SAML 2.0 – Who wants to learn 1300 pages of the SAML 2.0 Spec?

Many clients don’t realize that the SAML 2.0 Specification document is about 1300 pages long. 

Whether their environment is based on ASP.net, Java / J2EE, or another technical platform, SAML based Single Sign On projects using either SAML 2.0 or SAML 1.1 can be a nightmare. 

In addition to the 1300 page specification, there are lots of logical interdependencies,, so you have to become a master of the in’s and out’s of the entire doc in order to effectively implement a SAML solution.

SSO Easy has built all of that SAML intelligence into our turnkey SAML product solution.  Out-of-the-box support is provided for .net and Java / J2EE platforms.

The result – you don’t have to become a SAML 2.0 expert in order to implement your SAML solution.  SSO Easy’s EasyConnect SAML solution abstracts you from the SAML 2.0 complexity.  You don’t have to be a SAML 2.0 expert to implement your SAML solution if you use SSO Easy’s Enterprise SAML product. 

Those project deployments are now easy to complete.

Is your time worth more than $2.00 per hour? 

If so, when you have a SAML Single Sign On (SSO) project, the ROI analysis is clear:

You should buy an Enterprise SAML product vs trying to build your own custom SAML solution using on an Open Source SAML Toolkit.

Clients tell us that they frequently spend anywhere from 2-12 weeks, or 80-480 man hours, to deploy their initial SAML implementation.

SSO Easy’s Single Sign On SAML solutions start as low as $1,000.  For this price, the result is often a complete SAML 2.0 or SAML 1.1 solution, fully implemented.

For the most efficient customer experiences, where 80 man hours are required to build a custom SAML solution, if their cost of labor is greater than $12.50 per hour, they would be better off buying SSO Easy’s SAML product.

For the less efficient customer experiences, where 480 man hours are required to build a custom SAML solution, if their cost of labor is only slightly greater than $2.00 per hour, they would be better off buying SSO Easy’s SAML product.

Longer term, the gap widens when ongoing support and maintenance is considered.  With the Build approach, internal labor cost increases as the custom SAML solution needs to be supported, tweaked, upgraded and changed by internal staff.  With SSO Easy’s product solution, support is provided by the vendor, and product updates and updates are provided for free to clients under the standard support contract.

The good news:

• ADFS 2.0 now supports SAML 2.0.
• As a result, the demand for SAML Single Sign On (SSO) deployments is rapidly growing.

The bad news:

• SAML 2.0 is still difficult to implement,
  • Especially for certain use cases, and
  • Especially for complex SAML deployments.

• SAML 1.1 demand continues to grow along with the demand for SAML 2.0

SSO Easy’s EasyConnect SAML solution offers a number of significant advantages over ADFS 2.0 for SAML 2.0 and SAML 1.1 deployments, including:

• No Coding required – rich out of the box SAML function
• Integration – rich out of the box integration, including support for both .net and JAVA/J2EE applications
• Multiple SAML Connection Support – designed and built to enable and support enterprise SAML needs, including easy configuration and management of multiple SAML connections
• Flexibility – easy to enable and support varied SAML use cases, including easy enablement of both IDP and SP use cases
• SAML 1.1 Support – with EasyConnect, both SAML 1.1 and SAML 2.0 use cases are supported using the same EasyConnect implementation.  (With ADFS 2.0, there is no support for SAML 1.1 use cases.)

After trying and failing to successfully implement a custom coded SAML 2.0 based Single Sign On (SSO) solution to Google Apps, in a representative case study, one private K-12 school eventually implemented SSO Easy’s Google Apps Single Sign On (SSO) product.

The result was a complete success for the school. 

The private K-12 school successfully implemented the Google Apps SAML 2.0 SSO solution from SSO Easy, completing the installation of the solution in just a few hours.

Security is as critical as it ever has been for an IT organization.

Personal productivity and collaboration tools have seen massive increases in popularity among users and organizations.  Google Apps is by far the fastest growing platform of choice for organizations who are hoping to boost user productivity while fostering collaboration among users.

In order for any organization to realize the intended goals of Google Apps, user adoption is essential.  Single Sign On capability is required to help ensure Google Apps user adoption.

Google requires implementation of and compliance with the SAML 2.0 standard in order for any organization to provide SSO support for its Google Apps users.

For many organizations with security concerns, having the option to deploy this vital SAML 2.0 capability in their own environment is a critical issue.  While many organizations want to embrace cloud strategies and technology implementation models, having the choice of implementing their SAML 2.0 based Single Sign On (SSO) software product solution within the security control of their own technical IT environment is a vital requirement.