purpose. SLTs should be delegated the power to decide which cloud solution is best for their school. For WAG to claim that it makes collaboration easier if we are all in the same tenancy is utter nonsense. Years of work and millions of pounds of taxpayers money wasted.

[garethEds]

@welshman - You have uses the term "not fit for purpose" in two posts. In what way?

 

DM me the arguement. I've put forward my concerns over and over but to deaf ears.

 

Interested to know where you are based.

 

Gareth

[welshman]

Hi Gareth. Have a read of the Information Governance Guidance document published by WAG in September 2015. Paying particular attention to data that should not be stored in Hwb+ and the All Wales O365 tenancy.

[Ephelyon]

If the politics could be dealt with, perhaps an option to put forward to the WAG could be that individual schools establish an External Trust between their own O365 tenancy and the All-Wales one, such that the OneDrive resource existing in All-Wales is available for mapping by users in the local tenancy? I'm assuming the main issue is that no trust relationship exists...

[welshman]

I don't see that happening unfortunately, I think WAG would see that as a project failure. Others may see it as duplication of effort to establish a cloud based ecosystem for Welsh schools. I think WAG have bitten off more than they can chew by trying to establish an All Wales tenancy that meets everyone's expectations. I'm not blaming WAG, I just think that what they set out to do is not possible. For primary schools who, no disrespect, may not have the technical expertise to establish a cloud platform for their school I can understand the logic - make sure everyone has something to use. For secondary schools, many of whom have their own IT staff, let them decide the best cloud system to suit their requirements. SLT's have been 'strong armed' into a platform that doesn't deliver. They have had the hard sell from WAG without being given the full picture - we don't have control, SharePoint is a nightmare, trying to identify somebody in the All Wales directory is impossible if you have a common name, sharing OneDrive folders/files with Groups is hit and miss, we can't see our own pupils in the directory; the list goes on. All fundamental requirements of a decent platform.

[Ephelyon]

I agree completely in terms of the way you'd expect it to work out politically.

 

But if you want the politics resolved, it would need to be presented as a way of moving forward without declaring project failure... if you can find a way to present it as a "best of both worlds" approach, they might listen.

[garethEds]

Hi Gareth. Have a read of the Information Governance Guidance document published by WAG in September 2015. Paying particular attention to data that should not be stored in Hwb+ and the All Wales O365 tenancy.

 

I've checked this out today and I'm told it is being updated at this moment in time to cover what needs to be covered. So that argument will soon be irrelevant to us. Never mind. Thanks for pointing it out though.

 

Gareth

[welshman]

It's being rewritten, that's convenient

 

The document was only published 6 months ago; I'd be very interested to know what has changed in that time to permit the storage of PERSONAL data in the platform (if that is indeed the amendment that is being made to the document).