Martin Fraser - Monday, December 8, 2014 4:57 AM:
Good Morning.
I am going to start using sharepoint within my organisation, I wish to continue using ARAS with it. I am trying to understand how sharepoint links to ARAS to resolve permissions.
Sharepoint has a feature that allows invites to be sent to parties that require access to specific documents, these users may be accessing sharepoint through a free subscription, or a tempory account.
The traditional way to allow users access to ARAS requires a subscription for each user.
None of the documentation I have found describes the licencing model in a clear way. The only information I have found is on the technology page of the ARAS website:
- No additional PLM licenses needed
Any help with this topic would be greatly apprechiated.
Many thanks,
Martin
PeterSchroer - Monday, December 8, 2014 11:20 AM:
Hello Martin, Aras Subscribers pay for the subscription based on the number of named users, usually in blocks of users (250, 500, 1,000, 25,000 etc). Subscribers can grow their usage during the year, and then True-Up at the next renewal.
Normally SharePoint links to Aras using ActiveDirectory single-sign-on, but this does not need to be the case. You can force the SharePoint-to-Aras connection to use a specific user account, such as generic account that all suppliers share.
If you would like to temporarily allow a supplier to access a document there are several interesting alternatives. I would create a temporary user account in Aras PLM that is used by SharePoint for the specific Document that is shared, and have the account auto-disable after the document has been retrieved. All of this can be easily automated,... we have sample code for auto-generating and administering user accounts. Another alternative is to have a generic account used for all supplier access, but then you've lost the traceability of who sees what. Other ideas come to mind as well. I suggest you contact Aras or the local implementation partner to brainstorm the best approach for your specific scenario.
--peter.
Martin Fraser - Tuesday, December 9, 2014 3:34 AM:
Thank you Peter,
You have answered my question, which should have been "does sharepoint need a user account to access ARAS?" The answer is yes, the cleaverness is in the details.
I have a few ideas for how to manage the users, I was considering a single sign-on with the custom logic being built around an approved email address list managed by a nominated user, which I can compare to the microsoft account that is logging in. The auto-generation of users accounts is an interesting alternative,
Your advice will prove very useful when we come to implementing the final solution. I will definatly discuss these options with our ARAS partner when the time comes.
Many thanks,
Martin.
