A Quick Guide to Single Sign On

Single Sign-on (SSO) solutions allow network administrators to control credentials on the back end and give employees a single password from which to log in to every application via a central user interface. SSO is an authentication process that allows users to access multiple applications with a single set of login credentials. SSO is becoming increasingly popular among businesses because it offers several benefits:

• Reduced Sprawl of Credentials: SSO reduces the number of usernames and passwords that employees must remember, which can help reduce the risk of data breaches.
• Time Efficiency: SSO saves time by allowing employees to log in once and access multiple applications without having to enter their credentials each time.
• Cost-cut on Help Desk: SSO can help reduce the number of password-related help desk calls, which can save businesses time and money.
• Compliance and security enhancement with marked collaboration: SSO can help businesses comply with regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA by providing better control over user access.
• Efficient Productivity: SSO can improve employee productivity by reducing the amount of time spent logging in and out of different applications.
• Elimination of Troubles and Hacking Chances: SSO eliminates the need for employees to remember multiple passwords, which can reduce the risk of password-related security breaches.

Most small businesses these days are using Microsoft 365 for their backend functions and as such, they are already using Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) for access and identity. What they don’t realise is that Azure AD is an integrated identity solution that can help protect millions of apps today. With Azure AD, users can conveniently access all their apps with SSO from any location, on any device, from a centralised and branded portal for a simplified user experience and better productivity.

With Azure AD, features such as Conditional Access, Azure AD Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), single sign-on, and application provisioning make identity and access management easier to manage and more secure.

In a recent survey by the Federation of Small Businesses, most businesses with fewer than 100 users operate five applications or fewer. Furthermore, post-COVID there has been a mass migration to SaaS platforms that support 365 federation. Therefore, the amount of effort required to implement a successful SSO deployment will be much less than in larger organisations.

FOS.net are small business champions and we understand the importance of keeping IT administration simple and secure.

Further reading

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/manage-apps/what-is-single-sign-on