Top Benefits of SSO and Why It's Important for Your Business

Single sign-on (SSO) has been prevalent in many organizations for years, but its importance is often overlooked. Many enterprises are moving to the cloud and using third-party services. Business efficiency and a seamless customer experience is essential. To achieve this, access to multiple applications must be available from any location and device.

Single sign-on allows users to log in to different apps and resources using a single set of credentials. This makes it much easier for the user and more secure for the business.

Single sign-on is a technology that offers many benefits. Read on to understand how single sign-on works and the advantages it provides.

SSO authentication allows users to securely access multiple related applications or systems using just one set of credentials.

SSO works based on a trust relationship established between the party that holds the identity information and can authenticate the user, called the identity provider (IdP), and the service or application the user wants to access, called the service provider (SP). Rather than sending sensitive data back and forth across the internet, the IdP passes an assertion (often via an identity standard such as SAML) to authenticate the user for the SP.

If the user is not already authenticated, here’s a simple explanation of the sign-on process:

• Step 1: The user browses to the website or application they want access to (the SP).
• Step 2: The SP sends a request and redirects the user to the SSO system (the IdP).
• Step 3: The user is prompted to authenticate by providing credentials required by the IdP, such as a username and password.
• Step 4: Once the IdP validates the user's credentials, it sends an assertion back to the SP to confirm successful authentication. The user will then be granted access to the desired application.

This process is complete. Other Service Providers (SPs) accessed by the user will confirm the user's authentication with the Identity Provider (IdP). These SPs will not require a username or password.

• Increased Productivity
• Improved Security
• Decreased IT Costs
• Improved Job Satisfaction for Employees
• Enhanced Customer Experience
• Increased Adoption Rates
• Tighter B2B Collaboration
• Regulatory Compliance

Increased Productivity

Single sign-on increases employee productivity by reducing the time they must spend signing on and dealing with passwords.

Users with just one password to access all of their apps can skip all that extra time spent logging in. SSO solutions often give them access to a dock where all their apps are available.

Improved Security

A common myth about SSO solutions is that they compromise systems' security. This misconception is based on the idea that should a master password be stolen, all related accounts will be exposed.

However, the reality is that with good practices, SSO significantly decreases the likelihood of a password-related hack. With SSO, users only need to remember a single password for all their applications and are more likely to secure passphrases. They are also less likely to reuse passwords or write them down, which reduces the risk of theft.

An excellent strategy to provide an additional layer of security is to combine SSO with multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA requires that a user provide two or more pieces of evidence to prove their identity during sign-on. This can be a password and an one-time password that is delivered to the users phone.

Risk-based authentication (RBA) is another strong security feature that may be utilized by your security team. RBA permits the use of tools to observe user activity and context. This is done to spot any strange behavior that could signal an unauthorized user or cyberattack. For example, if you notice multiple login failures or wrong IPs, you can require MFA or block the user completely.

Decreased IT Costs

It has been estimated by Gartner that 40% of all help desk calls are due to password issues. Another study by Forrester reveals password resets cost organizations upward of $70 per fix. SSO drives down help desk costs by reducing the number of required passwords to just one. 

Some organizations have implemented specific password requirements like length and the use of special characters. These requirements may make passwords more difficult for users to remember. More secure passwords can lead to more users resetting passwords and therefore, more password fatigue. SSO can help alleviate some of those costs.

Improved Job Satisfaction for Employees

Employees are using an increasing number of apps in the workplace, with each requiring unique login credentials. This places a lot of burden on workers and can be time consuming and frustrating. It was found that an average of 68 percent of employees have to switch between ten apps every hour. 

Single sign-on improves productivity and enhances job satisfaction by allowing employees to work without interruption and quickly access everything needed. Easy access is particularly valuable for employees that are in the field or working from multiple devices.

Enhanced Customer Experience

An improved customer experience is one of the most valuable benefits of implementing MFA. A recent study reveals up to 18.75% of users abandon their carts because of password reset issues or forgotten passwords.

Retailers, healthcare providers and banks can eliminate these issues and give customers access to everything needed with SSO. Customers will enjoy a more seamless experience with less friction and less frustration. The immediate benefits of improved user experiences include customer loyalty, higher conversion rates and enhanced brand visibility.

Increased Adoption Rates

The competitive nature of today's market means customers have plenty of alternatives. If they experience too much friction or confusion with your product, they will seek out another option. SSO increases the chance that users will choose your app and use it more frequently.

Tighter B2B Collaboration

SSO plays a critical role in the success of B2B partnerships as well. Everything from cars and phones to essential home items are built and distributed through collaborative efforts between multiple enterprises. This type of business collaboration requires giving employees from other companies access to specific data, digital tools and applications. Federated SSO (or federated identity management) can help create more efficient and effective collaboration between businesses by bridging identity systems.

Businesses also often collaborate to provide related services to joint customers. Federated identity management simplifies access to services from multiple companies. Customers only need one account to access related services from different companies.

Regulatory Compliance

Industry regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA require companies to implement security measures to protect data. Single sign-on is often implemented as part of a broader identity and access management (IAM) solution. Using this combined solution can help you comply with regulations that require strong authentication and access control. IAM can also help businesses comply with other regulatory requirements pertaining to privacy, activity tracking and single logout.

Challenges integrating applications: One of the main challenges during the implementation of SSO is integration with various systems and applications. Legacy technology with obsolete architecture that lives on-premises or homegrown applications that don’t work with typical identity standards can often be challenging to connect. The best way to ensure interoperability is to choose an extensible identity vendor that supports open standards as well as many out-of-the-box integrations.

Accessibility challenges: When the single sign-on service is down, access to all connected sites may also go down. The provider's vulnerability to any interruptions becomes yours. For this reason, organizations need to exercise a lot of care when choosing a single sign-on vendor. An ideal system should be exceptionally reliable—99.99% uptime is ideal. You should also develop backup plans in case of outages.

Data Breaches: Should a hacker steal a user’s credentials, all of that user’s applications would be compromised because of the reliance on one password for access. You can significantly reduce this risk by requiring users to follow good password practices, educating about the common signs of phishing and implementing MFA.