Market Leading Google Apps Reseller Standardizes on Okta for Cloud Identity Management
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, and ATLANTA, GA — September 20, 2011 — Today, Okta, the leading on-demand identity and access management service, and Cloud Sherpas, the world’s leading Google Apps™ cloud service provider, announced a new partnership with the goal of accelerating enterprise adoption of cloud computing. This partnership between Okta and Cloud Sherpas will help organizations of all sizes adopt Google Apps™ and streamline initial set-up and reduce IT expenses, as well as increase productivity for employees and administrators.
Cloud Sherpas is a preeminent reseller and solutions provider, simplifying the process of ‘going Google,’ and has helped more than one million end users from hundreds of companies migrate to Google Apps™ – the leading cloud email and collaboration platform for businesses from start-ups to large enterprises.
As companies move to Google Apps™ and other cloud-based applications separate from existing on-premise IT infrastructure, they face identity and access management challenges for both users and administrators. Okta is a simple and flexible solution that enables companies to securely manage all web-based applications, including Google Apps™, regardless of the authentication methods they support or whether they run inside or outside the corporate firewall. For end users, this means single sign-on for Google Apps™ and all other web-based applications they access, and for IT administrators, it means automated user management capabilities to efficiently and securely manage Google Apps™ accounts.
Okta and Cloud Sherpas have already worked together to bring cloud to a number of companies, including AMAG Pharmaceuticals, a Lexington, MA-based company using Okta to manage Google Apps™ and more than 20 other cloud-based applications.
"Cloud Sherpas was absolutely essential in helping us make the move to Google Apps. Plus, we run our business on over 20 cloud applications, so that’s where Okta comes in. It’s the combination of the migration services Cloud Sherpas provides and the Okta platform that holds it all together that has allowed us to see successful results," said Nathan McBride, executive director of IT, AMAG Pharmaceuticals. "We’ve cut our IT budget in half over the past three years. We attribute much of that to using cloud-based applications to run our business, and using Cloud Sherpas and Okta for adoption and management."
In addition to the reseller partnership, the companies also announced that Cloud Sherpas has selected Okta for internal use to secure and manage the company’s web-based applications. Cloud Sherpas now uses Okta to manage over 50 web-based applications across the entire company and has already seen initial benefits, including reduced administrative costs and significant increases in user productivity.
"As more companies make the move to cloud, central application and access management is absolutely critical. Okta is the glue that holds it all together. This partnership enables us to provide increased customer value," said Eran Gil, Founder and VP Business Development, Cloud Sherpas. "Okta offers an innovative, native cloud approach to give IT more control around user management and provisioning, as well as make it super simple for all employees across a company to get access to all applications, Google Apps included."
"Cloud Sherpas has deep real-world experience in dealing with IT and end user challenges associated with adopting Google Apps," said Roger Goulart, Vice President of Business Development & Strategic Accounts, Okta. "This partnership is largely driven by the joint successes we’ve already seen in the market. Many companies are already running their core IT services in the cloud, but there’s still work to be done. Working with Cloud Sherpas will help us to reach a broader audience and accelerate the next phase of growth for Okta."
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