Planning access and authentication

Prior to the explosion of cloud-based SaaS applications, organizations that purchased applications or connected to partner organizations would commonly configure identity federation with the entity hosting an application. One of the most common methods was through Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS).

With the advent of cloud-based applications and widespread adoption of the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) and OpenID Connect standards, it’s easier than ever to connect your organization’s users to third-party applications.

Authentication frameworks

Both Security Assertion Markup Language and OpenID Connect are standard frameworks for authentication (AuthN) and authorization (AuthZ). Both frameworks allow developers to create applications that obtain and exchange identity information from an external or trusted directory instead of having to maintain an identity store in the application. This helps consumers...