More than SSO: Five SaaS features you need to win enterprise customers

There comes a time in every SaaS company's journey when they’re ready to move upmarket and start landing enterprise logos. While your app might be a winner with small business customers, scaling it to enterprise customers might cause some heartache. It’s not just about beefing up your features; it’s about creating an enterprise-grade solution to meet the unique needs of each enterprise customer. 

Forget slapping "enterprise edition" onto your offering like a shiny coat of paint. True enterprise readiness means creating a solution that’s capable of handling complicated identity workflows, stringent security demands, and changing user landscapes. At the heart of enterprise readiness lies Identity. Here are five Identity features your SaaS app needs to move upmarket:

1. Multi-tenancy:

Multi-tenancy lets multiple business customers use your app simultaneously, each in their own secure, isolated space. No data peeking, no accidental cross-contamination — table stakes for your enterprise customers. But wait, there’s more! Your enterprise customers will also want the ability to manage their own tenants via delegated administration. 

2. Directory sync: 

Using the SCIM protocol for directory sync enables the automation of provisioning and de-provisioning, ensuring consistent and up-to-date user identities across applications. It enables faster and more efficient onboarding of users to your applications, providing a seamless and secure user experience from the start. It's a win-win: smoother onboarding for users, less hassle for IT, and happier developers all around. 

3. Authorization: 

Broken access control is the No. 1 most common web application security risk, so you’re going to need an authorization solution that’s flexible enough to grow with your business and secure enough for even the most stringent security standards. It’s up to you to determine the authorization method that works best for you, whether that’s ReBAC, ABAC, or something else. But you’ll want authorization that’s centralized so you have full visibility into authorization models and flexible enough to allow for granular access control. 

4. Advanced security and compliance:

Top-notch security and compliance are non-negotiables when you’re aiming to move upmarket. Think encryption, multi-factor authentication, SOC2 compliance — the whole security arsenal. You’ll need observability tools that allow you to see potential attack trends and quickly respond to them in real time and the ability to tailor security policies for each of your enterprise customers. Remember: In the enterprise, trust is earned, not assumed. 

5. Enterprise SSO:

But here's the real secret: These features are the tip of the iceberg. To truly win over enterprise customers, you need an Identity that's flexible, extensible, and built to cater to each customer’s unique needs. Think integrations with legacy systems, custom data attributes, and last-mile customization to meet specific workflow demands. 

Fortunately, you don’t need to ask your developers to start building all of these features. Check out our enterprise-grade Identity whitepaper to learn how Okta can help you deliver enterprise-grade identity so your developers can focus on what they do best —building best-in-class products. 

These materials and any recommendations within are not legal, privacy, security, compliance, or business advice. These materials are intended for general informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current security, privacy, and legal developments nor all relevant issues. You are responsible for obtaining legal, security, privacy, compliance, or business advice from your own lawyer or other professional advisor and should not rely on the recommendations herein. Okta is not liable to you for any loss or damages that may result from your implementation of any recommendations in these materials. Okta makes no representations, warranties, or other assurances regarding the content of these materials.  Information regarding Okta's contractual assurances to its customers can be found at okta.com/agreements.