Open Source Identity: Building Your Own Enterprise Identity Platform

“It’s okay; we’ll build it ourselves.” When discussing identity, it sounds insane, but is it? At first glance, sure; however, after four years of implementing OAuth and OpenID Connect providers for customers big and small, I can confidently say that it’s not as crazy as it seems.

Over the past few years, there has been a growing number of software developers entering the identity space, both integrating client applications and even eschewing the major identity platforms and implementing the specifications for themselves. Surely some of them must be doing something right.

In this talk, I'm going to discuss why some companies are doing it themselves, the benefits they are receiving as a result, and clear up some common misconceptions of “doing it yourself”. We’ll even see just how easy it is for developers to create an OAuth and OpenID Connect conforming platform.

Key takeaways:

1. That there are now viable alternatives to the major identity platforms
2. That software developers are now getting majorly involved with identity
3. Thatspecializing creating a standards-compliant platform can be done with little to no knowledge of the underlying standards