Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the standards Cloudwork uses?

   Cloudwork services are accessed via: SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language), SIF (Systems Interoperability Framework), LISS (Lightweight Interoperability Standard for Schools), XML-RPC (XML Remote Procedure Call), Ed-Fi Alliance, LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol), CVS (Comma Separated Variable files).
   Cloudwork supports all popular directory systems including Active Directory, and is compatible with management systems such as Synergetic, iWise, iGloo, and Edumate.



2. What web services support SAML and so work with Cloudwork?

   Here are some of the services and software environments that support SAML:
   Google Apps including GMail, Drupal, Joomla, Wordpress, Moodle, MediaWiki, ZenDesk, Apache.



3. Can the login page be branded with my company name/logo/color scheme?
   

   Yes, you can use your own company branding. Remember with Cloudwork the cloud is now yours - not Google's, not ours, not someone else's login portal! You may customise the login screen to contain whatever you wish, including your own text, logo, color scheme, company name and contact details. You can also include disclaimers, advertisements, bulletins and news items on that page.



4. What is the minimum commitment for Cloudwork IAM?

   Our minimum commitment period is one year.



5. Where is the latest Cloudwork User Manual?

   The Cloudwork User Manual is right here. It is currently branded for Studentnet, but can be rebranded for any organisation.



6. How is Cloudwork IAM structured?

   Cloudwork is made up of two components:
   1. Cloudwork Identity NODE – CwIN: is deployed as a VM (virtual machine) at the organisation. The CwIN is a Windows server that contains Cloudwork-specific code written in a mix of Python and Powershell. It also contains an instance of Microsoft ADFS. The CwIN is maintained and managed by Coherent Cloud. It is the responsibility of the organisation to maintain a backup of the CwIN image for disaster recovery purposes. We keep a backup of the CwIN configuration files for bare metal recovery purposes.
   2. Cloudwork Identity Access MANAGER – CwIM: is deployed as a single VM on dedicated server hardware at Coherent Cloud's GlobalSwitch DC. The CwIM is a Linux Ubuntu LTS server that contains Cloudwork-specific code written in Python. The CwIN is maintained and managed by Coherent Cloud. Version 1 of the CwIM was deployed in January 2008 and Version 2, totally re-written in Python, was deployed in January 2015, when all organisations were upgraded. The CwIM is backed up by Studentnet. Further, a full disaster recovery copy of the CwIM image is maintained at Coherent Cloud's offsite DR facility.