Centrify Unveils Secure Access to SaaS, Cloud-Based Services Using Active Directory

Identity services provider, Centrify has rolled out a Windows Azure cloud-based service called DirectControl for SaaS (News - Alert), which is designed to give organizations secure access to their Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) application deployments and other cloud services across a variety of operating systems and platforms.

Centrify DirectControl for SaaS is now available as a public beta and is planned for general availability in the first quarter of 2013.

The new Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) offering works across a number of operating systems and platforms and provides Single Sign-on (SSO) to address “password sprawl,” according to Corey Williams, Centrify senior director of product management.

“Many of the existing solutions for SaaS SSO do not address what users want and what IT requires,” Williams said in a statement. “Single Sign-on needs to address both browser and mobile access to apps regardless of whether those apps are on premise or in the cloud. We’ve architected our solution from the ground up to accommodate these scenarios, and with Centrify you can utilize your existing identity infrastructure to go beyond SSO with access control, privilege management, policy enforcement and compliance.”

Due to the increasing adoption of SaaS applications combined with Bring Your Own Device, IT organizations often do not own the endpoint devices or back-end application resources, therefore creating a greater need for centralized management of users’ digital identity, according to Ian Glazer, research vice president at Gartner (News - Alert).

“As organizational boundaries continue to erode under the pressure of federation and outsourcing, and as enterprise control over IT continues to weaken through increased adoption of mobile devices and cloud services, identity is more important than ever, and more problematic,” Glazer said. “Identity teams must strengthen federation capabilities to properly connect software as a service (SaaS) to the enterprise…Identity teams should also consider an identity bridge to connect to identity as a service (IDaaS) offerings.”

The new service allows Centrify customers to take advantage of their existing Microsoft (News - Alert) Active Directory credentials giving them access across several operating systems, mobile devices and apps deployed both on-premise and in the cloud.

“The Windows Azure cloud platform builds on and utilizes Microsoft’s core technologies, including security and identity with Active Directory,” said Karri Alexion-Tiernan, director of Windows Azure Product Marketing at Microsoft. “As a Windows Azure customer and partner, Centrify extends Windows Azure functionality with an on-demand identity service across the data center, cloud, and mobile that lets IT take advantage of their existing skills and Active Directory infrastructure.”

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