Though cloud and SaaS solutions are seeing rapid adoption in the enterprise, management of these applications is not aligned with traditional IT controls and policies. SaaS has been deployed and managed largely by business users, with limited input from CIOs and IT organizations. As these cloud-based technologies replace mission-critical on-premise applications and host sensitive organizational data, enterprise IT is now regaining their ‘seat at the table’. When seeking to extend policies and controls to SaaS, these IT organizations are disappointed to learn that existing directories and IT management technologies don’t easily extend to the cloud. These organizations struggle to achieve alignment of SaaS and cloud solutions with established enterprise identity sources including Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), directory services, and Identity Management (IdM) solutions. This alignment and resulting visibility and control is critical for IT and Finance departments concerned with regulatory compliance, governance, and identity and access management.
Given the role that Microsoft Active Directory and associated proxy services play in providing centralized authentication, access control, and identity synchronization for on-premise applications it would seem to be a logical integration point to also harness SaaS and cloud solutions. Unfortunately IT organizations are finding that AD itself does not easily extend into leading SaaS applications, with direct integration difficult if not impossible.
Despite this inability to directly integrate AD with major cloud applications, forward-thinking enterprises are focusing on a “loose coupling” of on-premise Microsoft Active Directory and SaaS solutions through new third party management solutions. This approach allows an integration path with the existing, deployed directory technologies and does not require major adjustments in the SaaS vendor technology roadmaps. By integrating the current SaaS and directory solutions, the enterprise can align critical services including user identity and attributes, login services (Single Sign-On), and IT policies. This alignment can lead to immediate benefits in security, IT efficiency, and governance and regulatory compliance. In our new white paper, Extending Microsoft Active Directory to the Cloud, we explore the approaches and solutions organizations are leveraging to identity synchronization, policy enforcement and single sign-on (SSO).
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