Why do I need "first and last" mile integration?

Both parties taking part in an Internet SSO connection need software that supports the same federated identity protocol. This software must integrate with identity and authentication sources at the Identity Provider, and it must integrate with the application environment at the Service Provider. With this integration in place, it is possible to look up information about each user’s session at the IdP and create an equivalent session at the SP.

User attributes originate at the IdP and are used at the SP to establish a session in the target application. PingFederate integrates with both systems to facilitate the transfer of these attributes.

As a stand-alone server, PingFederate must integrate programmatically with Identity Management systems and end-user applications to complete the “first and last mile” implementation of a federated identity network that implements Internet SSO.

To enable both the IdP and SP sides of this integration, PingFederate provides commercial integration kits, which include adapters that plug into the PingFederate server and agents that interface with local IdM systems or applications.

PingFederate also has a Software Development Kit (SKD) that can be used to create custom adapters for systems that do not have an available Integration Kit.