SAN FRANCISCO — August 29, 2017 — Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA), the leading independent provider of identity for the enterprise, today introduced expanded APIs, new developer product capabilities and a new Developer Edition for both customer and employee identity, making Okta the leading identity resource for anyone building software today and increasing the company’s presence in the customer identity space.
“Millions of new applications are built every year. Identity components like authentication and user management are required for every single one of these experiences – be it a web app like MGM Resorts International’s MLife website, a new SaaS product like the Adobe Creative Cloud, or a hot new consumer app like Heal,” said Todd McKinnon, Okta CEO and co-founder. “Now the Okta Identity Cloud offers developers and business leaders alike the tools they need to add secure, engaging and personalized customer experiences to whatever they’re building. So whether you’re innovating inside a giant retailer or a first-time entrepreneur creating the next AI bot, you can easily build enterprise-grade identity into your experience – and ultimately bring your ideas to market faster.”
Build Anything with Frictionless and Secure User Authentication
Okta joined forces with Stormpath in March 2017 to accelerate developers’ ability to build identity into their software. Now Okta’s expanded customer identity solution offers new functionality to help developers easily embed a secure identity layer into any solution. These new features include:
- Easy and Secure Authentication: Developers can easily add Okta’s identity-driven security functionality to their own applications. Developers already use Okta to authenticate users in their custom applications with a variety of methods like passwords, OTP push and biometrics. Now, Okta is expanding those capabilities to help organizations increase security even for users who do not have mobile devices or physical tokens with support for email as a second factor of authentication. Developers can now also add compromised password detection functionality to prevent users from using commonly used passwords and passwords that were involved in previous breaches. And, with Okta’s new IP blacklisting, teams can add specific IPs or ranges to a blacklist that blocks login attempts.
- Rapid Customization and Branding: Developers can ensure that every touchpoint is on brand with support for hosted and customizable registration and login pages. Additionally, with custom URLs and email domains, developers can ensure users know and trust links, sites and the source of system email notifications. For applications that will send authentication messages to users via SMS, Okta now supports developers to integrate their own SMS provider like Twilio – allowing the developer to control the phone number used in the message and determine rates directly with the vendor.
- Out-of-the-Box Workflows: Instead of custom building, developers can use Okta’s newly extended, deeper pre-built workflows in their applications. With Okta’s new self registration-as-a-service workflow, developers can now also quickly and easily set up a secure registration flow for their application’s users. Okta has also extended API support for common developer workflows, including email verification and password reset, making it easier for developers to customize and embed in their existing business logic.
- Accelerating Businesses’ API Strategy: Since launching API Access Management in August 2016 to secure in-house built modern applications with an API backend, organizations like Pitney Bowes, Nasdaq and Experian have relied on API Access Management as a critical part of their in-house app infrastructure. Initially Okta secured the APIs organizations expose to their own developers who were building mobile and JavaScript single page applications. Now Okta is expanding these capabilities to also secure the APIs exposed to third party developers – customers and partners – allowing them to build their own applications, connecting the new app, core business and the users they have in common.
“Dignity Health is creating personalized digital experiences to transform care delivery for both patient and provider,” said Dr. Shez Partovi, Chief Digital Officer and SVP of Digital Transformation at Dignity Health. “Okta has been a great technology partner and is at the center of our digital strategy, ensuring that we provide our physicians, patients and consumers with a secure and seamless experience. It not only protects and simplifies access to data, but also enables us to build better engagement to our broader network of doctors. Ultimately, these digital efforts are helping us deliver better access, to more patients, than ever before.”
An Experience Developers Love, Enterprises Trust
Okta’s new Developer Edition makes building and securing a modern application simple. With immediate support for modern authentication protocols and practices, developers can now use Okta to build applications faster while reducing both development costs and security risk.
Okta Developer Edition’s simple dashboard allows developers to quickly find resources and build apps with modern authentication without being a security expert. Okta provides step-by-step documentation, allowing a developer to build a proof-of-concept in five minutes or less. Okta Developer Edition includes expanded SDK support with broad language support, including JavaScript, Java, .NET, PHP and Python further minimizing the amount of custom code and time a developer needs to build a secure application. Additionally, with Okta’s new self-service pricing, developers can try out limited versions of Okta’s SDKs and APIs at low cost – allowing them to quickly and easily test and purchase what they need from the Okta Identity Cloud to build their application. Organizations such as Heal, an app for on-demand doctor house calls, have already benefited from Okta’s recent investments to its developer experience.
“Heal’s mission is to make it easy and affordable to see a great doctor on any schedule. To make that happen, we needed to build an application that seamlessly connected multiple APIs, providing a delightful front-end user experience to match our powerful backend technology,” said Rish Tandon, CTO of Heal. “By adding Okta as our identity layer, we’ve been able to securely connect our users with high-quality doctors on-demand or on a user’s schedule, wherever is convenient for them – helping people get healthcare when they need it.”
For larger organizations, Okta has also invested heavily in its partner ecosystem, with demonstrated compatibility with API management partners Apigee and MuleSoft, and close connections with leading system integrators (SIs) Accenture and Deloitte to provide organizations with the resources and support to help with any app or service the company builds.
For more information on how to build with the Okta Identity Cloud, visit developer.okta.com.
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