What Exactly Does Okta Do?

Okta is a company that provides identity as a service. They help companies manage their human resources and how those employees access the organization’s digital resources.

This helps companies like yours eliminate the hassle and costs of managing and storing your own digital information, such as

• Custom Active Directory (AD) · User Management · Password Syncing · Multi-factor Authentication

With Okta, you can keep track of your employees and what they are doing, where they are doing it, and when they are doing it. This helps you protect your organization’s digital information!

How Does Okta Work?

Okta works by syncing up with the cloud-based applications that your company is already using (i.e. Box, Dropbox). All the information that your company already has access to is accessible through Okta, so it’s easy to get started.

Once you’ve started using Okta, it’s time to implement it. This implementation will vary based on what type of business you have and what industry you are in.

What Kinds of Businesses Use Okta?

Okta works for any organization. That means companies of all sizes use Okta to protect their information. Here are five examples of organizations using Okta:

1. MNC Corporation
2. Startup Company
3. Government Agency
4. Non-Profit Organization
5. Hospitality Industry (Hotels, Restaurants, etc.)

Okta can be used for any industry. This includes hospitals, hotels, law firms, restaurants, banks—any business that requires secure information.

The Okta Implementation Plan

There are four steps in the Okta implementation plan: building connections with other software managers, configuring security features for your brand new application, providing your employees with tools to access their accounts, and ensuring compliance by checking logs for suspicious activity.

1. Build Connections with Other Software Managers

When creating the plan, Okta recommends companies connect with other software managers that are used across your company—like accounting or inventory management apps. By connecting these apps together through one authentication system, you ensure that employees are able to use the tools they need without having to worry about how to access each individual app.

2. Configure Security Features for Your Brand New Application

Security is incredibly important when developing new software, but it also poses some new challenges. Okta has created an easy-to-follow checklist on how to maintain security, including the most effective ways to build secure passwords.

3. Integrate with Your Existing Applications

If your business already has software that employees use regularly, then you can still use Okta account authentication without having to switch over completely. Connecting your new app to an existing system ensures that all employees are using a consistent login method—and they’ll appreciate the convenience, too.

4. Increase Efficiency

By using Okta’s best practices for secure modern development, you’ll have a much stronger sense of how well your app is being protected. You may find that your employees are able to log into the app in just seconds, which means they can get back to work faster.

What are the Benefits of Okta?

Okta provides secure access to data, applications, and IT resources – both on-premise and in the cloud. They can manage both internal users and bring external services into your organization’s network security fold with only one identity solution.

With Okta, businesses can reduce password fatigue so they can securely and easily integrate on-premise and cloud apps with single sign-on, strong authentication for any device or browser, conditional access policies based on the user, time of day, device type, location, as well as many other factors.

Okta manages identities throughout their lifecycle so they can be reused across over one application – even if the apps are built by different vendors. And with Global Directory support, Okta can sync users and groups to on-premise directories like Active Directory, LDAP, and SAML 2.0 directories.

Okta offers robust reporting and analytics capabilities so companies can track user behavior and security incidents, as well as inform employees of relevant security updates to make informed decisions about their digital identities.

Conclusion

Okta has proved to be a reliable, easy-to-use security solution with the potential to significantly reduce identity management costs by offering better integration, automation, and reporting. Using Okta means that companies no longer have to worry about credential management, password resets, or security updates. Okta’s user interface is clear and straightforward for both administrators and end-users.

If your company is looking to improve the security of its digital transformation strategy, implement a single sign-on solution, provide employees with access to on-premise systems, cloud applications, and mobile devices, or merge the number of systems they’re using to manage identities, Okta can help.