Building domain from ground up - LDAP Authentication question

[Abraham Assadi]

Hello!

I'm part of an IT service team that is building a new network/domain from the ground up, with around 120 users to start. We are exploring various cloud-based IT service desk systems for managing user requests and issues. We are looking for a platform that will integrate well with our Active Directory to make service management tasks quick and efficient.

I understand that Jira Service Desk has a feature, "Internal with LDAP Authentication" - my question is, is this feature still available/functional if we choose the cloud-hosted Jira service platform (as opposed to hosting the platform in-house?)

If the cloud-hosted platform works with LDAP authentication, how seamless is this integration? If we create a new user account in AD, for instance, are additional tasks/scripts necessary to view the new user in Jira Service Desk?

Thank you for your feedback!

[Ravi Sagar _Sparxsys_]

Hi @Abraham Assadi 

For Cloud you can check Atlassian access.

"Internal with LDAP Authentication" is for server version of Jira.

Ravi

[Abraham Assadi]

Thank you, Ravi. 

So, in order for us to integrate our AD with cloud-based Jira SD, we need to purchase Atlassian Access, which will come out to an additional $3300 per year - I understand, thank you. 

Two more questions, when you have time:

1) If we decided to opt-out of Atlassian access, while still using the cloud based Jira service desk platform, what is the most efficient way to generate and maintain user accounts? Is there any SSO functionality, or is the user forced to create their account upon logging in to the self-service portal for the first time?

2) We have the server space to host Jira Service Desk in-house, so another option is to go that route. Can you provide me with a rundown of recurring maintenance tasks and initial setup? We don't have a big IT team so we don't want to bite off more than we can chew.

[Ravi Sagar _Sparxsys_]

1. Not sure how it will work when you opt out of Atlassian Access.

2. Initial setup - few days. Add few more days to customise Jira and configuring projects, SSO etc. Maintenance tasks - depends how big your instance is, but there are things like managing backups, monitoring, 1 or 2 upgrades annually and some clean up. For a small non critical instance it is not much hassle honestly. 

Server will give you more control on what you can do with your instance. There are more apps available on server.

Why not evaluate Cloud for few weeks? Involve few stakeholders as well. As them to try out various features on the cloud. Make a list of thing you/your team wants to do now and in the next 6 months to 2 years. It will then help in making decision.