Sign Me Up: 8 Red-Hot Identity-As-A-Service Vendors

Cloud Identity Services Vendors Establish Channel Roots

Identity-as-a-Service platform makers are beginning to establish more partner-friendly channel programs for solution providers that are helping clients migrate IT systems to the cloud. The emerging services provide authentication, single sign-on and provisioning capabilities to Salesforce.com, Box, custom Web applications and other cloud services and can tie into traditional, on-premise identity management platforms. The market is quickly commoditizing and is ripe for additional acquisitions, said Andras Cser, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. Vendors will invest in more robust provisioning capabilities, identity intelligence or analytics, and customer-facing or inbound Identity-as-a-Service features, Cser said. Meanwhile, traditional, on-premise identity management platform makers also are adapting. Here are eight vendors that industry observers say deserve a look.

Okta

CEO: Todd McKinnon

San Francisco-based Okta received a $75 million Series E investment in June from Sequoia Capital, and Okta CEO Todd McKinnon has indicated that the company is preparing for an IPO. Okta provides directory services, single sign-on, authentication, provisioning, workflow and built-in reporting capabilities. The company recently unveiled tighter integration with Microsoft Office 365 applications, including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync Online, and provisioning of user accounts and group memberships in Azure Active Directory. The company also recently updated its channel program. About 25 percent of its sales go through channel partners globally.

Ping Identity

CEO: Andre Durand

Denver-based Ping Identity sells PingOne for cloud-based single sign-on and separate licenses for PingID for multifactor authentication and PingAccess for role and attribute-based access control. Its PingFederate is a federation server for identity management, authentication and Web single sign-on. It enables custom administration services and can integrate with many existing identity stores. It supports connections between private cloud environments and public cloud, multitenant apps. Research firms Gartner and IDC have ranked Ping Identity as a market leader.

Covisint

CEO: Sam Inman III

Detroit-based Covisint sells an Identity-as-a-Service platform that supports single sign-on and identity federation as one of the components of its Cloud Engagement Platform, which has been sold for more than a decade to connect customers and business partners within the automotive industry supply chain. Gartner called Covisint a leader in the market, citing its strong identity assurance features and deep identity federation and provisioning integration functions. The company maintains a formal channel program for MSPs, VARs, systems integrators and consultants.

OneLogin

CEO: Thomas Pedersen

In addition to Active Directory integration, single sign-on, authentication and provisioning, San Francisco-based OneLogin has password vault capabilities for applications that don't support password-free single sign-on and for secure shared credentials between multiple users to a single account. The platform also has federated search capabilities to enable searching between various applications in real time. The company recently said it achieved certification to integrate with Microsoft Office 365 and ServiceNow. The company sells its enterprise service at $5 per user, per month.

Centrify

CEO: Tom Kemp

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Centrify sells an on-premise, server identity management suite and a SaaS-based service for single sign-on and Active Directory integration for access management and account provisioning of cloud and mobile apps. The company has had success selling its data-center-focused products and then extending them with its cloud and mobility offerings. Centrify launched a formal channel program in January that includes an authorized tier for entry-level resellers, a Select level for solution providers that get training and certification, and a Premier level for solution providers that commit to a business and marketing plan.

SailPoint Technologies

CEO: Mark McClain

Austin, Texas-based SailPoint Technologies sells IdentityIQ, an on-premise access management and identity governance platform, and IdentityNow, a SaaS platform that integrates with cloud apps and on-premise resources. IdentityNow supports password management and single sign-on and provides access rights management, account provisioning and analytics. The company said in June that it surpassed the $100 million in GAAP revenue mark. SailPoint has a partner program for systems integrators and resellers, maintaining Premier, Select and Authorized tiers.

CA Technologies

CEO: Mike Gregoire

New York-based CA Technologies sells its CA CloudMinder Identity-as-a-Service (formerly Arcot Systems) to support user provisioning, strong authentication and single sign-on for SaaS and on-premise applications. The company got high marks in a recent report from IDC for its ability to support federated single sign-on for multiple operating systems and legacy environments. It is seen in some large deployments and can support an initial load of up to 10,000 users. It also supports inbound identity management, enabling visitors to use social media credentials such as Facebook, Google or LinkedIn for a single login and single logoff experience.

ForgeRock

CEO: Mike Ellis

San Francisco-based ForgeRock specializes in identity relationship management, supporting identity management for Web applications in public, private or hybrid cloud environments. The company was built on Sun Microsystems' open-source identity projects. ForgeRock touts a scalable, modular Open Identity Stack, which consists of OpenAM, an access management component for single sign-on, authorization, federation entitlements and authentication; OpenDJ, an identity data replication component for on- and off-premise applications; OpenIDM, a component for policy compliance and enforcement; and a bridge to extend an organization's existing identity service framework to the cloud. ForgeRock said in June that it received an investment of $30 million in Series C funding to support expansion. It maintains a channel program for systems integrators and technology providers.