8 Non-Obvious Benefits of SSO
As an enterprise or organization grows in size, the benefits of SSO grow along with it. Some of these benefits are easy to see, but there are other things that come up as side-effects that might just become your favorite features. If you’re on the fence about going all-in on Single Sign-On, then see if anything here might push you over the edge.
1. Multi-factor Authentication
One of the best ways to secure a user’s account is to make the account not strictly based on a password. Passwords can be hacked, guessed, reused, or written down on a sticky note on the user’s monitor. A huge benefit of SSO is the ease of adding MFA security to the SSO login. By adding a second factor, which is typically a constantly-rotating number or token, you vastly increase the security of the account by eliminating the immediate access of a hacked password. Some organizations even choose to add a third factor, which is typically something you are (like a fingerprint or eye scan) for physical access to a location. Speaking of passwords…
2. Increased Password Complexity
Forcing users to go through an SSO login instead of remembering passwords for each individual application or website means they are much more open to forming complex passwords that rotate frequently. A big complaint about passwords is having to remember a bunch of them without reusing them, so a limitation on the number of passwords means that one password can be much stronger.
3. Easier User Account Deployment
This one might seem obvious to some, but by using an SSO portal for all applications, user provisioning can be greatly accelerated and secured. The IT playbook can be codified within the SSO portal, so a new user in the accounting department can get immediate access to the same applications that the rest of the accounting department has access to. Now, when you get that inevitable surprise hire that no one told you about, you can make it happen and be the hero.
4. Easier User Account Deletion
On the flip side of #3, sometimes the playbook for removing users after they leave the company can be quite convoluted, and there’s always that nagging feeling that you’re forgetting to change a password or remove a login from somewhere. With SSO, you just have one account to disable, which means access is removed quickly and consistently. If your admins were using SSO for administrative access, it also means fewer password changes you have to make on your critical systems.
5. Consistent Audit Logging
Another one of the benefits of SSO is consistent audit logging. Funneling all of a user’s access through the same SSO login means that tracking that user’s activity is easier than ever. In financial and regulated industries, this is a crucial piece of the puzzle, as you can make guarantees about what you are tracking. In the case of a user who is no longer employed by the enterprise, it can make it easier to have your monitoring tools look for such attempts at access (but you know they can’t get in, from point #4!).
6. Quickly Roll Out New Applications
Tell your IT staff that you need to roll out a new application to all users without SSO and you’ll hear groans starting in record time. However, with SSO, rolling out an application is a matter of a few clicks. This means you have plenty of options ranging from a slow rollout to select groups to start all the way to a full deployment within a matter of minutes. This flexibility can really help maximize your user’s productivity, and will make your IT staff happy to put services into play.
7. Simplify the User Experience
If you use a lot of SaaS applications or web apps that require remembering a URL, you’re just asking for your users to need reminders of how to get into them. With an SSO portal, you can make all services and websites show up as clickable items, so users don’t need to remember the quirky spelling of that tool you bought yesterday. Users will love having everything in one place, and you’ll love not having to type anything anymore.
8. Empower Your Users
Speaking of SaaS applications, one of the main blockers for deploying an application to a wider audience is the up-front setup time and effort, which leads to IT and Operations shouldering the load of the work (since they have the access). SSO can accelerate that deployment, which means the users have more power and can directly access the tools they need. Take an example of ParkMyCloud, where instead of users asking IT to turn on their virtual machines and databases, the users can log directly into the ParkMyCloud portal (with limited access) and control the costs of their cloud environments. Users feel empowered, and IT feels relieved.
Don’t Wait To Use SSO
Whether you’ve already got something in place that you’re not fully utilizing, or you’re exploring different providers, the benefits of SSO are numerous. Small companies can quickly make use of single sign-on, while large enterprises might consider it a must-have. Either way, know that your staff and user base will love having it as their main access portal!
Originally published at www.parkmycloud.com on August 13, 2019.
