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We're seeing a lot more discussion on the topic of single-sign on for SaaS environments. The issue is becoming more important as security emerges as a top concern for companies considering making the move to cloud-based environments. OneLogin is a new company that offers single sign-on, cloud-based service that allows for small and mid-sized companies to enjoy the same level of security as large enterprise companies. Sponsor Most small companies do not deploy security methods that employ SAML , (Security Assertion Markup Language) an XML-based standard for exchanging authentication and authorization data between security domains. It's expensive to deploy. Open-source tools do exist but require someone to understand how it works and deployed in a work environment. OneLogin configures a browser to give the experience of a single sign in. It bypasses the traditional user name/password system, which often has gaping security holes. To us, this is a big reason why the new breed of SaaS services are not taken seriously by security conscious enterprise customers. The security can not be trusted. With OneLogin, a person would be directed to a login page that would automatically fill-in the information for the person. The person is provided their own OpenID account. OneLogin knows the person's session so no second authentication is required. OneLogin's infrastructure sits in the cloud, which means that a customer does not have to maintain dedicated servers and people to keep the system working. There is no install. Rackspace hosts the web server and the database. Two-factor authentication is available. People may use a Yubi key , which used a USB port to plug in and activate a random number authorization. People may also soon be able to use Verisign's VIP service that gives a mobile device the capability to generate a new password every 30 sec. You then input the number within 30 seconds to receive permission. The OneLogin service works on most SaaS services, including Google Apps. There is a free service. For SAML capabilities, the cost is $8 per user per month. Discuss
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OneLogin: Enterprise-Class Security Services and OpenID For The Small and Medium Sized Business
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Microsoft President Stephen Elop says the cloud has created a "constructive disruption," in the market, creating an opportunity to offer Microsoft Office on the Web at no cost. It also looks like the cloud is disrupting Microsoft's pricing structure quite a bit. The issue: cloud computing may be the future but the margins will drop. Sponsor In an interview with Bloomberg , Elop said future updates to the Web-based Office suite may add Twitter-like functions that allow users to post short messages. Elop is an interesting guy. The Bloomberg story is as much as a profile of this newcomer to Microsoft as a story about the the margins that will get squeezed by cloud computing. Elop looks at the issue philosophically. From Bloomberg: "In that cloud environment, we are not only selling them software but we are also saying, 'We'll take care of your networking, your hardware your operations, your customer support,'" Elop said in an interview. "We're doing much more work for the customer. What that does is increases revenue and allows us to participate in more profit." Elop comes from Macromedia where he made Dreamweaver the most popular web-page authoring application in the market. You can tell he sees the market from a different viewpoint. Many companies we cover look for ways its products can work on any device and perform on any or browser. Microsoft is different. Elop's role is to walk the path that balances the need to prepare for the future while supporting Microsoft Office, a product worth billions. From Bloomberg: Elop's Office unit is Microsoft's biggest business, accounting for a third of the company's $58.4 billion in sales last fiscal year. The shift to Internet-based versions of Office may cut margins by 5 to 10 percentage points, said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft in Kirkland, Washington. 'Have to Do Something' "Elop's challenge is to move carefully and not undercut the traditional software business," Rosoff said. "You don't want to give everybody free Office over the Web because that jeopardizes a highly profitable business, but you have to do something." It's not an easy road. Elop is right. The cloud is disrupting the market. And he seems like the right guy to guide Microsoft through the complexities that Microsoft and the rest of market faces in the months and years ahead. Discuss
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Dilemma: Cloud Computing Is Disrupting Microsoft Office 2010 and its Profit Margins
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