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Single sign-on (SSO): make data safer and users happier

Recently updated on October 9th, 2023

It’s Saturday morning. Your work phone rings. It’s your CEO. She says that there has been a disturbing tipoff about a team member and they can no longer be trusted. Oh s##t. It’s a phone call that every manager dreads.

Once you establish that there is some substance behind the allegations, what do you do next? A call to your IT manager to shut down their access is probably high on your list. Disabling their email and PC login should be easy, but what about the other dozen systems they use every day? Each one has a different login that needs to be disabled, and some are not accessible by IT. It’s the weekend and the clock is ticking.

This is one of the many scenarios where SSO can help keep your customer data safe.

But first, what is SSO and SAML?

SSO allows you to securely manage your administrators’ access to Arlo by integrating with your company’s central directory and authentication solution. You’ve probably used your Google or Facebook login to access other online apps. These are examples of SSO. SAML is a common SSO format.

Why use SSO with Arlo?

Enhanced security control

As described above, organisations use an extensive library of software these days. And some of them, like Arlo, contain large amounts of personal and financial information about your customers. You’re duty-bound to keep this data safe. So when staff members come and go from your business, you need tight control who has access to these systems.

This is where SSO comes in. If a person leaves, SSO gives your IT team complete control of who can access what. If needed, they can instantly remove users from all software systems in just a couple of clicks.

SSO also enables other security measures, such as two-step authentication and requiring passwords to be changed regularly.

Reconcile data against a single identity

If you store customer data across multiple systems, reconciling it against a single identity can be tricky. For marketing data, email address is often used as the unique key for reconciling data – but it’s not foolproof. That’s why in some industries, such as higher education, financial services and professional bodies, a more robust identity management key is required.

University short course departments are a good example. They often use purpose-built training provider software like Arlo, which are more suited to running a short course programme than the university’s main student management system.

Having SSO enabled on their Arlo checkout means students login and register for courses using the same credentials they use for other university systems, such as a student portal or LMS. Because students identify themselves upfront, it’s easier for faculty administrators to then reconcile student data against a single, verified identity.

Easier for customers

Having a single login makes it easier for customers too. When registrants log in, the following info can be automatically populated into your checkout field – First name, last name, and email address, streamlining the registration process and preventing duplicates from being created in your CRM.

Note: If you don’t have any external SAML authentication systems for registrants, but still want to streamline the checkout process by allowing users to login, you should use the Arlo Customer Portal.

Easier for your team

Having to remember lots of passwords for different systems can be painful and time-consuming for your team too! With SSO, they don’t have to remember lots of passwords for different systems, they can use one password for all.

How to enable SSO in Arlo

If you would like to use SSO, either for your management platform or in the checkout, please contact Arlo Support.

There is a one-off configuration fee to set this up and we recommend testing SSO in a sandbox platform first to ensure it’s working correctly with your Identity Provider.

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