Robert Rawson

Knowledgeable Identity Access Governance pioneer with a proven track record in leading consulting practices and delivering strategic solutions. Successfully managed expert teams and facilitated client engagement, driving project outcomes and operational efficiency. Demonstrated expertise in business transformation and stakeholder management. Pivoted through changing market conditions as they arose.

• Included in the first developer class for DirXML (1.0 Alpha)
• Delivered the first database application integration for DirXML 1.0
• Implemented the first directory agnostic integration of NetIQ Identity Governance
• Developed the first and only IDM driver based on the target using a 3270 terminal data stream as the identity source (never brought to market due to a licensing issue within the underpinning technology).
• Introduced the concept of “continuous compliance”; using identity Management to strictly enforce governance rules in complex multi-platform environment. The client’s next audit reduced red flags from over 200 to 1; and that one exception was that they could not find any red flags.
• Envisioned, developed and deployed LiQuiDSOAP™, a technology to ease and speed the customization of Web Services (SOAP) drivers for NetIQ IDM. Using LiQuiDSOAP™, I created the first IDM driver for WorkDay HRMS (2012), which was deployed to multiple organizations worldwide.
• Designed an EPIC integration (2017) to support both EMP and SER provisioning, ultimately deployed to multiple clients. The EPIC company consultants working with us on the project described it as the most tightly integrated IDM solution they had ever seen. LiQuiDSOAP™ was used here and for many other integrations including Blackboard, Ring Central and Cisco Unified Call Center.

Delivered several customer facing Identity solutions before the term “CIAM” was coined. 

• Integrated multiple AD domains in an international standards organization which included many partner companies who needed to collaborate on multiple committees.
• Another organization needed to transition their user base over to a new technology for authentication but was hamstrung trying to avoid forcing users to reset their password during the transition. I provided a solution which was a unique (at the time) application of access management technologies to provide a seamless transition for their customers.
• For a mid-sized insurance company needing to rapidly comply with new New York State financial regulations, implemented a single sign-on solution which delivered, with their branding unchanged, automatic MFA enrollment using existing data and convergence of their customer, client and employee authentication despite distinct branding.
• While the vendor had an out-of-the box solution for provisioning users to Salesforce, our client had a different use case. Specified the design of a solution we delivered which would using Salesforce an authoritative source of customer identity in this early CIAM project.\

Developed a competitive marketing presentation for vendor sales reps describing the process and challenges of implementing Microsoft technologies for Identity Management, highlighting both my positive and negative impressions on this technology.

• Delivered an Identity Solution based on the “free” identity functionality within the Microsoft 365 E5 license. This client wanted to leverage the technology they were entitled to rather than licensing an additional product. I developed a strategic deployment architecture which accounted for the organizations long term goals of roles based birthright provisioning, privileged account management, governance and a transition away from all existing on-premises applications, Leveraging a cutting edge new API, I created development plan and a long term road map. We delivered the first phases which included automated HR driven life cycle provisioning, email write-back, and role management as well as detailed entitlement provisioning documentation for the next phase.

Defined a repeatable methodology to migrate smoothly and transparently (to the user population) from one Identity solution to another.

• Rescued a failing migration from Sun Identity Manager to NetIQ at a well known university in the south east US, preserving the work done so far and improving it to properly take leverage the unique features of the target solution.
• Presented with a migration from NetIQ Identity Manager to SailPoint which was floundering. Identified where the NetIQ technology did not map well to SailPoint. Advocated making better use of SailPoint’s architecture but the client wanted to complete the project as planned. We helped them complete their vision. In hindsight they acknowledged that it might have gone more smoothly had they not tried to emulate the incumbent product.

Marketing Activities

• Recognizing that one of the impediments to identity management proliferation is the paucity of talent, I developed a brand, “CIS-MIAMI™ which incorporated CIS’ existing managed service infrastructure with the identity talent of our organization to offer cost-certain administration, enhancement, support and consulting services to our client base.
• Designed a companion cloud hosted network management architecture for Identity solutions known as CIS-MIAMI™ Monitor. The key distinguishing factor of this solution is that it monitors both the Identity product as well as the connection to the product being integrated, allowing the quick distinction of where to investigate when a problem occurs. Several scenarios are implemented for this monitoring including (but not limited to) server or service outage, network failure, service account password change and certificate expiration. CIS also receives these alerts and reaches out to the client proactively to determine if they need assistance, enhancing the revenue stream.