If there's anyone in the academic IT arena taking seriously the possibility that campus identity management (IdM) may one day meld with consumer apps, it's Nate Klingenstein, one of the founding members of the Shibboleth Project (the open source project providing architecture and policy structures for managing single sign-on access to resources). Such convergence means students and faculty accessing next-gen applications with single sign-on--which, now more than ever, has become a user expectation. In internet guru Nate Klingenstein's vision of campus/consumer federated IdM convergence, a student will be able to use his favorite social applications as a recognized member of his university, and, in the process, provide the institution with vital information about how he is progressing in his studies. Converged federated IdM, Klingenstein asserts, will enable a two-way conduit of essential information. Experts say the future of federated identity management lies in the integration of academic and consumer apps--and now is the time to get the infrastructure in place for convergence. To help you in your move to federated IdM, Greg Monaco, Great Plains Network (GPN) director for research and cyberinfrastructure, offers pieces of advice and resources.