Not too many users are aware that when they sign on to their Windows desktop in the morning, by providing their main ID and Password to the machine, they are generating accessing a Windows security function called IWA.

Google Apps is being rolled out to many of these same users, and, for a variety of reasons, Single Sign On (SSO) function is needed or wanted for those users.  Google requires implementation of the SAML 2.0 standards protocol in order to enable Single Sign On to Google Apps.

More and more organizations desire the option of leveraging the IWA security information that is generated by the user when login to the Windows desktop is completed as the main mechanism for enabling SSO support to Google Apps.

Financial Services companies face enormous challenges in today’s business environment, including:

• Cost containment pressures
• Limited technical staff
• Competitive pressure to maintain and grow client satisfaction

As more Financial Services look to do more with less, while implementing innovative operating models which leverage 3rd party business partner relationships, there is exponential growth in the need for financial services firms to enable secure and efficient SAML 2.0 and SAML 1.1 based Single Sign On (SSO) capabilities between themselves and their business partners.  

These SAML 2.0 SSO connection projects need to be:

• Secure
• Fast
• Easy
• Cost effective

One major US-based Financial Services company represents a classic case study, as they faced all of the challenges outlined above.

To address these challenging requirements, the Financial Services firm selected EasyConnect, the SAML 2.0 Single Sign On (SSO) product by SSO Easy.

By implementing EasyConnect from SSO Easy, the Financial Services client was able to successfully deploy their required SAML 2.0 solution into production.  The project was delivered as part of a fixed price contract by SSO, and went into production on time and on budget.

The development and acceptance of standards have always been vital in any IT market, in order for mass implementation and deployments to occur.

In the security space, for enabling support for Single Sign On, SAML 2.0 has evolved in the de facto standard protocol.

OpenID has also emerged as a growing standard gaining popularity and acceptance in the marketplace.

Google Apps is the fastest growing platform of choice for organizations and users throughout the world striving to derive personal productivity and collaboration benefits.

As more and more systems are deployed in organizations, and among business partners, providing SSO support among these many disparate systems is critical.

Many organizations must plan to provide support for a SAML 2.0 based Single Sign On solution for Google Apps, which also supports SSO while complying with the OpenID protocol.

As SAML demand grows, the demand for comprehensive Enterprise Class SAML Product solutions that support SAML 2.0 and SAML 1.1 is also growing very quickly.

What is required for an Enterprise Class SAML Single Sign On (SSO) Product?

• Fast, easy implementation of SAML connections
  • SAML product must be configuration based
  • SAML deployments completed without becoming a SAML expert
  • No custom coding required for SAML deployments
  • No consulting assistance required to enable SAML deployments
• Multiple platform support
  • .Net and Java/J2EE are most critical
  • Broad platform support provided with the SAML product out of the box
• Multiple SAML Connection support
  • Must be designed for effective and efficient enablement and support of multiple SAML connections
• Multiple protocol support
  • Must have the ability to support SAML 2.0 and SAML 1.1 use cases and connections
  • Must provide this type of multi-protocol support within a single implementation of the enterprise SAML software product implementation, with support for central management of multiple disparate SAML protocol connections
• Multiple use case support
  • Must support various Identity Provider (IDP) and Service Provider (SP) use cases, very easily
• Affordable
  • Licensing must be affordable
  • Licensing must allow clients to start small, and pay a little
  • Licensing costs cannot become prohibitive with broad deployments

Cloud based Single Sign On is desired by a number of SSO Easy clients.  A relevant case study involves the implementation completed by a recent SSO Easy client, where they implemented a SAML 2.0 Single Sign On (SSO) connection to Google Apps.

In this particular case study, the client’s preferred deployment model included running the EasyConnect SAML solution from SSO Easy in the cloud.

The client went into production in just a few hours.