In May 2018, VMware and Okta launched a partnership at Okta’s Oktane to bring together Okta’s best-in-class Identity Management solution with VMware’s best-in-class Unified Endpoint Management solution to help accelerate the digital workspace journey. At every milestone event since, VMware and Okta have demonstrated commitment to the ongoing relationship with the announcement of either new beta availability of features or general availability. And VMworld San Francisco 2019 was no different.
So let’s do a quick recap: there has always been a long term plan to the joint integration that would span both the user experience and IT experience.
The first set of integrations between VMware and Okta targeted mobile SSO and device trust across all platforms. This was to bring together the unique view into the device compliance status from Workspace ONE and combine that with the extensive SSO integrations from Okta to deliver improved security along with a best-in-class user and administrative experience.
Second was to integrate the application catalog experience. The applications from the Okta Integration Network can be added to Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub creating a single point of application access for all applications and all platforms. In addition, the self-service password experience was carried over from Okta into Workspace ONE to eliminate a duplicate experience.
Third, was a focus on the administrative experience and removing any further duplications such as mobile SSO and device trust policies. Now, users and entitlements are centralized in Okta (for joint customers, of course) policies, and actions are also centralized in Okta.
On to number four and the new announcement at VMworld San Francisco 2019—Workspace ONE Okta Universal Directory Integration.
One of the most requested VMware and Okta integrations has been between Workspace ONE Access (formerly VMware Identity Manager) and Okta Universal Directory. Universal Directory (UD) can act as a source of identity or as an aggregator for external directory sources including HR systems.
This new integration enables organizations to enable access for users who may not be managed through Active Directory—we hear this requirement particularly for seasonal and contract workers and also from some organizations moving away from Active Directory.
Once a user has been added to UD or has been entitled from the HR system, for the first time these users, without requiring an Active Directory record, can now receive all the benefits of the Digital Workspace: a simple consistent interface across all of their devices, available from anywhere secured through VMware Zero Trust, with all of the apps and content they need to be productive from web apps to mobile apps and virtual environments.
UD and Workspace ONE Access communicate through SCIM integration, and the user information is passed to Workspace ONE UEM though the UEM API.
And the fifth is… coming at VMworld Europe 2019! So make to check back in with us! And don’t miss what Okta has to say about the integration.
You can find more information about Workspace ONE and Okta integration at VMware.com and Okta.com
