Okta Customer Identity Cloud lets Philips Hue focus on R&D, not IAM

As one of the first companies to offer consumers “smart” lighting options, Philips Hue, a division of Signify, is unlocking the potential of home lighting. Their energy-efficient bulbs and fixtures let customers personalize the ambiance of their home, whether for entertaining or spending a quiet night with family.

Growth outpaced capacity to provide the best lighting experiences

As Philips Hue’s customer base grew and their customers added more and more Philips Hue products to their homes, the number of users per household multiplied, and device configurations and management became increasingly complex. 

This backend complexity made the user experience overly complicated: logging in and controlling multiple devices could be awkward. The company needed a solution that would minimize its customers’ “time to first light.” Their internal engineering team struggled to manage and scale their homegrown identity and access management (IAM) technologies to keep pace with the company’s rapid growth.

Philips Hue realized it needed single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) solutions that would make the user experience simple and secure. But building those solutions in house would divert their engineering resources from their own products. 

Deciding it would be easier to implement standardized solutions from a third-party vendor rather than rebuilding their homegrown system, they turned to Okta and its Customer Identity Cloud (CIC), powered by Auth0. 

“Okta’s SSO and MFA solutions are simple, trustworthy, and compliant with both U.S. and European Union laws and regulations,” notes Leon Bouwmeester, the product manager for IoT devices at Philips Hue. “We were also impressed by the speed of their product development and the responsiveness of their customer service team, with whom we’ve formed a lasting relationship.”

A huge migration, a new Identity solution, and a new user experience in record time

Okta created the prototype for Philips Hue’s new identity solution in just two weeks. It enables Philips Hue customers to control all their home lighting from a single app with a single set of login credentials, while also accommodating multiple-user households.

A lazy migration strategy was adopted for moving millions of Signify accounts into CIC. While this was one of the largest user migrations ever attempted in the IoT, Philips Hue users weren’t impacted, didn’t have to reset their passwords, and were automatically migrated the moment they logged in.  

To secure customer data, Philips Hue added Okta’s Enterprise MFA, which provides a multi-factor authentication option using SMS notifications. And to defend against attempts to steal passwords or break into password-protected accounts, Philips Hue chose Okta’s Attack Protection Package, which forces users to reset their password if a password breach is detected.

In addition to a smoother login experience, the new Customer Identity Cloud login provides four new benefits for users:

• Universal device management: CIC enables users to control all of the Philips Hue devices in their home — and even shop for and purchase new devices — through a single login. 

• Additional login options: Users can now log in using their Gmail or Apple ID accounts rather than a username and password if they choose. 

• User-by-user access privileges:  An administrator can assign different permissions to different users to make sensitive features, such as turning off motion sensors or viewing live security camera feeds, off-limits to other household members. 

• Control of third-party smart devices: Through this login, Philips Hue enables other systems like Google Home & Amazon Alexa to integrate Philips Hue devices into their systems. Users can also sync their Spotify accounts via a special integration with CIC.

“Okta makes it easier for our customers to use our products,” reports Kéké Dandois, R&D group lead for homes & users at Philips Hue. “With CIC, the complex aspects of IAM become frictionless for our customers, and we’re able to onboard new users faster and more easily, reducing their time to first light.”

A huge reduction in IAM maintenance leaves more time to innovate

Okta’s benefits for Philips Hue itself have been just as powerful: “Okta enabled us to reduce our IAM-related development and maintenance by 80%, freeing us to focus on new lighting and security offerings that truly differentiate our products, rather than reinventing the IAM wheel,” according to Bouwmeester. 

Although new Philips Hue customers are required to establish a login with their name, email, and password and then link the app to their lighting system, existing customers who had never logged in were not forced to do so. Nonetheless, 60% have already chosen to create a named account using CIC’s simplified account setup process to take advantage of the improved customer experience it provides, and better security to keep up with new regulations. This has greatly reduced the tangle of anonymous, guest, and ghost accounts on the backend, enabling Philips Hue to integrate new Identity and Access Management features four or five times faster than previously possible.

Okta’s best-in-class security and privacy controls have also reduced password breaches to 0.01% of logins. “With Okta, we know we’re providing the best technology for protecting our users’ personal data,” notes Dandois. “Leaving IAM to Okta gives us peace of mind.” 

Better data for data-driven product, sales, and marketing strategies

Okta is also helping Philips Hue gain an understanding of their customers in ways they couldn’t previously.

Having access to product data related to feature usage and user journeys means the company can assess users’ comfort level with its app. This, in turn, will help Philips Hue’s engineers improve user experience and inform product development decisions. Okta also provides accurate insights on the ratio of new to recurring users, user retention, churn rates, and user engagement; this will enable Philips Hue to fine-tune its marketing strategies and customer service provision. 

“The information we can obtain by using Okta is helping us develop new, data-driven business strategies,” says Bouwmeester. “With Okta, we can answer questions we couldn’t even ask before because we just didn’t have the data.”

A passwordless future and a long-lasting partnership

Philips Hue meets with Okta’s Customer First team monthly to understand new business challenges, refine strategies for overcoming them, and discuss Philips Hue’s plans for new products. While a Slack channel keeps communications between Okta and Philips Hue open 24/7. 

With the migration to CIC powered by Auth0 behind them, Philips Hue and Okta are planning for value-added services such as adaptive MFA and new password-based login options via email and SMS links. It’s also exploring passwordless logins using authentications apps, passkeys, and biometrics. Also under discussion is more granular access management controls for Philips Hue’s security-related products like security lighting, motion sensors, live camera feeds, and camera recordings.

“Customer Identity Cloud is the perfect solution for us,” Bouwmeester says. “It was the right fit for the right purpose. It helped us go from being device-oriented to being user-oriented, and freed us to do the kind of R&D and product development we’re best at.”

About Signify

Signify is the world leader in energy-efficient lighting for the Internet of Things. Its products provide superior light quality and make people’s lives safer and more comfortable, businesses more productive, and cities more livable. With 2023 sales of EUR 6.7 billion, 36,000+ employees, and a presence in over 70 countries, Signify unlocks the extraordinary potential of light for brighter lives and a better world.

Signify’s consumer Philips Hue division was among the first to offer affordable “smart” home lighting options managed from smartphones and with voice commands. Its mission is to make home lighting more enjoyable, personal, and inspiring, and create an ambiance of well-being, entertainment, and security.