WatIAM
University of Waterloo Identity and Access Management (or WatIAM) is The University of Waterloo's central identity system for keeping track of who's who and what they should be able to access.
History
Before WatIAM, the university used UWdir as its directory and identity service, a system in place since 1991 that primarily served as a campus directory and basic identity lookup.
Starting in late 2006, the university's Information Systems & Technology (IST) department began investigating replacements for UWdir to improve identity and access functionality across campus systems.
In mid 2007, IST decided to implement commercial identity management software from Sun Microsystems to build a modernized system.
This project resulted in the launch of WatIAM, which was rolled out in February 2009 as a more sophisticated identity and access management platform. Users began seeing the new system when students returned to campus after reading week that year. (source)
In 2018, the system supporting WatIAM was "replaced with a new platform".
Today WatIAM is part of Waterloo’s central identity and authentication platform integrated with Quest, LEARN, email, Wi-Fi, and more.
Trivia
- WatIAM is one of the few remaining 'Waterloo things' with a Wat- prefix (see WATFOR, WATFIV, etc.)