Leveraging OpenID Google Apps Simplifies Identity Management for Organizations
Google made a fairly significant announcement today that will certainly have an impact on federated services such as OpenID, and how organizations using Google Apps manage their online identities.
We’re happy to announce that the Google OpenID Federated Login API has been extended to Google Apps accounts used by businesses, schools, and other organizations. Individuals in these organizations can now sign in to third party websites using their Google Apps account, without sharing their credentials with third parties.
In addition, Google Apps can now become an identity hub for multiple SaaS providers, simplifying identity management for organizations. For example, when integrated with partner solutions such as PingConnect from Ping Identity, the Google Open ID Federated Login API enables a single Google Apps login to help provide secure access to services like Salesforce.com, SuccessFactors, and WebEX — as well as B2B partners, internal applications, and of course consumer web sites. See Ping Identity’s post to learn more about their implementation and view the demo
This announcement comes shortly after keen observers noticed Google’s plans to announce this by spotting some discussions that took place on a public OpenID Board mailing list.
JanRain, a recognized leader in the OpenID market also extends their support with an announcement of their own regarding RPX and Google Apps in their most recent blog post.
Introduction to OpenID
Lee LeFever, the plain english guy, offers a clear definition of what OpenID is, “…it’s a standard that enables Internet users to have an online identity (username, photo, profile info, etc.) that is constant for every website to which they belong. OpenID is not owned by anyone and everyone has equal access to it. One password, one login, one identity for each person.”
Check out this video about OpenID for more details:
