I use Okta Platform for single sign-on and managing the authentication process. I have used all of the geofencing features for security purposes. In the current field of cybersecurity, I have been working for seven years specifically.
Okta Platform
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Single sign-on has strengthened security and supports guided authentication management
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
My favorite aspect of Okta Platform is that it is really user-friendly. The admin configuration UI is user-friendly when you view it.
What needs improvement?
I have worked on Okta Platform's IGA features, and they were not great or up to the mark. While they were trying to get new features, it was not working as expected at that time when it was in beta. There are some features, especially on the customization side, that cannot be customized, and there are a few things that would be nice to customize as well.
I would like Okta Platform to protect non-human identities in the environment, such as service accounts.
In terms of industry or regulatory requirements, it depends on the person implementing Okta Platform. All necessary protocols need to be followed, but I don't think Okta Platform has set any templates to ensure these protocols are being followed. It would be a nice-to-have feature where they could set some templates and provide guidance on what can be implemented.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Okta Platform for five to six years overall.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Okta Platform is stable with very few instability issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Okta Platform is 100% scalable.
How are customer service and support?
I have had to contact technical support for Okta Platform many times.
The speed and quality of their answers depend on the nature of the issue. Sometimes it was an easy fix, and sometimes I had to do a lot of back and forth. Speed is good initially, but depending on the problem nature, it becomes a little stagnant. However, I have no complaints as I think they have been super helpful. Even if they are not able to help, it goes to another team member, but they generally try to help.
I would give the support for Okta Platform a score of seven out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used alternatives to Okta Platform.
How was the initial setup?
I was definitely there for the initial deployment of Okta Platform, and I would rate it as medium.
What about the implementation team?
A team is required for Okta Platform. I don't believe we should be dependent on one person, and there should be people from many different teams involved. Even if there is not a lot of work, in all of my projects, Okta Platform has indicated that we need people. In one or two instances, Okta Platform professionals were not there to help, but I highly recommend someone from Okta to be there to guide us through the whole process.
Okta Platform requires maintenance on my end as a customer. It is 100% the customer's responsibility to maintain all features. Even if someone is going out of the company, there needs to be deactivation, so everything needs to be maintained by customers of Okta Platform. With respect to features and patches, sometimes they release a few patches that we will have to update ourselves, but in other cases, they try to do some silent pushes. However, it totally depends on how Okta Platform chooses to do it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Overall, regarding the pricing of Okta Platform, I think it is a little expensive.
The biggest differences that come to mind are that, positively, Okta Platform is more user-friendly, but negatively, Okta Platform is way more expensive than a few other products in the market.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have used Ontra, Ontra ID, PingID, SiteMinder, SailPoint, and Saviant, which are not exactly competitors to Okta Platform but somewhat similar.
What other advice do I have?
How long it took to finish projects with Okta Platform from start to finish depends on multiple factors. I have done many projects with Okta Platform, starting from overnight to even a week, so it depends on the customer as well, on what is being implemented, and what the go-live date is for the particular time. The deployment depends on a client-to-client basis. My overall review rating for Okta Platform is eight out of ten.
Unified identities have simplified secure access management and improved compliance
What is our primary use case?
I use Okta Platform as an administrator to set up new SAML and SSO apps. We also use the governance module as well. We also use the automation functions with workflows. We use it mainly as our main identity platform. I have been using it at all my past companies.
What is most valuable?
What I appreciate about Okta Platform is that it is most of the time a very good no-code platform. It allows us to set up new SSO integrations quite easily, even if the app doesn't really support SSO natively. It is pretty easy to configure on Okta Platform.
Okta Platform has impacted my organization positively by providing convenience, first of all. There are no more different passwords for many different apps, since SSO doesn't really require password storing. Security has also improved because we eliminate a very big weak point that passwords represent. Additionally, we maintain control to ensure we only give access to the necessary apps to the necessary people.
What needs improvement?
I would definitely see improvements in the governance module of Okta Platform. The way we do certification of accesses, certification campaigns, and access requests could be improved. A better way for users to actually request an instance in Okta Platform, for example, an app, without having to use a third-party integration for ServiceNow or Jira Service Management, would be valuable. Having something built in to Okta Platform would be beneficial.
From the features perspective, functionality-wise, I would see recent features included in Okta Platform. Our company works on a hub-and-spoke model, and Okta Platform did introduce a way to have more of a federated level. What they call claim sharing, and we really would appreciate a bit more improvement on that functionality, since that functionality helps us to have a single identity on a hub and pass that identity to the other spokes and have seamless login between all of them. Claim sharing helps with that, but the function is still not the best, especially related to authentication policies. There are still some issues, especially when we have some mismatch between the authentication policies on different spokes. I definitely would appreciate some more improvements. Additionally, I would appreciate a bit more improvements on the logging features of Okta Platform, which still are not the best.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Okta Platform for more than five years at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Regarding the Okta Platform, it has been stable. We do have different cells in different countries since we work on a hub-spoke model. On our EMEA cell, it has been quite stable. We did have some problems before on our US cells in these past few months, but nothing too serious. Most of the time, issues happen after hours on the US market. On our EMEA side, there have been no issues in these past few months.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I find Okta Platform scalable and have not hit any limitations or scalability issues with it. We do have a good contract with our vendor that allows us to set up new users at any time and they basically review the contract a year after if we need to have more users. We really don't have scalability issues.
How are customer service and support?
If I would evaluate customer service and technical support of Okta Platform from one to ten, I would say a very good nine. We do have a very good relationship with our customer support representative, customer support manager in this case, or CSM. We also have a dedicated Okta Platform tech that we go to with more high-level questions. The level one support with the normal ticketing system from Okta Platform works pretty well most of the time. I never faced any issues, and if we need to escalate it for more complex issues, we can go to our dedicated tech manager support or our customer success manager and they are pretty quick to respond.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have mainly used Okta Platform. I did use a bit of Ping Identity, but it was so long ago that I really don't remember a lot of the platform at this point.
How was the initial setup?
When it comes to the deployment process of the initial setup with Okta Platform, we definitely faced some complexities, especially related to the way users authenticate. Sometimes authentication policies are a bit buggy in the sense that sometimes they really don't detect the correct browser that the user is using or there are issues related to the location of the user. The part of security authentication sometimes really doesn't work as well as it could. We did experience some problems in that sense.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment of Okta Platform was implemented fully in-house.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did look at other solutions as well, such as One Identity and Ping Identity, before choosing Okta Platform. We decided to go with Okta Platform since it was the more complete option on the market at the time, with all the necessary functions that we had, especially related to authentication policies. It also had a better catalog of pre-built apps as well, so it was a bit more simple. We also started looking a few years ago to maybe replace Okta Platform with Entra ID, because we also did have Azure products, but we decided to keep Okta Platform because Okta Platform still has much more documentation and much more time in the market. Their solution is a bit better in that sense.
What other advice do I have?
My best piece of advice for others who are looking into implementing Okta Platform would be related to the knowledge base. I would make sure people read through the main knowledge base from Okta Platform, so the main steps of integrations. One of the good advantages of Okta Platform is that most applications and authentication are all the same, since it uses base protocols such as SAML or OIDC. If you are able to build one, the other ones are pretty easy to build. Go through the knowledge base that Okta Platform has, which is very rich for understanding if it is actually a good solution for your problems. If it is, Okta Platform would be a good solution to use.
The AWS services that are integrated or secured through Okta Platform mainly include AWS Cloud directly for cloud computing purposes.
Okta Platform does protect non-human identities in our environments, such as service accounts. We have the perspective that we can monitor the access, so who actually accesses the accounts and who is the manager of those accounts. We maintain password rotation and password policies for those types of accounts, which are different from a normal user account. Okta Platform helps us with that.
Related to the financial market, Okta Platform helps our company address specific regulatory requirements because we need to be SOX compliant, since we are a public traded company. Okta Platform helped us with being SOX compliant.
I have noticed measurable security and operational improvements in our cloud-based workloads since implementing Okta Platform. One of the main ones is access to AWS cloud environments. Thanks to Okta Platform, we can set up push groups to the AWS IAM module. We can actually give access to specific AWS spaces to specific teams in this case. For example, if we have a cloud team that works on a specific region, we can give access to an Okta Platform group to that specific team, and they will have access to that AWS cloud space. We have a lot of that, and it helped us a lot.
I would rate this review a nine overall.
Single sign-on and adaptive authentication have strengthened security and simplified compliance
What is our primary use case?
Use cases include onboarding SAML applications, onboarding OIDC applications, onboarding third-party vendors for accessing these applications, enabling single sign-on across internal and external applications, enabling multi-factor authentication, and enabling adaptive authentication that triggers based on risk score.
What is most valuable?
Okta Platform is among the market leaders in this space. They have numerous integrations available out of the box, and some of the functionality beyond access management is also there, such as IGA capabilities and PAM capabilities. Overall, I have had a good experience.
Okta Platform has been in the industry for a while, so they have become quite mature in terms of product. The product is robust and does not have many bugs in it. They offer a range of out-of-the-box connectors, so you can quickly onboard target applications without custom integration. The ease of integration with multiple other applications is a key point I would highlight.
The main benefit is single sign-on. All access management solutions, including Okta Platform, provide single sign-on capability and multi-factor authentication capability. These are the two core functions any organization should implement. Beyond that, they also offer advanced capabilities such as passwordless authentication, so you can integrate your FIDO2 equivalent devices and enable passwordless authentication to your applications. These features are basically why they are quite famous in the market.
Okta Platform secures access to cloud infrastructure, APIs, containerized workloads, and AI and GenAI services in a similar way to how they do SAML and OIDC. Recently, they have rolled out some capabilities in the GenAI or Agentic AI area, where they can secure AI agents and manage the provisioning and deprovisioning of their identity and access parts. Regarding web APIs and everything, they have solutions to secure API accounts, ensuring access is provided only to required users based on access control.
Okta Platform does have PAM capabilities, and there they onboard non-human identities and manage and govern them. They definitely have some of the latest capabilities, such as OpenID and OIDC connections that you can utilize for your cloud workload and manage access to your cloud provider. They also have some fine-grained access available, enabling segregation of duties. These improvements bring operational efficiencies as well.
What needs improvement?
Okta Platform is quite mature, but I would like to see more integration. While they have a vast range of integrations out of the box available, if their PAM and IGA capabilities were more mature, then Okta Platform could be the single solution for everything, covering access management, privilege access management, and governance of identity. This would mean one would not need to take multiple products for specific identity needs in each area.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Okta Platform for seven to eight years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I find Okta Platform to be stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I believe Okta Platform is scalable. You can deploy it for 10,000 identities to 5 million identities. They have good elasticity and resiliency, so I find it quite scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Both the tech support team and customer service team are good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used OneLogin in my past with one of my employers, and we were using OneLogin for single sign-on, MFA, and passwordless journey.
The pros are that both Ping and Okta Platform have been in the market for a while, and they were among the first to provide single sign-on and MFA capabilities. They have become quite mature with multiple capabilities available, which is advantageous. They are enterprise-grade solutions and mature enough for any kind of organization to deploy. On the other hand, with OneLogin, there were some bugs I encountered, and I always needed to work with the product and R&D teams to get them fixed, so the product was not as mature or stable then. The pricing point for OneLogin is appealing, which draws customers in, but in terms of capabilities and features, both Ping and Okta Platform have a slight advantage.
How was the initial setup?
Okta Platform is much easier to deploy.
What about the implementation team?
I am using the SaaS deployment model.
What was our ROI?
Okta Platform has delivered ROI in two ways. First, it improves the security authentication and authorization processes across the organization, securing applications with single sign-on and MFA. Second, it helps cover compliance requirements, whether following SOCS compliance or any similar compliance. It assists in reducing user friction and the manual work of managing multiple applications independently while improving security.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I would not say Okta Platform is a cost-effective solution. It is an enterprise-grade solution, so it is comparatively on the higher side in terms of cost. It is not as cheap as you may find with other single sign-on products.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
The main key feature Okta Platform is currently working on and has launched recently is Agentic AI for securing those Agentic AI identities. That is the one I would highlight as compelling at this moment, given that everyone is talking about Agentic AI.
What other advice do I have?
My advice is to understand your requirements and decide your product based on that. Okta Platform could be good for enterprise customers because it serves multiple use cases and offers various capabilities, similar to Ping. If your requirement is very specific, then conduct an assessment and POC, identify your real use cases and future growth areas, and then make the investment to achieve real ROI.
Most likely, Agentic AI and healthcare are the two key industries. I would say everyone else as well, whether retail, pharmaceutical, or manufacturing. Everyone who wants to utilize single sign-on or multi-factor authentication tends to use either Okta Platform, Ping, or OneLogin, depending on the situation. I have not seen OneLogin in many customer environments. I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Centralized access has streamlined secure authentication and accelerated cloud integrations
What is our primary use case?
The main use cases for Okta Platform are authorization and authentication. From the SSO, I can understand if the person logging in is authorized to redirect to the correct URL. The second use case involves JWT token generation, which includes all the information about the user, such as SSO Gmail and other information about the permissions that person has. When I get that JWT from the code, I can access more user information and authenticate for other services using 3LO.
I haven't handled 2LO, which refers to service-to-service authentication. Okta Platform provides protection for non-human identities in our environment through 2LO, enabling services to call databases or APIs without human involvement, which allows M2M access. For instance, if an MCP gateway needs to access tools without human interaction, Okta Platform offers this option.
One example of how Okta Platform helps secure access to cloud infrastructure is through the AWS service called Bedrock Agent Core, where I can directly integrate with Okta Platform. AWS provides an option for this integration, allowing us to connect our API after authentication.
What is most valuable?
The best features of Okta Platform are fast authentication and smooth integration with AD groups. AD groups control the permissions people have in our enterprise through our in-house software called CIAM. This integration with Okta Platform is very smooth, the authentication is fast and reliable, and I can retrieve the JWT token, 3LO, and 2LO.
The benefit of using Okta Platform is that for authentication-related things, I don't have to consider build versus buy since this product is reliable for the majority of our applications, significantly reducing our time to develop authentication-related features.
I have seen an improvement in our cloud-based workloads since implementing Okta Platform, which provides faster connections than traditional applications. Previously, I used Redis cached and session-based systems, but through Okta Platform, I work with JWTs for a faster experience.
What needs improvement?
To improve Okta Platform, I think they should enhance the 2LO service-to-service aspect by integrating more features on the MCP side, allowing for authentication of containers running on the gateway. Instead of just client ID and secret, they could add a Vault-like storage for keys in integrated AWS services to smoothen the process.
The deployment experience with Okta Platform is generally smooth. They provide Okta Preview for non-production deployments, and I suggest they implement a green and blue rollback mechanism in production to avoid any delays for application teams during real deployments.
For how long have I used the solution?
As a developer, I have been using Okta Platform for around four months. As an employee doing SSO and all, it has been more than a year, so it is around one year as an employee and four to five months as a developer.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Okta Platform is stable, as I haven't faced any authentication issues in the year I have been using it. It works smoothly even with hundreds of applications and hasn't encountered production issues.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and technical support for Okta Platform at the enterprise level are good, as I primarily rely on consultants who manage these interactions effectively.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before choosing Okta Platform, I evaluated other solutions like AWS Cognito. The main advantages of Okta Platform are its JWT option, which is passwordless, and its good integration with Vault and Terraform, while Cognito lacks such features, leading to slower session-based processes.
From the start in our application, I have been using Okta Platform and still maintain some session-based systems in the cache layer.
How was the initial setup?
I was not involved in the initial setup of Okta Platform. After the setup was completed, I have been using it for over a year, so I cannot comment on any challenges faced during the initial setup.
What about the implementation team?
I employed consultants from other organizations to assist with the deployment of Okta Platform, which has been effective.
What was our ROI?
Financially, I cannot provide specific data points for the return on investment with Okta Platform. However, technically, managing these aspects myself would incur server costs for generating JWT tokens and reliability improvements through the OAuth mechanism provided by Okta Platform reduce my technical load.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
My company purchases Okta Platform through direct Okta, not through the AWS Marketplace. It is the Okta Platform Enterprise SaaS offering.
What other advice do I have?
My advice for companies considering Okta Platform is to make it more platform-agnostic. While Cognito is limited to AWS, Okta Platform's flexibility allows us to avoid being restricted to a single cloud provider. I would rate this review as a 9 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Everything in One Place for Quick, Easy Access
What do you like best about the product?
Everything is in one place, which makes the app system quick and easy. I can access all of our information in a single area without having to search around.
What do you dislike about the product?
I don’t have any downstream experience with this product yet. The main issue so far is how often we’re asked to log into the system just to access Okta.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Okta has been a great tool for our company and has been working very well. We haven’t had any issues so far, or any need to switch to another tool. It’s also easy to search for other apps and add them to our main page for quick access.
Okta Is Easy to Use Once Set Up
What do you like best about the product?
Okta is easy to use once it’s set up. However, the implementation process is difficult and can take some effort to get right.
What do you dislike about the product?
The implementation process took a long time and was confusing throughout.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It helped create a much more secure login experience for the company I was working for.
Intuitive UI, Easy Integrations, and Reliable Okta Uptime
What do you like best about the product?
The UI is very intuitive and you can find what you're looking for very quickly. Also the amount of out of box integrations with major software products makes it easy to setup and implement. There is very little downtime with in the Okta environment. And the support given for onboarding an after installation is great.
What do you dislike about the product?
When connected to an Active Directory for user and group integration, it doesn't automatically sync after changes are made. The sync has to be done manually every time you make change in Active Directory. A little irritating but not a deal breaker by any means.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Being able to have a secure way to log in to our enterprise apps and be able to utilize the same security for log in to our home grown in house designed apps. This is huge because it saves time and coding effort in implementing a login
Simplifies App Management with Robust Security
What do you like best about the product?
I like how Okta manages multiple apps at one place, saving me from remembering multiple passwords. Okta's passwordless future is great, allowing the use of multiple apps without the hassle of logging in and remembering different URLs. I appreciate that Okta manages security on its own and is highly secure. The performance and ease with which I don't have to manage security and performance are also things I value. The initial setup was easy too.
What do you dislike about the product?
While the basic APIs are excellent, the documentation for more niche or advanced edge cases can sometimes be sparse or outdated. Many essential security features like adaptive MFA or lifecycle management are sold as separate add-ons rather than being part of a unified core package. Compared to legacy heavyweights like SailPoint, Okta's governance feature can feel a bit 'light' and sometimes struggles with highly complex, multi-condition access certifications.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Okta is like a magic key for my computer. Instead of having to remember a hundred different passwords for all my apps, I only have to remember one. It saves me from getting frustrated when I forget a password. It also makes sure all my work tools are ready. It even makes everything run fast and smooth so I don't have to wait for my apps to load. Basically, it does all the hard "security work" in the background so I can just jump in and start having fun working.
Centralized authentication has simplified audits and strengthened compliance for finance workloads
What is our primary use case?
My previous company did purchase Okta Platform through the AWS Marketplace. When I was in Smarsh, they bought it from the AWS Marketplace and were using the Single Sign-On option with multi-factor authentication to ensure that whenever we tried to log into a system such as Bosch or Concur, the login happened via Okta Platform. Smarsh was primarily using Okta Platform via the AWS Marketplace, whereas in my current organization is not using Okta Platform from AWS services. We have purchased it directly from the vendor.
In our case, the main use cases for Okta Platform include a Central Identity Provider where multiple SaaS tools are utilized along with many internal apps we have. We configured a Single Sign-On option for everything, eliminating the need for users to remember different logins and information. This was something we configured in Smarsh, where a single login ensured that we were able to log in via Okta Platform only instead of doing individual logins for each screen. Every SSO login used one username and password for the SSO login, followed by an authentication layer. Based on the three-factor authentication combining username, password, and authentication, we were able to perform proper sign-in. This serves primarily for our multiple SaaS tools we have in our organization, as well as certain internal apps we are using.
In our architecture, Okta Platform helps secure access to cloud infrastructure, APIs, and containerized workloads. We have not integrated GenAI in Okta Platform right now, but we have integrated it for our AWS services, which has resulted in positive outcomes. After implementing proper user authentication, we can segregate user access effectively and also trace any malicious or bad actors in the company. Previously, we relied on common credentials for specific tasks, which resulted in downtime. Because of this, we introduced Okta Platform. We were using manual sign-ins with usernames, but when SSO was introduced, it made our lives easier.
We are a FinTech company, and Okta Platform helps us address compliance and regulatory requirements effectively. There are numerous statutory regulations we have to follow, especially when dealing with finance customers such as larger banks, who have specific requirements to fulfill. Okta Platform has significantly aided us in this area as we can track each user, monitoring what they do and even obtaining their geolocation. For banking and finance purposes, it has proven to be very beneficial. Although I am not involved in healthcare or any other domain, I work solely in FinTech.
What is most valuable?
The best features of Okta Platform include Single Sign-On, which we have utilized. Beyond that, multi-factor authentication has been beneficial. User Lifecycle Management is also a key feature where everything is managed via Okta Platform itself, allowing us multiple ways to set policies and automate provisioning. We can onboard both customers and employees to our internal organization through this.
Based on my use case, I was more involved in the team that managed Okta Platform for other teams. One problem we previously faced was multiple users coming to us with different forgot password issues, as we had an administrator sign-on for the forgot password situation. Before Okta Platform, all our logins were fragmented, leading to a lot of manual toil. After implementing Okta Platform with centralized authentication and policy enforcement on top of the existing sign-in approach, our workflow has become much easier. The best part is that manual toil has almost vanished.
Since implementing Okta Platform, we have noticed measurable security and operational improvements in our cloud-based workloads. The best part is it is very easy to integrate as it has a huge app catalog which streamlines the integration process. I have never encountered issues with failed sign-ins due to external factors. As for our security posture, with MFA enabled, we have significantly reduced the common credential problems we previously faced. Because of all this, we ensure our security positioning meets all compliance standards, and whatever protocols are necessary are followed. Overall, from a security standpoint, it provides a better approach. With its extensive app catalog, integration is seamless; you just purchase it from the vendor and incorporate it into your system.
What needs improvement?
For Okta Platform to improve, I would suggest enhancing debugging for SAML, as we have faced issues using OIDC or SAML without any user-side tools to identify what is happening. This has become a significant challenge, particularly with SAML logins in the context of AWS usage. If the debugging process is made easier, it would greatly improve our experience. I also find the initial policy setup complex, as it can be a nightmare given its intricacy. Although I do not handle it personally from start to finish, I recall those complicated days vividly.
For how long have I used the solution?
Okta Platform usage has been around four years in Smarsh and one and a half years at my current organization, totaling approximately five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have not experienced any downtimes or crashes. The only issue arises during SAML errors, which are tough to debug, but overall, I have not seen any downtime. When I check Okta Platform uptime, it seems to be above two nines.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Throughout my experience, I have never noticed any downtime. Reliability is paramount, especially since I work as a Site Reliability Engineer, so both reliability and availability factors are critical. Okta Platform scales efficiently, and I have consistently observed its performance as quite fast, but my experience is only with the cloud solution.
How are customer service and support?
I have not utilized customer service and technical support much. My experience shows that it should be satisfactory. We received helpful responses and resolutions for the few questions we directed to them.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before choosing Okta Platform, we evaluated Azure where we use Microsoft Intune to register our devices. This alternative is also relatively cheaper for us since it is bundled with Microsoft services and has provided better ROI, but we still use Okta Platform for its effectiveness. We have a partnership with Microsoft in our organization, and they also sell out product in their marketplace. Okta Platform's sign-in features are especially good, offering proper pop-ups when signing in and providing easier access compared to Azure currently.
Before choosing Okta Platform, we mostly used manual logins for everything at my previous service company. When I joined Smarsh, they utilized Okta Platform logins exclusively. We even used shared credentials because we were more of a startup. As the company grew, we adopted Okta Platform based on an architecture suggestion, and this was integrated into our system smoothly without issues. In my current organization, we are using Microsoft login instead of Azure, but both solutions function similarly. However, I find Okta Platform preferable for Mac users.
How was the initial setup?
My experience with the deployment of Okta Platform indicates it is very easy to integrate; however, the configuration of policies is quite complex. We had to troubleshoot SAML assertion issues during quite a bit of integration, which was painful. The token expiration and refresh process also require careful handling as we faced numerous token expiration notifications through Slack.
The initial setup process can feel overwhelming since while integrating Okta Platform is easy with the existing catalog, the complexity arises during policy configuration, which requires extensive research and adjustments. This is something that often feels problematic. Aside from that, the cloud solution integrates relatively smoothly; most challenges arise from policy settings.
What about the implementation team?
We did not use an integrator, reseller, or consultant for the integration process. Our internal team performed most integrations with minimal external assistance, relying primarily on the documentation provided after purchasing the solution. The documentation is straightforward and manageable, and we only needed to contact the support team a couple of times with questions. Overall, it was not a major issue.
What was our ROI?
If I want to quantify the return on investment with Okta Platform, I have certain metrics. It has reduced our login-related support tickets significantly, providing us with better visibility and reducing manual toil, which has almost been eliminated. Previously, we conducted numerous audits, but now the admin UI provides all necessary details about what, where, and how events occurred. Employee onboarding used to be a major pain point, but the automation Okta Platform provides for creating user accounts across various apps or SaaS tools has made our life much easier. Audit processes have also become simpler, especially in finance where compliance is critical. This is something most people experience with Okta Platform; it undoubtedly has a positive impact.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Okta Platform is expensive. At scale, Okta Platform is costly. There is no question about that. However, I feel it offers quality. While it is not entirely justified, it is somewhere between 70-80% justified in terms of pricing.
What other advice do I have?
Okta Platform is a good solution to discuss. When advising other companies considering Okta Platform, I recommend analyzing the cost first, as it is a critical metric. For organizations with a large user base, it is essential to explore and understand potential expenses associated with Okta Platform. The pricing can be quite high for large-scale usage, so expenses should be considered carefully before committing to Okta Platform. Services are generally good, and no product is flawless, so there will be notable strengths and weaknesses to consider, such as token and SAML troubleshooting issues. With our company's tuned MFA, we have alleviated many issues, but without it, problems can arise for several employees. Okta Platform is not deployed on-premise; everything is on the cloud. I would rate this review as an 8 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Automation Streamlines Onboarding and Simplifies Access Auditing
What do you like best about the product?
I appreciate being able to use the platform’s Automation features to streamline employee onboarding. I also like how the way the implementation is set up helps with access auditing.
What do you dislike about the product?
Having recently upgraded to the Okta Identity Engine, I cannot think of anything I actively dislike about the system.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
SSO via Okta is solving the problems of multiple credentials required for the multitude of tools, Saas solution and Applications our staff need to carry out their roles.
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