Identity as a Service: Single Sign-On to the Cloud (IDaaS SSO)

The KuppingerCole Leadership Compass for IDaaS SSO evaluates Identity-as-a-Service offerings focused on delivering Single Sign-On—primarily to cloud services, but also extending to partners, customers, mobile users, and selected on‑premise applications. Because “IDaaS” covers very different service scopes, the market is segmented into IDaaS SSO (cloud SSO-first), IDaaS B2E (cloud-delivered provisioning and access governance for employee-centric, on‑premise-heavy environments), and IDaaS Digital (customer/partner-centric digital transformation use cases, potentially including IoT and information sharing). Although convergence is expected mid-term, vendors will continue to specialize, from SMB-oriented cloud SSO to enterprise-grade hybrid services.

The assessment considers SaaS and managed-service delivery models, emphasizing customer-relevant elasticity and pay-per-use licensing. Required capabilities include outbound federation/SSO and cloud provisioning; scalable, flexible directory services; adaptive and standards-based authentication (including emerging standards like FIDO); access management policies with at least coarse-grained authorization; inbound federation and self-registration for external users; plus optional access request portals and support for on-premise applications and directories (especially Microsoft Active Directory). Vendors are rated across leadership dimensions (Product, Innovation, Market) and analyzed via correlated matrices that expose “overperformers” (strong market relative to product) and specialists with high innovation but limited reach.

Microsoft leads overall and in market strength, while Ping Identity stands out in product leadership. A cluster of strong overall leaders includes Centrify, IBM, Okta, Ping Identity, and others, with differentiation often tied to mobile management, hybrid/on‑premise integration, workflow/self-service depth, directory strategy, standards support, and governance/provisioning maturity. The report also highlights specialists such as JumpCloud (“directory as a service”) and regionally attractive EU-focused offerings like iWelcome and Trustelem.

• The IDaaS market is split into three segments: IDaaS SSO, IDaaS B2E, and IDaaS Digital.
• Pure-play SaaS is described as multi-tenant by design, while managed services are run independently per tenant.
• Evaluation inclusion prioritizes elasticity of service and a pay-per-use license model.
• Required IDaaS SSO capabilities include outbound federation/SSO, directory services, authentication support, access management policies, and inbound federation with self-registration.
• Microsoft is positioned slightly ahead of other vendors in Overall Leadership.
• Ping Identity is positioned slightly ahead of other vendors in Product Leadership.
• Centrify is positioned slightly ahead of other vendors in Innovation Leadership.
• Microsoft is described as the clear Market Leader, benefiting from Active Directory, Office 365, Azure, and a strong partner ecosystem.
• JumpCloud is characterized as a specialized “directory as a service” provider and placed in the Market Leadership “Follower” section.
• OneLogin’s security was not rated due to a recent incident, with a note to request an updated rating.

• “Mid-term, we expect to see some convergence.”
• “Pure-play SaaS solutions are multi-tenant by design.”
• “From that perspective, two aspects are of highest relevance – elasticity of the service and a pay-per-use license model.”
• “Directory Services… must provide massive scalability, enabling organizations to deal efficiently not only with their employees, but potentially with millions of customers.”
• “Relying just on existing on-premise directory services limits the flexibility and scalability of these services.”
• “Beyond just granting access, the ability for at least coarse-grained authorization management is a key capability for IDaaS SSO.”
• “A thorough selection includes a subsequent detailed analysis and a Proof of Concept pilot phase, based on the specific criteria of the customer.”
• “Vendors above the line are sort of ‘overperformers’ when comparing Market Leadership and Product Leadership.”
• “Innovation… focuses on a customer-oriented upgrade approach, ensuring compatibility with earlier versions especially at the API level.”
• “The significant number of vendors in the Product Leader segment shows a market segment that has matured over the past few years.”