LDAP and its Importance to Your Organizational Flow

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) might be something you're familiar with if you work on the technical side of programming or internet engineering. For most of us, even the very internet savvy, LDAP is a term that you don't hear very much. Basically, this is the standardized model for directory building across every program and system.

To break this down in terms of how your organization uses this protocol - LDAP allows whatever database or program you're using to create users and groups - it also allows you to delete members, search members, and categorize users by different criteria. This feature is essentially laid out similarly across all programs, so you'll find the same universal features though they might be triggered or accessed in different ways.

The protocol was first introduced in the 1990s and the technical commands have influenced everything since, including internet protocol. For most of us, though, the technical code commands aren't important, the features are.

Organizational Flow and the Advantage of Standard Protocol

LDAP is standard for a specific reason - it's been proven to be the most useful way to organize your members. This protocol is used widely for many directories, from email addresses to different groups, users, and members. For large companies, this has a direct impact on the ability to streamline efficiency and improve the organizational flow of your workforce.

These are just a few ways that the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol has improved your organizational ability:

Authorization

For a large company, authorization is a large consideration of managing internal security. The LDAP protocol allows you to build a directory that differentiates roles. Essentially, your program can exclude certain roles from access to parts of the database. Take for instance a program designed to generate training and testing for employees. The employees would sign into the database and have access to their test, materials, and any certification generated by their completion. Their role might be "participant". But a trainer or manager might be added to the same group with the role of "Administrator", which would grant them access to the same information as the "participant" but further information, such as reports and data pertinent to all employee performance.

This same protocol can be used for multiple purposes, but it essentially allows your company to control the access employees have based on the needs of their position.

Managed Groups

For your business, the ability to manage groups within your database offers a great deal of flexibility with regard to internal and external communication. Essentially, members of your team can all be on the same page and have access to the most current information about a project or client.

Search

Search functions within your database allow employees better access to information in a shorter amount of time. Whether the search is as simple as locating all of the email from a specific person or accessing documentation, the search feature becomes an essential time saver. It's also an excellent safety net in cases where employees who worked directly with an account might be unavailable.

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