Last updated: 21 March 2014
Our latest innovation, CloudEntr (a web-based single-sign-on solution), is finally coming to life, and I am very excited to see the materialization of an effort started last year. I strongly believe CloudEntr provides an opportunity for Gemalto to positively impact the digital life of our end-users and make online security available to more organizations.
The decision to launch CloudEntr came out of strategic efforts to transform our Identity & Access portfolio. We have been providing personal portable security devices (smart cards, tokens) and authentication platforms to commercial and public organizations worldwide with great success (our leadership position in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for User Authentication can testify to that), but we knew we could do more to help our customers manage employee identities and access rights beyond authentication. CloudEntr allows our enterprise customers to secure access to the web-based business applications that their employees are trying to use, with a focus on clear end-user benefits and convenience in order to facilitate user adoption.
In the last few years two major trends have fundamentally transformed the IT landscape: Businesses are running applications in the cloud instead of installing software on-site; and the mobile device revolution means employees are bringing their own devices to work and conducting business on them. Both of these trends have taken IT out of the loop that they once controlled so tightly. Traditional perimeter-based models of IT security are no longer adequate because so many apps and devices are running outside of the traditional IT perimeter. Employees are now frequently conducting business beyond the safety of IT security solutions by loading their own apps or using their own devices. In addition to security risks, this creates control issues that impact audit and compliance capabilities.
Identity has become the new security perimeter. Because our interconnected world no longer has clear boundaries, security in the coming years won’t be about building fences; it will be about removing fences and protecting identities. In other words, we’ll be pushing the security perimeter all the way to the digital identities representing individuals. CloudEntr was built with this new model in mind by securing identities at each web-based juncture. Designed for the cloud and mobility, it’s a true cross-platform solution, delivered from the cloud for the cloud.
We chose a cloud-based, SaaS delivery model for CloudEntr so that we can better serve and reach our customers, including small and medium-sized businesses. Given the complexity and cost of deploying a comprehensive IAM solution, many small and medium-sized businesses have been left without strong Identity & Access Management solutions. Many are still relying on rudimentary systems with limited capability. We are proud to bring an affordable, easy solution to organizations that previously found it too difficult to tackle cloud security.
I hope you will have the opportunity to try CloudEntr yourself and provide personal feedback. We’d love to hear from you.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNgN_A7WLjM?rel=0]
