Tutorial: Microsoft Entra integration with Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC)
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In this tutorial, you learn how to integrate Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) with Microsoft Entra ID.
Integrating Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) with Microsoft Entra ID provides you with the following benefits:
You can control in Microsoft Entra ID who has access to Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC).
You can enable your users to be automatically signed-in to Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) (Single Sign-On) with their Microsoft Entra accounts.
You can manage your accounts in one central location.
Adding Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) from the gallery
To configure the integration of Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) into Microsoft Entra ID, you need to add Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) from the gallery to your list of managed SaaS apps.
To add Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) from the gallery, perform the following steps:
Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > New application.
In the search box, type Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC), select Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) from result panel then click Add button to add the application.
Configure and test Microsoft Entra single sign-on
In this section, you configure and test Microsoft Entra single sign-on with Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) based on a test user called Britta Simon.
For single sign-on to work, a link relationship between a Microsoft Entra user and the related user in Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) needs to be established.
To configure and test Microsoft Entra single sign-on with Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC), you need to complete the following building blocks:
Browse to Identity > Applications > Enterprise applications > Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) application integration page, select Single sign-on.
On the Select a Single sign-on method dialog, select SAML/WS-Fed mode to enable single sign-on.
On the Set up Single Sign-On with SAML page, click Edit icon to open Basic SAML Configuration dialog.
On the Set up Single Sign-On with SAML page, perform the following steps:
a. In the Identifier text box, type a URL:
stg.mercerhrs.com/saml2.0
b. In the Reply URL text box, type a URL using the following pattern:
https://ssous-stg.mercerhrs.com/SP2/Saml2AssertionConsumer.aspx
Note
The Reply URL value is not real. Update this value with the actual Reply URL. Contact Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) Client support team to get this value. You can also refer to the patterns shown in the Basic SAML Configuration section.
On the Set up Single Sign-On with SAML page, in the SAML Signing Certificate section, click Download to download the Federation Metadata XML from the given options as per your requirement and save it on your computer.
On the Set up Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) section, copy the appropriate URL(s) as per your requirement.
a. Login URL
b. Microsoft Entra Identifier
c. Logout URL
Configure Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) Single Sign-On
To configure single sign-on on Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) side, you need to send the downloaded Federation Metadata XML and appropriate copied URLs from the application configuration to Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) support team. They set this setting to have the SAML SSO connection set properly on both sides.
Create a Microsoft Entra test user
The objective of this section is to create a test user called Britta Simon.
In the applications list, select Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC).
In the app's overview page, select Users and groups.
Select Add user/group, then select Users and groups in the Add Assignment dialog.
In the Users and groups dialog, select B.Simon from the Users list, then click the Select button at the bottom of the screen.
If you are expecting a role to be assigned to the users, you can select it from the Select a role dropdown. If no role has been set up for this app, you see "Default Access" role selected.
In the Add Assignment dialog, click the Assign button.
Create Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) test user
In this section, you create a user called Britta Simon in Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC). Work with Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) support team to add the users in the Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) platform. Users must be created and activated before you use single sign-on.
Test single sign-on
In this section, you test your Microsoft Entra single sign-on configuration using the Access Panel.
When you click the Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) tile in the Access Panel, you should be automatically signed in to the Mercer BenefitsCentral (MBC) for which you set up SSO. For more information about the Access Panel, see Introduction to the Access Panel.
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