SIFULAN Federation

Membership Types

Membership types

SIFULAN Federation offers two primary membership types: Identity Providers (IdPs) and Service Providers (SPs). Institutions of Higher Learning (IHLs), research organizations, and other institutions can operate as either IdPs or SPs, managing user authentication or offering access to digital resources. Service Providers, such as publishers and cloud services, can also connect to the federation as SPs to offer access to their digital resources. An organisation can become a member of SIFULAN Federation as an IdP or SP, with each membership type having its own requirements. Explore each membership type below to see which option best suits your institution or service.

Identity Provider

Organisations that are part of Malaysia’s higher education institutions can operate as an Identity Provider (IdP), serving as a Home Organisation. They can also operate Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure (AAI)-enabled web resources as Service Providers (SP). The institution must be registered with the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia.

Becoming a SIFULAN Federation Member as Identity Provider

The SIFULAN Federation Policy is the core document where all rights and obligations are described.

  1. To participate in SIFULAN as Identity Provider (IdP), your organisation has to agree to be bound by the Federation Policy in writing by an official representative of the organisation.

  2. Each application for membership including (if applicable) the Identity Management Practice Statement SHALL be evaluated by the SIFULAN and MUST pass Technology Implementation Compliance test.

  3. SIFULAN SHALL present a recommendation for membership with an evaluation report to the existing members on whether to grant or refuse the application.

 

In general, universities, university colleges, research institutions, government agencies and registered organisations that are affiliated to the Malaysian research and education sector are eligible to apply for SIFULAN Federation membership as IdP member.

Membership Fee

Participation to SIFULAN Federation as an Identity Provider is subject to an annual membership fee. Contact Us to request a quotation for SIFULAN Federation membership fee as Identity Provider.

Technical Information

To join SIFULAN, it is necessary to properly install and configure SAML Identity Provider (IdP) middleware. SIFULAN strongly recommends using SIFULAN Connect to establish a connection with the SIFULAN Federation. For more details, please refer to the SIFULAN Connect page.

 

Institutions or organisations wishing to join the SIFULAN Federation are required to complete the identity provider registration form provided.

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Service Provider

Typically, organisations in this membership category operate AAI-enabled web resources (Service Providers, SP) and make them available to users who have an AAI-enabled account with one of the participating Home Organisations that operate an Identity Provider (IdP).

Becoming a SIFULAN Federation Member as Service Provider

The SIFULAN Federation Policy is the core document where all rights and obligations are listed, but there are specific requirements to become a Service Provider. Generally, the following entities and organisations qualify as Service Providers:

 

  • Higher education institutions, research organisations, and content providers (both domestic and international) wishing to offer SAML SSO-enabled resources to one or more Federation members.

  • Entities and organisations wishing to provide SAML SSO-enabled research and education-related services to users of registered members from one or more Home Organisations.

Membership fee

SIFULAN Federation does not charge service providers a participation fee, and there are currently no recurring costs for participating as a service provider.

 

We reserve the right to introduce a one-off joining fee in the future to cover administrative overheads. However, if such a fee is implemented, it will not be applied retrospectively or on a case-by-case basis.

Technical Information

In order to technically join the SIFULAN Federation, any SP is required to support the SAML Protocol.

 

SIFULAN provides assistance for integration/infrastructure setup upon request by SP. As and when SIFULAN is able to provide such assistance, we reserve the right to recover additional costs incurred as per our prevailing consultation rates. Such costs shall be negotiated in advance on a per-case basis.

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Federation Environment

SIFULAN Federation offers two levels of federation: the Production Federation and the Test Federation.

  • The Test Federation provides an environment for institutions and organisations to test connections and verify the operation and behavior of their deployed SAML middleware (such as Shibboleth or SimpleSAMLphp or SIFULAN Connect). Once the operational testing requirements are met, institutions and organisations can proceed to the Production Federation.

  • The Production Federation is intended for actual operations using the organisation’s real data. Upon joining the Production Federation, institutions and organisations gain access to full-featured authentication capabilities, including the ability to connect with commercial services.

  • In principle, when setting up an Identity Provider (IdP) or Service Provider (SP), you are first required to verify operations within the Test Federation before moving on to the Production Federation.