Practical Details
Duration: Four days (6 hours/day)
Delivery Method: Instructor Led
Teaching Methods: Lessons, Knowledge Checks, and Hands-on Labs
Student Materials: Slides, Exercise Book, Exercise Answers, Sample Data.
Lab Access: Yes (for two weeks)
Price: $2500.00 USD
Review
IdentityNow[1] is a capable platform but also a rather complicated one and while one might figure some things out from the documentation[4] and forums[5], it becomes quickly apparent to any person working with the platform that some structured education is very much needed before they can make good use of the platform.
The IdentityNow Essentials[2] course is the first course in the IdentityNow training track and one of the two courses recommended before taking the Certified IdentityNow Professional exam[3]. It lays down the foundations of the platform and introduces the students to the basic function along with giving them some hands-on experience.
It's so cool to be in the same class as many professionals from different sectors and companies.
The training is split over four days, six hours per day. I must admit, six hours of training is far too many hours, specially in a row. I managed to go through them because I enjoy the content – specially the labs – but at the end of the day (sessions ended at 20:00), I found myself fully exhausted and barely alive. That being said, I understand that splitting the course over more than four days might complicate logistics. The long lessons aren't an issue, as long as you have lots of good coffee nearby.
The training takes place over Zoom (for the lessons) and sandbox IdentityNow tenants (for the hands-on labs). Zoom meetings made the learning experience a breeze, specially when it came to using the various interactions. The training tenants worked smoothly and aside from some slowness – which is fair – I haven't noticed and faced any issues. Overall, the technical logistics worked smoothly and allowed me to focus on learning and practising, hence making the most out of the course.
The training sessions are structured into alternating lessons and labs where we first learn about something (a function, a concept, ...) and afterwards practise what we learned on the training tenants. The lessons and labs varied in length, but the longest lab was 60 minutes, while the shortest one took only 15 minutes. There are a couple of breaks during the session – usually connected to a lab – to allow some stretching and maybe refilling our coffee mugs. I found this structure quite efficient as it allowed me to practise things while fresh in memory and ask questions or get support if needed.
The logistics of training labs worked really well. The instructor didn't only account for the happy paths but also for the problematic ones thus giving us the troubleshooting experience and teaching us the basics of how to handle issues.
While our instructor explained the various topics and answered questions during the lesson portion, we worked individually during the labs, aside from when one needed some support or extra guidance. This allowed me to play around the training tenant and to experiment with some extra scenarios. There were some review questions after each lab which reinforced what was learned and offered some exploration opportunities.
I didn't take as many notes as I wanted, but I made sure to capture the most important details – specially confusing concepts – for future reference. The instructor provided relevant links from the documentation or community whenever possible, I made notes of these under respective topics. I believe taking good notes and asking questions are among the two most important learning activities you can do as a student taking this class – not including the hands-on labs, of course.
One thing I wish we did more of is discussions. There were wonderful people in this class from various backgrounds and with varying experiences, and I wish we discussed and exchanged ideas / experiences more during the four days. I understand there were a lot of materials to go through, but I feel we all lost a great knowledge sharing opportunity.
Final Thoughts
I learned a lot during this training. I feel more confident in my abilities when it comes to using IdentityNow as an Identity and Access Management governance solution. I have a lot more to learn, but I have the basics covered for now. Highly recommend this training for those looking into getting started with IdentityNow.
Links
- IdentityNow – Identity as a Service (IDaas) | SailPoint
- https://university.sailpoint.com/instructor-led-training/identitynow-essentials
- SailPoint Certified IdentityNow Professional - Identity University
- SaaS Product Documentation (sailpoint.com)
- SailPoint Compass Community
- SailPoint Certified IdentityNow Engineer - Identity University