Glitre Energi introduces single sign-on for everything

For Glitre Energi, the time when users had to use different login portals for various applications will soon be a thing of the past. Together with the consultancy firm Sicra, a pilot project has now been launched to provide the company’s employees with access to all applications – no matter where they are – with a single login. This is known as identity federation.

Among the first in the country to use Azure AD for seamless login

Zoran Milenkovic, advisor and consultant at Sicra, says the project is very exciting. Especially considering that Glitre Energi is among the first in the country to use Azure AD for seamless login of all types of sessions.

– Using Azure AD for seamless login of all types of sessions, including XenApp, is still uncommon. The system is set up so that Netscaler uses Microsoft’s authentication mechanism for secure login. The user receives a long-lived authentication token. What Glitre Energi is doing is pioneering work, he says.

One and the same login regardless of application

The solution now being implemented means that users will encounter the same user interface regardless of which application is being used.

– It should be noted that Glitre Energi has already significantly reduced the number of logins. As of today, the company has one login for Citrix and one for Office 365. Soon, there will be one login for everything, says Zoran Milenkovic.

Simpler and more secure

The technology now being introduced means that multi-factor authentication for Citrix applications is coordinated with Office 365 to give users one authentication regardless of which applications are being used. Kay-Åge Lian, senior IT consultant at Glitre Energi, says everything will be secure whether you are working from home or traveling.

– Single sign-on, or identity federation, gives our employees access to services in the Microsoft cloud and Citrix in one place, he says.

Passwordless

The solution is developed around federated identities that give the user the flexibility to log in once and then carry the established identity to all other available systems. This applies whether the systems run on Citrix XenApp, are internal web applications, or external SaaS services such as Office 365.

– An important part of the project is to introduce passwordless login for everything. As long as the user is in a ‘secure environment,’ login to all systems is automated. A solution that provides strong authentication through, for example, mobile app notifications, phone calls, or one-time passwords from text messages is used outside the local network, says Kay-Åge Lian.

Positive experiences with the pilot

Kay-Åge Lian concludes by pointing out that the experiences with the pilot have been uniformly positive. During the first half of the year, the solution will be rolled out to all employees.

– Now it’s about deployment, training, and information. We have been completely dependent on Sicra in this project, as they possess unique expertise in identity management in this context, he concludes.