On-demand identity and access management service provider Okta announced the
debut of a service designed to help businesses accelerate the adoption of their
cloud and Web-based applications. Built on an extensible on-demand, multitenant
cloud services platform, the service provides end users with single sign-on for
all of their Web apps.
The company’s application network includes hundreds of preintegrated business
and consumer apps, including ADP, Concur,
Salesforce.com, SuccessFactors, Google Apps, Cisco Webex, Citrix GoToMeeting,
and social media sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. The company is
led by CEO Todd McKinnon, most recently vice
president of engineering at Salesforce.com from 2003 to 2009.
Once activated, each end user receives a customized homepage providing single
sign-on across applications, and self-service across applications and
credentials. For IT managers, Okta provides centralized administration across
people, applications and policies for cloud and Web applications. One system
log captures a set of activity events across both Okta and the integrated
applications. Pre-canned reports are available to track activity, ensure
compliance, and monitor application usage and return on investment (ROI).
“Enterprises everywhere are realizing the inherent benefits of running their
core IT services in the cloud,” said McKinnon. “But, this shift fundamentally
requires them to rethink their IT infrastructure and how their employees access
it. Okta is the only enterprise-class, on-demand service purpose-built to help
customers secure and manage their entire cloud services network and the people
who need access to it, with no professional services required.”
McKinnon said with Okta, IT specialists can address the security and management
challenges by integrating cloud applications with existing directory services,
controlling access across applications, provisioning and deprovisioning
employees, and centrally analyzing usage across all applications. Early Okta
customers include Pandora, LiveOps, Enterasys, FusionStorm and AMAG
Pharmaceuticals.
“Okta helped us reduce costs, improve security and accelerate cloud
applications adoption,” said Ben Doyle, director of IT for Enterasys, a
provider of hardware, software and services to deliver unified communications.
“We now have one active directory integration for all of our cloud
applications, users have one-click access to their Web-based apps, and IT has
centralized control of user access with a high degree of automation.”