In the past, a user might have to log on to the network file system with one ID and password. Then, to get to e-mail, collaboration tools, or the corporate database, the end-user was required to perform three more rounds of logging in with different IDs and passwords.
This situation led to frustrated users who often forgot passwords. During the 1980s and early 1990s, a huge percentage of help-desk calls were related in one way or another to forgotten passwords. This drove up the cost per desk to support client/server-based computing.
Worse yet, end-users frequently wrote down their passwords and posted them near their computers. Or, they selected passwords that were easy to remember (and easy for internal and external hackers to guess). Both of these issues have caused network administrators many a sleepless night.
Network-based single sign-on solutions have neatly solved the security and administration issues surrounding end-users who work in a client/server environment. These tools let the user log in once to gain access to all their authorized network resources.
Enter the World Wide Web and the emergence of network-based computing. Though client/server computing is finally (thankfully) on its way out, the benefits of single sign-on in our new computing paradigm are equally positive. In fact, the benefits have increased. Let me explain. Today, you log on to a Web site once and interact with applications and data that are derived from a variety of sources on the back end. The single sign-on paradigm is a natural fit for the public Internet because it manages end-user authentication and authorization with one log-on.
Web-based single sign-on enables something else, though-personalization and improved navigation. When you log on a single time to a Web site, you most likely set the appearance and navigation of the applications and data to suit your needs.
Single sign-on technology is well worth looking into for your employees, business partners, and customers. Ideally, you'll want to seek out a solution that can manage access rights for all of these groups. There are several single sign-on products and tools that support Web-based environments. The majority of these do not require client-side software, but instead are supported via Web server plug-ins. Some of these include solutions from enCommerce, Netegrity, Hewlett-Packard, and Secure Computing.
Managing single sign-on strategies is becoming tricky for network administrators, however, as the lines blur between public and private networks. Your company may well have Web-based solutions that support public authentication and authorization. These tools let end-users access a variety of your network resources. Likewise, you may have implemented a separate single sign-on solution to manage access rights for internal employees and external business partners. Or, you may have no internal single sign-on solution implemented at all (which is still the case at a large number of businesses).
The problem today is that the majority of the Web-based single sign-on solutions are limited to Web-related technologies. And, traditional single sign-on tools are limited to client/server-related technologies. Thus, it may be necessary to implement two different solutions at present.
This is changing, though, as vendors such as Dascom/IBM, Gradient, and Platinum/Memco are Web-enabling traditional single sign-on technologies. Other vendors, including Security Dynamics and CyberSafe, are implementing Web-based PKI technologies in their single sign-on solutions.
The essence of single sign-on today goes well beyond the cost-saving, administration-reducing tools of just a few years ago. Streamlining access to your network resources for end-users, business partners, and customers means that you can offer a much greater degree of personalization and customized navigation that better meets the needs of each group.
Single sign-on technology is well worth investing in, but caution should be exercised before selecting the strategy for your company. The single sign-on market is undergoing rapid change. Be sure to select a solution that can manage internal network, application, and data access, as well as external entry to your applications and data based on the users' role with your company.
Maggie Biggs maggie@biggs.com is director of the InfoWorld Test Center, where she evaluates emerging technologies and writes the Enterprise Toolbox column.
