One of the major burdens of allowing enterprise Windows Active Directory users to access cloud applications is managing their identities across multiple applications. When it comes to identity management in a hybrid scenario, there are two major points that you should keep in mind:

• It is highly efficient to leverage the existing identity management solution used for Windows Active Directory and extend that to cloud applications.
• It is ideal for the users to have one login for multiple applications. But, the difficulty here is that different applications have different password expiration dates.

Leverage Existing Identity Management Solution:

As enterprises increasingly embrace cloud-based solutions, the world of identity management no longer lingers within your organization network. It is only fitting that those solutions, which offer identity management for Windows Active Directory, also start their ascent to the cloud and leverage their prowess to cloud-based applications to eliminate the burden of identity management and reduce its associated costs.

One Login for Multiple Applications:

As mentioned earlier, it is ideal for the users to have one login for multiple applications. But different applications have different password expiration dates and it becomes difficult for the users to stick to the ‘One Login’ concept. For example, Windows Active Directory may have a maximum password age of 60 days, while some cloud applications may have it at 6 months. In such cases, users need to change their passwords in all other applications in which they have an account once their Windows Active Directory passwords are changed. This is not as simple as it may seem because organizations – small and large – are increasingly moving to the cloud and use a mix of cloud and on-premise applications.

Use Password Sync to Eliminate Identity Chaos:

So what’s the solution? The problem may be complex, but it can be easily dealt with a simple concept called Password Synchronization, one of the important aspects of identity management. In a password synchronization process, users’ passwords are coordinated across various systems and applications so that a user only has to remember a single strong password instead of a dozen.

A self-service identity management solution for Windows Active Directory with password synchronization capabilities that seamlessly extends its support to cloud apps is what you need to completely get rid of the identity chaos in your organization. When used to change Active Directory password, such an application would synchronize the passwords of users’ cloud-based apps with the new password.

The benefits of having a unified self-service identity management solution for your business are manifold:

• Reduces cost associated with user identity management
• Improves employee productivity by preventing computer downtime
• Eases the burden of IT staff from managing users’ identities across multiple platforms
• Eliminates duplication of identities and passwords
• Helps in extending Windows Active Directory Password Policy to cloud applications
• Creates a secure IT environment

So, what you need is a unified self-service identity management tool that supports a wide range of cloud applications along with a variety of on-premise systems to solve one of the crucial problems in the field of identity management.

ManageEngine ADSolutions’s Self-Service Password Management tool for Windows Active Directory – ADSelfService Plus – supports a wide range of cloud applications and on-premise systems such as Google Apps, Salesforce, Office 365, Azure, HP UX, IBM i series, Oracle E-Suite, Oracle DB and more. Try ADSelfService Plus now!

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The original article/video can be found at Password synchronization, a crucial step in Cloud IAM