Workflows in a Nutshell

Workflows is a dynamic feature within Next Identity designed to help businesses tackle complex challenges. By leveraging existing or customized modules, it offers plug-in orchestration capabilities. This allows for configuring the system to perform additional processing on requests, ensuring customer authentication and transaction completion are seamlessly integrated.

Workflows ingeniously combines Events and Actions, providing unparalleled flexibility and customization to address a wide range of complex enterprise use cases.

Common Use Cases of Workflows

Workflows can be applied in various scenarios, including but not limited to:

Restricting Application Access: Based on specific user attributes or behaviors.
System Notifications: Informing downstream systems about user profile updates or access revocation.
Custom Email Triggers: Activating upon new device registration by a user.
Token Enrichment: Adding customer data to tokens for enhanced user experiences.
Step-Up Authentication: Challenging users with additional authentication steps, especially after analyzing signals through an external risk engine.

Core Components of Workflows

Workflows are structured around five key components:

Sources: The origin points for events. Current primary sources include Next Identity and Akamai Identity Cloud, which can create custom sources as needed.
Events: These are specific triggers activated by user transactions, such as successful logins or data access revocations.
Actions: Defined steps to be taken post-event occurrence. Actions vary from notifying endpoints to sending communications like emails or SMS. They are categorized as asynchronous (Notify) or synchronous (Enrich).
Notifications: Messages dispatched to targets, potentially containing personally identifiable information (PII), depending on the event and action.
Targets: These are URL endpoints or Next Identity Connect integrations tasked with receiving, processing notifications, and sending responses. Targets are expected to support signed and encrypted JWT formats and verify the event's authenticity.

Managing Responses

Responses from targets are a crucial aspect of Workflows. They are expected to be either HTTP response codes or payloads, tailored to the specific action type. A signed JWT in the response is required for further processing in cases of asynchronous enrich actions.

Configuring Workflows

Workflows within Next Identity are primarily configured using the Workflow Manager and Workflow Designer tools. These tools facilitate workflow creation, editing, and management, allowing for a tailored approach to meet specific business requirements. For detailed instructions on utilizing these tools, refer to the respective guides or consult your Next Reason Solutions Architect for personalized assistance.