Symplified, the Cloud Identity Company, today announced the Winter 2011 release of its cloud identity and access management (IAM) service, a new entry-level version called Symplified ONE™ for businesses that only need to integrate with a single cloud application, and support for the new Amazon Kindle Fire tablet. With this release, Symplified now supports strong authentication for high-trust and sensitive applications that require more robust security than username and password logins. The Winter 2011 release offers pluggable authentication support, multiple authentication level policies, ‘step-up authentication’ and mobile strong authentication.
Gartner, Inc. predicts that at year-end 2016, more than 50 percent of Global 1000 companies will have stored customer-sensitive data in the public cloud1. Controlling unauthorized access to applications that interact with this confidential information will require stronger protection than simple username and password security.
To address this need, Symplified now supports strong authentication which can be implemented across all web and cloud applications or on an application-by-application basis. Symplified integrates with industry-leading solutions to deliver cloud-based strong authentication that combines something you know (e.g. a username and password) with something you have (e.g. a credential such as a card, token, or mobile phone). The Winter 2011 release also automates certificate generation and expiration notifications which greatly simplifies the process of cryptographic trust management for SAML federation.
“Many organizations see the benefits of cloud computing, but they often wrestle with the questions it raises for security. Access control designed to link enterprises with cloud environments must preserve security without threatening the efficiencies businesses expect to realize from cloud computing,” said Scott Crawford, Managing Research Director of Security and Risk, Enterprise Management Associates. “This includes the need for strong authentication that may be required to meet security or compliance requirements for protecting sensitive information. Symplified is recognizing not only these requirements that organizations bring to cloud opportunities, but also the reality of the expanding role of mobile devices in today’s enterprise.”
Symplified ONE: Seamless IAM for a Single App
For businesses that only need access management and single sign-on (SSO) for one cloud app like Salesforce.com, the company has introduced Symplified ONE. While Symplified’s core offering allows seamless access to hundreds of pre-integrated applications through its Trust Fabric™ and connects a wide variety of users that include external partners and customers, Symplified ONE is an entry-level, low-cost and quick-to-deploy solution designed to give employees simple access to a single cloud app. This new offering enables employees to log on to the corporate network and securely access the cloud application without re-entering their username and password.
Unlike competing small business SSO offerings, Symplified ONE integrates with a company’s existing Active Directory without forcing a replication of sensitive credentials outside the firewall. It also does not require the cloud app to support SAML which enables Symplified ONE to work with virtually all apps used by employees. To provide anywhere, any device SSO, Symplified ONE supports access from all leading smartphones and tablets, not just personal computers. Symplified ONE does not require the deployment of any software on desktops or any end-user configuration.
“The cloud is becoming an extension of the enterprise, which means companies expect applications in this environment to support the same levels of security and manageability that are possible inside the firewall,” said Eric Olden, CEO of Symplified. “Our new release addresses these requirements by adding strong authentication and the broadest mobile device support in the industry. Symplified ONE makes it easy for companies that only require access management and single sign-on capabilities for one cloud app to get up and running quickly and inexpensively. It is based on an elastic foundation that can scale to dozens of apps as companies adopt new ones. Our vision is to provide seamless access for all.”
As the Consumerization of IT Heats Up, Symplified Supports Kindle Fire in the Enterprise
The Kindle Fire is expected to be one of the hottest mobile devices this holiday season, and some analysts predict it could account for more than half of Android-based tablet sales in 2012. As more and more business professionals bring their own personal mobile devices to the workplace, Symplified continues to protect sensitive company information with the industry’s first and only mobile IAM portals for cloud apps. In addition to its existing support for iOS and other Android devices, Symplified now supports the new Kindle Fire tablet which runs the Amazon Silk browser. To securely access cloud apps through the unique Symplified mobile SSO portal, users simply enter a URL on their Kindle Fire which generates a tablet-optimized login screen. Once authenticated, they are presented with a personalized portal for one-click SSO to all the cloud and on-premises apps they are authorized to use.
Pricing and Availability
The Symplified Winter 2011 release is available now. Symplified ONE is currently available for qualified organizations. Symplified ONE is priced at $1 per user per month starting at $100 for the first 100 users. Support for Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet is available in January 2012.