SAML Custom Fields and Organization Segments

AS OF FEBRUARY 24, 2025 - WE ARE MOVING FROM "CUSTOM REPORTING FIELDS" TO "ORGANIZATION SEGMENTS"

Aperian offers a benefit to clients using single sign on authentication: Organization Segments - formerly known as Custom Report Fields. When using Organization Segments, clients have the option to send additional data fields as part of their SAML assertion to Aperian. These fields can be used to generate custom reports and create custom comparisons that are specific to the organization. 

Glossary

1. Segment: the overall type of value being passed. Each segment has values within it that are all the same type. Each user can only be one value within each segment, but multiple segments can be passed. 
   1. Example - Aperian has a segment for Office and Region. Merry has values for each segment of [Office: Raleigh; Region: US Southeast]
2. Value: the options that each segment could be. These are variable within each segment. In the example above, Raleigh and US Southeast are the values. This is sometimes referred to as a segment-value.
3. SAML Assertion: the information that comes through Auth0 when a user logs in. This contains things like firstName, lastName, email, and custom fields.
4. Comparable: an optional toggle to allow organizations to allow users view the calculated average profiles for each value within a segment. This is only controlled on the Segment level, not on the value. Working within the example above, Aperian could toggle off Office; however, Aperian could not choose to hide the average for just Raleigh.
5. Comparison Threshold: the minimum number of people with profiles that have each value. For our first iteration, we have set the threshold to 25 for all organizations. When working with organizations setting up their segments, review this threshold to ensure they are sending values that will reasonably have over 25 users. 

Using Organization Segments and Reporting

Comparing to Segment-Value averages

Once segments are set up, users will be able to compare their profile to the average for all segment-values. Profile averages get created, similar to a team average, for each value within each segment. These appear as options on the New Comparison screen. 

Users do not need to be a part of the segment-values to compare against them. The averages are recalculated any time a user: 

1. Logs in with a new or changed value
2. Retakes their profile
3. Is deleted

Example use case: Robbie, a Customer Success Manager (Department: Sales) from New York (Region: US Northeast) will be going to Copenhagen (Region: Northern Europe) to meet with the development team (Department: Product). He isn't already on a team or connected with these individuals. He wants to compare his profile to the average for each segment-value before meeting so he can get advice on working with these new people.

Benefits to Usage and Reporting

Once in place, the additional data will be stored in Aperian's database for use in reporting.

• The values will appear on each learner's record in new columns on the Aperian User Directory.
• The addition of an external ID can help sync with some organizations' LMS data.
• The values can be used in dashboard reports. Here are just a few examples:
  • Number of Logins by Department
  • Number of Aperian Profiles Completed by Business Unit
  • GlobeSmart Guide Activity by Office Location

Custom reports like the above will be determined by the Aperian Client Owner and the Client Success Manager.

Caveats

1. Our threshold is set to 25 for segment-values to become comparable. This means that each value - ex. Region: US Northeast - needs to have at least 25 users with profiles. When clients are choosing what segments to send, please keep this minimum threshold in mind. 
2. Aperian's data is only as good as the client data. If the data being sent to us isn't accurate in terms of users departments, regions, etc, then it won't be accurate in Aperian either. 
3. Aperian only receives changes when users log in - from our previous example, if Robbie moves from New York to Hawaii but doesn't log in again to Aperian, we won't have updated data. 

Setting Up Organization Segments

Each organization will be able to send an external ID AND up to five segments. An external ID is not required, nor are all five segments required. These segments are fully customizable, and should be large enough segments so that each segment-value can pass the 25-minimum threshold if the client is interested in taking advantage of the custom profile comparisons. Common choices include employee ID number, business unit, office location, title, department, job type, etc.

During SAML implementation, clients will map the selected data to start with custom_. For example, if an organization wanted to pass Business Unit, they would map their data to come through as custom_businessUnit. These can be named in any fashion, as long as it is confirmed with the Aperian Technical Implementation Specialist (ATIS). 

For each field, clients can set a chosen display name to communicate what each segment represents. The display name for the above example could be "Business Unit". This is fully customizable and changeable at any point. Display names are only set for segments, not for the external ID.

See the example below: 

Client HRIS System	SAML Assertion	Display Name
employeeId	customId	n/a
businessUnit	custom_businessUnit	Business Unit
role	custom_role	Job Title
region	custom_region	Region

The Aperian Technical Implementation Specialist will walk clients through the process and confirm that data is being processed as expected.