Single Sign-On at a Glance for SaaS Application

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The solution for all the challenges being faced is single sign-on. It is supposed to be the simplest way for managing various apps and at the same time provide users with a steady sign-on experience. Azure Active Directory or Azure AD offers a robust SSO solution and has countless obtainable pre-integrated applications along with tutorials so that admins could set up a new app and start provisioning users at the earliest.

Once SSO is integrated for an application which is already up and running, the vital point that should be noticed the user experience should not get affected. The users would start using their Azure AD credentials to sign for all applications. It could also happen that users might require using a different portal for accessing the applications.

After a user “signs in” to an application, they have to undergo an authentication process where they need to prove their identity and credibility. In the absence of single sign-on, this usually is done by entering the credentials for each application that user has access and it is expected that the user would be aware of the same, which increases the risk of reusing passwords or using weak passwords. Now Azure AD supports three ways for signing in to applications, which are Password-based Single Sign-On, Federated Single Sign-On and Existing Single Sign-On.

While configuring single sign-on for any application, the Azure management portal offers an option of “Existing Single Sign-On”. This option permits the administrator to generate a link to an application and get it placed on the access panel for particular users.

Centralized control

Azure make use of the OAuth protocol to take care of the authorization. SaaS based applications such Google apps, AWS and Salesforce can influence SAML to enable the sign-on access using the same credentials that are configured in Azure. Authentication of Identities stored in Azure can happen through the REST-based APIs. Azure also offers centralized application access through various protocols. 

End User Access

Leveraging of the application access capabilities of Azure can be executed either on the application itself or through Azure’s end user portal. Users working with SaaS based applications like G Suite, AWS, and Salesforce have the advantage of gaining access with a single click from their portals and Azure is capable of handling the entire authentication process in hundred percent secured way. Users, in order to avail authentication that is service provider –initiated, can also log in directly to applications. It is vital that the access is centralized in order to ensure ongoing efficiency and security of any organization.