Learn more about SSO in episode #017 of our Cloud & DevOps Pod
A Practical Guide to Single Sign-On (SSO): SaaS Solutions, Open-Source Options, and Lifecycle Management
As businesses increasingly rely on cloud-based applications, managing access efficiently becomes a top priority. Whether it's a small startup or a large enterprise, the need to streamline user authentication is universal. Enter Single Sign-On (SSO), a solution designed to simplify and secure access to multiple applications with one set of login credentials. Let’s explore how SSO works, some of the popular solutions available, and why it’s essential for businesses.
Why Use Single Sign-On?
At first glance, managing user access might not seem overly complex. But as soon as a company begins to scale and employees require access to multiple systems—Google accounts, GitHub repositories, AWS users, and more—user access can become a logistical nightmare. Not only does it waste time, but it also opens the door to security risks if access is not correctly managed, especially when employees leave the organization.
With SSO, you centralize access management. Instead of creating separate credentials for each platform, employees sign in once and are authenticated across multiple systems. This ease of access reduces friction during the onboarding process and simplifies offboarding as well, ensuring no former employee retains unauthorized access to critical systems or information.
Popular SaaS Solutions for SSO
SaaS (Software as a Service) has revolutionized how we approach IT management, and SSO is no exception. In the past, setting up SSO solutions required significant time and resources, but SaaS has made these tools more accessible to organizations of all sizes.
Some of the most popular SaaS providers offering SSO include:
- Okta: Known for its robust identity and access management capabilities, Okta offers a comprehensive solution for SSO and multi-factor authentication (MFA). Okta integrates with thousands of apps, making it a go-to for companies with a diverse tech stack.
- OneLogin: OneLogin is another well-regarded identity management solution, especially for smaller companies looking for a cost-effective SSO option. It integrates easily with existing platforms and scales with company growth.
- Microsoft Azure Active Directory (AAD): For businesses heavily invested in Microsoft’s ecosystem, AAD offers seamless integration with Office 365 and other Microsoft tools. Azure also supports integrations with third-party applications via SAML and OAuth.
These SaaS providers offer not only SSO but also advanced features like MFA, user provisioning, and lifecycle management, all of which are critical for securely managing access to systems.
Open-Source Solutions for SSO
While SaaS providers dominate the SSO space, open-source solutions remain an attractive option for companies looking to avoid vendor lock-in or for those who want more control over their authentication infrastructure.
- Keycloak: Originally developed by Red Hat, Keycloak is a popular open-source identity and access management solution. It supports SAML, OpenID Connect, and OAuth, offering a flexible and powerful SSO solution for both small and large businesses.
- Authentik: Authentik is a relatively new player in the open-source SSO space. It offers features like OAuth2, SAML, and LDAP integration, making it a versatile choice for organizations wanting to roll their own identity provider.
- Dex: Designed with Kubernetes in mind, Dex is an open-source OIDC (OpenID Connect) identity provider. It’s especially useful for developers working in cloud-native environments who want to integrate authentication with Kubernetes clusters.
These open-source tools offer companies flexibility but require more technical expertise to set up and manage than their SaaS counterparts. However, they can be highly cost-effective for organizations with the necessary in-house knowledge.
Authentication Technologies: SAML, OAuth, and OpenID Connect
At the core of SSO are the authentication protocols that enable secure access across systems. The most widely used technologies include:
- SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language): One of the oldest and most established protocols, SAML enables secure identity verification between an identity provider (IdP) and a service provider (SP). Although it’s robust, its complexity makes it harder to implement than newer protocols.
- OAuth2: A more modern protocol, OAuth2 focuses on token-based authentication, allowing users to log in without sharing credentials between services. It’s particularly common in social login systems (e.g., logging in with Google or Facebook).
- OpenID Connect (OIDC): Built on top of OAuth2, OIDC is a simpler alternative to SAML for user authentication and has become the standard for many modern web applications. Each of these technologies offers unique strengths and trade-offs. SAML’s legacy makes it widespread in enterprise environments, while OAuth2 and OIDC have gained traction due to their ease of implementation in modern web apps.
Provisioning and Lifecycle Management
Authentication is only part of the equation. Once a user has logged in, they need the appropriate access permissions across various systems. This is where provisioning comes into play.
Provisioning ensures that once a user logs in via SSO, they automatically have access to the necessary resources. Platforms like Okta and OneLogin allow administrators to configure these settings, ensuring that access is provisioned according to a user’s role in the organization.
But what happens when an employee leaves the company? This is where de-provisioning and lifecycle management come into play. Lifecycle management tools track where a user has access and ensure that all their permissions are revoked across systems when they’re offboarded.
A critical protocol that supports this is SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management). SCIM automates the process of provisioning and de-provisioning users, ensuring that when a user’s status changes, all linked systems are updated accordingly. This greatly reduces the risk of “lingering accounts” that could be exploited by bad actors.
Why SSO is Essential for DevOps
For DevOps professionals, SSO is not just a convenience—it’s a vital part of maintaining security and compliance. With SSO, teams can centralize their authentication and authorization processes, ensuring that access is both streamlined and secure.
As companies adopt more cloud-based tools, managing user access becomes increasingly challenging. DevOps teams are often responsible for ensuring that infrastructure and applications are secure, and implementing SSO provides a unified approach to user access management. This is especially critical when dealing with continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, where multiple tools and environments require seamless access.
Moreover, SSO simplifies audits and compliance checks. By centralizing identity management, organizations can quickly provide auditors with reports showing who had access to what and when. This reduces the risk of security breaches and simplifies regulatory compliance, particularly for frameworks like ISO 27001 and SOC 2.
By adopting SSO solutions—whether through SaaS providers like Okta or open-source tools like Keycloak—DevOps teams can reduce friction, enhance security, and improve overall operational efficiency. Implementing a robust SSO strategy is essential for any business looking to scale securely in today’s digital landscape.
