Originally reported by ZDNet. Original publication date: 3 March 2020.
Overview
New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) announced plans to migrate its RealMe Login and Assertion Services from a custom-built, legacy platform to Microsoft Azure, targeting a transition date of 30 June 2020. NZ-based Unify Solutions and Microsoft New Zealand were engaged to manage the transition project and deliver ongoing service improvements.
What Is RealMe?
RealMe is a government-managed digital identity platform that allows New Zealand citizens, immigrants, and organisations to prove and manage their identities across a wide range of online services. It operates as a federated identity system: users maintain a single username and password that can be used for both personal and work-related services without sharing personal details directly with the consuming organisation or service.
At the time of the announcement, New Zealanders could use a RealMe login to:
- Renew a passport
- Log in to an Inland Revenue (IRD) account
- Apply for a visa through Immigration New Zealand
- Access local council services
- Manage company registration details
- Manage real estate licences
- Access the police vetting system
- Renew registration for electrical workers and builders
Why Migrate to Azure?
The DIA cited several drivers for the migration:
- Legacy platform risk: The existing infrastructure was custom-built and aging, introducing sustainability and supportability concerns.
- Improved privacy and security: Unify Solutions stated that Internal Affairs aimed to strengthen RealMe’s privacy and security posture through the move.
- Cloud strategy alignment: The transition brings RealMe in line with DIA’s broader cloud adoption strategy.
- Flexibility for future development: Moving to a managed cloud platform gives the department the flexibility needed to evolve the service over time.
“This is a significant project for DIA’s RealMe Login and Assertion Services — it both secures the future of RealMe and sets it up with the flexibility we need for any future developments,” said David Philp, Internal Affairs General Manager of Service Delivery and Operations.
The Target Platform: Azure AD B2C
The selected target platform is Microsoft Azure Active Directory B2C (Azure AD B2C), a customer identity and access management (CIAM) service designed for internet-scale, consumer-facing applications. Azure AD B2C supports standards-based protocols such as OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect, and provides built-in support for multi-factor authentication, social identity providers, and custom user journeys — capabilities well-suited to a national identity platform.
Microsoft NZ CTO Russell Craig commented: “In making this step, Microsoft believes the Department of Internal Affairs is firmly establishing itself as a leader in modern digital identity and is well positioned to deliver on the goals of the Digital Public Services Strategy, bringing about a more joined-up, citizen-centric approach to service design and delivery.”
Scope and Data Privacy Considerations
It is important to note the precise scope of this migration. The transition applies only to the RealMe Login and Assertion Services — not to all RealMe components. Specifically:
- The RealMe Identity Verification Service (IVS), which handles higher-assurance identity verification, is not part of this migration to Azure.
- According to Unify, the Login and Assertion Services deal only with data that has been made pseudonymous, limiting the personal data exposure risk associated with the transition.
Project Partners
The migration project is being delivered by:
- Unify Solutions — a New Zealand-based identity and access management specialist acting as the primary delivery partner.
- Microsoft New Zealand — providing platform and advisory support.
Broader Context: Government Cloud Adoption
This migration is part of a wider shift among public sector agencies toward cloud-based infrastructure. For national identity services, cloud platforms offer high availability, elastic scaling, and access to continuously updated security capabilities — all critical requirements for a service that underpins citizen access to government systems. Adopting a managed CIAM platform such as Azure AD B2C also reduces the operational overhead of maintaining custom authentication infrastructure, allowing DIA to focus engineering effort on service design rather than platform maintenance.
The move reflects broader international trends, with multiple governments evaluating or adopting cloud-hosted identity platforms to modernise digital public services delivery.