Single sign-on (SSO) has revolutionized the traditional sign-in method for users across the board and made it simpler to access associated applications. In today's business world, SSO is employed in nearly every organization, whether it's in the form of an authentication app on your mobile device or a hardware security token like YubiKey.
SSO and its benefits
Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication method that allows you to use just one set of credentials for different applications.
From the perspective of a business setting, SSO enables all employees working in an organization to access all corporate-based apps, websites, and services without having to sign in repeatedly. This in turn allows for smoother workflows and increased productivity.
SSO also allows for better security for your account information, especially if you need to access multiple websites with the same sign-in credentials. It isn't a safe practice to repeatedly allow websites to store your personal details, and with SSO, you can avoid possible security scares since it facilitates a trusted identity provider to authenticate your identity when you access different web applications. This means your information remains safe, even under drastic circumstances.
Drawbacks of manual sign-on
In most traditional single sign-on solutions, SSO isn't offered for mobile apps. We know most modern businesses use mobile apps in their daily workflows, so Zoho has come up with a solution to tackle this issue—offering mobile SSO through our newest version of OneAuth.
Let's look at an example: Zoho provides over 50 mobile apps to our users. From these 50, let's say you download five Zoho apps to your mobile device. These apps are for your regular use, and are heavily depended on.
When you open one of the apps for the first time, you'll need to type in your sign-in credentials to access it. When you open another Zoho app, you again need to type in your credentials manually. The same goes for the other three. Let's assume that it takes roughly ten seconds for you to open the app, enter your credentials, and sign in. When you need to manually sign in every time, each Zoho app you install essentially increases the overall time spent on the setup and sign-in alone.
Now let's look at this from a business perspective. In an organization of around a hundred employees, the cumulative time spent on setup and sign-in of each Zoho app can get very lengthy.
The time lost in situations like these is important to note because most traditional SSO apps or tokens can't authenticate mobile apps which have become an integral part of business operations.
So, the question is this: How can you save time and improve productivity with SSO for mobile apps?
Mobile-based SSO via OneAuth
Mobile-based SSO is an exciting new feature we have implemented in Zoho's in-house multi-factor authentication (MFA) mobile application, OneAuth. Once you download and install OneAuth on your mobile device, it validates your identity and allows you to access other associated Zoho applications (like Zoho People or Zoho Mail) freely without having to type in your sign-in credentials each time, thus saving time and improving productivity. Our mobile-based SSO is one of the many features that sets OneAuth apart from other SSO and MFA apps.
It might seem trivial to save a few minutes every day, but from a broader perspective, an organization can save several hours across their workforce each day by implementing this simple solution in the workplace.
Want to see how Zoho OneAuth can help you save time and drive productivity? Set up your OneAuth today, and let us know your feedback in the comments below.
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