Okta’s Free AD Integration Service Paves Path into Enterprise for Cloud ISVs and App Developers Everywhere
Today, we formally rolled out a new partner program with a growing number of cloud ISVs and app developers that provides free integration between the cloud apps that employees rely on and Microsoft’s Active Directory. The free integration is based on the same technology that powers Okta Cloud Connect (OCC) and solves a growing need for both enterprises and ISVs amid increased cloud app usage among employees.
Many enterprises of all sizes today rely on Active Directory to manage employee access to on-premises apps. The introduction of cloud applications to an enterprise introduces new challenges because they reside outside the company firewall, meaning IT has little visibility into or control over how and when these apps are used. This can be a security liability, leaving IT with a difficult choice: either attempt to limit cloud app usage or build custom integrations between the apps and Active Directory, where employee identities for on-premises apps often live. Those custom integrations are often expensive to build, difficult to maintain and, unfortunately, not always the most robust.
Lack of a strong link back to Active Directory also limits ISVs (and their customers). And given the security concerns, brittle/non-existent Active Directory integrations means cloud app providers face limited enterprise deployments and unhappy customers. Okta’s free AD integration product helps ISVs and app developers solve this challenge by providing a secure way for customers to integrate cloud apps into the extended enterprise and seamlessly manage identity across both on-premises and cloud apps through Active Directory.
Our ISV partners, including Box, Docusign and Zscaler, can now extend free Active Directory integration to their customers via our Okta Cloud Connect, available from Okta or directly from the ISVs themselves. (Companies can also get Okta’s free Active Directory integration offerings for salesforce.com, Google Apps, Workday Docusign and NetSuite directly from okta.com.)
If you’re a cloud ISV or cloud application developer looking to integrate with AD, our service is now open to help you solve a fundamental customer problem and to broaden your deployment within the enterprise. For more information on the program, please visit: okta.com/partners.