Google Makes Its Single Sign-On Solution Compatible With More Enterprise Apps

For a while now, Google has offered a single sign-on service based on the SAML standard. Today, the company is adding SAML 2.0 support for 17 additional enterprise SaaS apps like WebEx, Workday, Marketo, NetSuite, Smartsheet, Zendesk and — you can insert your own joke here — Amazon Web Services.

Google says it’s also now making it easier for admins to add their own custom SAML app integrations.

All of this takes a little bit of work (here is how to get started with using your Google for Work credentials on AWS), but as businesses move to the cloud — and maybe Google for Work — they are increasingly looking for ways to simplify and standardize their security processes.

Google’s marquee user for the service is Netflix, which is also Amazon Web Services’ premier customer. “At Netflix we leveraged Google’s OpenID Connect standards support as part of our migration to a 100% cloud based single sign-on solution” Justin Slaten, Netflix’s Manager for Enterprise Technology & Client Systems said in today’s announcement.

As Google notes, using its identity service for powering the credentials of enterprise apps also gives users the ability to use tools like Google Smart Lock, and admins can control password strength, lock screen requirement and app management.