Introduction

Why have organisations chosen Athens?

• Users connect to many online services with the same username and password.
• No additional user administration is required for new Athens protected services.
• 260 Athens protected services are available now, with more added every month.
• Accounts can be set up with campus restricted access and/or secure off-campus access for distance learners.
• Existing user information can be used to populate Athens user accounts.

Why should I implement Athens?

• exposure to the Athens marketplace
• a reduction in your operational costs as user account administration is devolved from you to the Athens service (you will not need to manage thousands of user accounts),
• purchasers of online services within the UK Education and Health sectors are more receptive to buy Athens protected services
• access to a highly resilient AMS service database of 3 million individual users.

How does it work commercially?

You continue to sell subscriptions to your service however you choose, perhaps by yourself, or via an agent such as the JISC, Eduserv CHEST, or a subscription agent. Whoever you approve to be your agent, sells to the purchasing organisation, then informs Athens. We then enable the organisations' accounts to access your service.

How much work is it?

• Athens implementation can be as simple as installing the Athens web server plug-in.
• Athens integrates easily with Unix, NT and legacy systems. Agents are now available as
  • Apache /IIS plug ins
  • C, Java, Perl, ActiveX/COM libraries.
• A web services SOAP interface is also available to allow maximum flexibility in implementing Athens authentication in modern web apllications.
• Athens provides an alternative access route to your online service and works alongside your existing access controls. It is not necessary to replace all your current access routes.

Versions available

• Athens Authority Server Interface (ASI) - SOAP Web Services interface (WSDL definition)
• C API - available for Solaris, Linux, FreeBSD and Windows
• Java class library - Java 1.2 and above
• Perl module - Solaris, Linux
• IIS module - Windows
• ActiveX/COM control - Windows
• Apache module - Solaris, Linux, FreeBSD

What to do next

• Contact us about becoming a DSP. You will be asked for general information about your product to enable us to advise you on feasibility, effort involved and costs.
• Agree terms and conditions and sign the Athens licence. Details about the pricing model are outlined in the Athens charging model document.
• Register as a DSP. When this is approved, you will be provided with credentials to enter the DSP administration area, which will allow access to all the Athens client libraries and associated documentation.