Authentication and Trust: Turning the Cloud inside out

Abstract

There is no doubt that enterprises of all sizes are moving more of their critical business applications into the cloud, relying on services such as SalesForce.com, Google Apps and Amazon Web Services to organise and protect their core business data.

It is also true to say that very few enterprises base their entire infrastructure in the cloud. There is almost always a part of the IT core which is managed and protected in house, leading to a hybrid approach to cloud computing.

In any given enterprise, the split between in house and in cloud infrastructure speaks volumes about that organisation’s perception of the cloud. Often, the single part of the enterprise IT infrastructure to be retained in house is the authentication and identity management system.

This paper puts forward the argument that authentication and identity management should in fact be the first element of an enterprise infrastructure to be moved into the cloud. Only then will the cloud model realise its full potential of zero footprint in house, finally setting organisations free to focus on their core business.