On the earth of id and entry administration (IAM), single sign-on (SSO) continues to be one of the standard instruments utilized by organizations all around the world. There are roughly 15,000 SaaS firms in the US alone — with hundreds extra in different nations (Statista). Primarily based on this, it’s secure to say there are extra web-based functions obtainable than IT admins and customers know what to do with. It additionally explains the curiosity in SSO and id administration.
Nonetheless, it’s vital to tell apart between SSO and IAM. SSO is one vital subset of IAM, nevertheless it doesn’t make for a whole IAM technique by itself. But, many organizations solely use single sign-on to attach finish customers to internet functions of their IT surroundings and name it an id administration technique, which is wrong. If something, it’s a fragmented id administration technique, and each useful resource other than internet functions is left unmanaged (or managed with completely different, unconnected options). Whereas, a whole IAM technique entails understanding, controlling, and managing consumer identities and entry to all IT sources holistically.
On this article, we’ll focus on what SSO and id administration are and the way SSO turned part of IAM. We’ll additionally dive into what inquiries to pose to make an knowledgeable determination on whether or not your group solely wants SSO or if a extra complete IAM resolution is required, in addition to what a contemporary, cloud-based IAM resolution seems like.
What’s SSO, Actually?
Single sign-on is standard, and for good purpose, nevertheless it doesn’t fairly dwell as much as its identify. Single sign-on seems like a software that allows a consumer to entry each useful resource they want by way of a single (profitable) sign-on try. However this isn’t truly the case — the primary technology of single sign-on suppliers created SSO options that merely prolonged identities from a separate listing (usually Energetic Listing (AD), however could possibly be any core listing service) to internet functions. Due to this fact, we extra aptly refer to those instruments particularly as internet app SSO instruments, which describes precisely what they’re.
Internet app SSO can also be seen because the (Learn extra…)
