Identity and Access Management (IAM) in education is at a turning point. With hybrid learning, cloud services, and cybersecurity risks all expanding rapidly, institutions need tools that are reliable and future-ready.
Following its acquisition of Micro Focus, OpenText has announced major changes to how it supports and evolves key IAM products. But this isn’t just a maintenance announcement, it’s a roadmap for aligning your identity infrastructure with tomorrow’s demands across cloud, compliance, and student experience.
Let’s look at what’s changing, and how education leaders should respond.
What’s Changing?
OpenText, after acquiring Micro Focus, has rolled out updated lifecycle policies for several IAM products used widely in education. If your team manages Identity Manager 25, Access Manager 25.2, Privileged Access Manager, and Advanced Authentication 25.1, this update directly affects you.
Instead of the old patch-and-pray model, OpenText now defines the following support phases:
- Current Maintenance: You get new fixes, platform support, and updates.
- Sustaining Maintenance: Fixes are rare. Compatibility may quietly slip.
- Extended Support: You pay extra and still get less.
- Limited Extended Support: Think of this as the “read-only” phase of IAM support.
As of September 1, 2025, products in Sustaining Maintenance are no longer eligible for standard support. If you’re still running older versions, you’re now operating without access to core fixes, platform updates, or guaranteed technical help. That’s a tough spot to be in, especially during peak academic cycles.
Some version highlights:
- Access Manager CE 25.3, released in late 2025, supports modern OAuth/OIDC flows, which are vital for SSO in edtech.
- Identity Lifecycle Manager CE 25.2 simplifies joiner/mover/leaver logic, which is good news for semester-based provisioning.
- Identity Console is replacing iManager. It’s browser-based, more responsive, and more in line with today’s admin workflows.
- PAM CE 25.3 stays in Current Maintenance through mid-2028. If you’re planning a privileged access upgrade, that gives you breathing room.
Why It Matters:
Support timelines aren’t the most exciting thing to track. But they can quietly break things that matter, including student access to portals, faculty logins during finals, and SIS integrations at the worst time of year.
Security is another reason to pay attention. Microsoft’s 2025 Digital Defense Report showed 97% of identity-based attacks are password sprays. These don’t need malware. They just need one old system, one weak lock.
The 2025 DBIR tells a similar story: Ransomware continues to dominate, often entering through identity gaps. Education isn’t immune. In fact, it’s often targeted because of the mix of legacy tools and wide attack surfaces.
And then there’s the financial angle. The FBI’s IC3 report put cybercrime losses at $16 billion in 2024, a 33% jump from the previous year.
If you are still running older builds of Access Manager or holding onto custom workflows in Identity Manager from five years ago, they may be functional now. But what happens when something breaks mid-semester, and you’re told your product is no longer supported?
That’s the real cost of waiting.
What You Should Do Now:
If you’re in IT or security at a school or university, here’s how to get in front of the change without blowing up your roadmap:
1. Start with an audit: Which version are you running? It may seem basic, but many assume they’re current, only to find they’re two updates behind.
2. Prioritize your upgrades: Begin with Access Manager and ILM, which form the foundation of your SSO and provisioning. Upgrading to Identity Console is also wise, as it’s where future updates will be focused.
3. Make a decision about Extended Support: Some campuses opt for it temporarily. That’s fine if it’s a bridge, not a destination. However, it’s expensive, and it doesn’t fix everything.
4. Review your MFA: If you’re relying solely on SMS codes, it’s time to upgrade. Newer systems support stronger options like biometrics or device-based authentication, both more secure and user-friendly.
5. Map your PAM strategy: Privileged accounts are a soft target. If you aren’t auditing what your registrar’s system admins can access or haven’t enabled session recording, now is the time to act.
6. Sync IAM with your SIS: Student access should change automatically when they drop a class or graduate. If you are having to manually deprovision accounts, you are unnecessarily wasting time and exposing yourself to risk.
7. Talk to your team: Upgrades can’t live in IT alone. Bring in compliance, leadership, and academic tech. Make the case with real examples. When access breaks, it annoys users and damages trust.
From Legacy Headaches to Future-Ready Identity:
On one side: legacy systems that limp along, costing more over time and opening up gaps that cyber attackers love.
On the other: a future-ready identity stack that includes tighter security, smoother onboarding, cleaner audits, and less drama during login storms.
You don’t have to fix everything immediately, but taking the first step is important.
At Concensus Technologies, we help education institutions modernize IAM without guesswork. As a longtime Identity Automation partner, we co-manage identity systems for schools and universities nationwide, tying into student information systems, streamlining identity provisioning, improving access governance, and closing risky gaps in the process.
If you are not sure where your lifecycle stands or want help scoping the move from iManager to Identity Console, let’s talk. We’ll walk you through the tradeoffs, timeline, and real-world plan that fits your campus.
Let us give you peace of mind
Leave it to our experts to keep your organization secure around the clock. Partner with us for trusted technology support.