The All New Okta Access Gateway: Managing Access to Hybrid IT Just Got Easier

You’ve always known Okta for managing access to cloud applications, and over time, we extended our coverage to on-premises applications with protocol support and network integration partners. You’ve asked us for complete cloud to ground coverage and today, we’re excited to completely embrace the hybrid enterprise with the launch of Okta Access Gateway. The new technology, already in use with a number of Okta customers, will help you modernize web access management and gives you a path to the cloud without being pegged to legacy identity stacks.

While the future is heavily cloud-focused, many large organizations are still operating hybrid environments, with mission-critical applications residing both on-premises and across multi-cloud environments. According to Okta’s Digital Enterprise Report--a survey of 1,050 technology decision makers at organizations with $1 billion in revenue or greater--revealed that a majority of large companies plan to still have at least one third of their applications running on-premises, even while they increase their cloud app count.

What makes identity and access management difficult in a hybrid environment? It has everything to do with the architecture of the applications. The Okta Identity Cloud drives simplicity, security, and ease of use for accessing and provisioning thousands of cloud apps thanks to standardization on protocols like SAML and SCIM. However for many custom-built on-premises apps and Oracle, IBM, and SAP apps, cloud-based identity and access management can be a challenge for technology that was never meant to move beyond the perimeter. For any large business, having to manage these apps separately or through custom-built workarounds presents an IT logistical nightmare, while also potentially creating security issues.

Centralizing Secure Access in a Hybrid World

Okta Access Gateway solves the hybrid IT access problem for enterprises, connecting on-premises applications from legacy vendors along with custom-built, on-premises applications to the Okta Identity Cloud. Using a flexible deployment model that gives enterprises the choice between deploying a proxy on-premises or through multiple IaaS vendors including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure, Okta Access Gateway delivers a simple solution to modern, hybrid identity and access management. Through the Okta Identity Cloud, enterprises can manage and secure access to their applications from a single, independent source without any vendor constraints or lock-in, leveraging Okta technology relied on by 6,100 Okta customers.

Okta Access Gateway continues Okta’s vision of enabling any organization to use any technology, regardless of where that technology sits. Many Okta customers are currently using the technology behind Okta Access Gateway, and we expect it to be available to everyone later this year.