Starting in January 2010, InCommon participants will be able to register 50 service providers for one flat rate, up from the current number of 20. The InCommon Steering Committee approved this service expansion, acting on a recommendation from the InCommon Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).
"We already have several participants already over the limit of 20 and more who would soon reach that limit," said John Krienke, InCommon operations manager. "As a federation, we want to encourage the deployment of available services."
Increased activity, along with customer demand for more services per organization, led to the recommendation and is a testament to the increasing adoption of federated online resources and applications.
The change is already reflected in the 2010 billing cycle and is not tied to the new tiered fee structure that also goes into effect January 1, 2010. All participants, regardless of classification, will benefit from this expansion of service.
Prior to this change, any organization registering more than 20 service providers paid an additional fee of $1,000 annually for each additional 20 SPs.
"We're encouraged to see not only corporate partners but also universities registering their online services for federated access," Krienke explained. "Encouraging this growth increases the value for all federation participants and provides more immediate value for additional institutions to join InCommon."