SAN FRANCISCO — November 8, 2018 — Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA), the leading independent provider of identity for the enterprise, today announced that the company has been named a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: Zero Trust eXtended (ZTX) Ecosystem Providers, Q4 2018, a report published by Forrester Research, Inc. Okta was also top ranked in Strategy within the Strong Performers category. The research was authored by Dr. Chase Cunningham and published on November 8, 2018.
In the Forrester report, Okta earned the highest possible score in the evaluation criteria “people/workforce security,” “ZTX vision and strategy” and “market approach.” The report further describes Okta's solution:
“Okta is skilled at securing end users and their ability to access the network, which is a key factor for all Zero Trust strategies and organizations. The company has spent significant time and resources to enable easy security for end users and enterprises, and thanks to its exceptional growth and expansion, it has a strong install base that are ‘in love’ with the solution. End users noted the system’s easy rollout and manageability as well as the company’s focus on alignment with the broader strategic needs of organizations that are on a Zero Trust journey.”
In its research, Forrester describes identity as a core pillar of Zero Trust*, noting that “organizations increasingly view identity as one of the cornerstones of the Zero Trust security framework.”** In Forrester’s separate evaluation of the identity space, Forrester Wave™: Identity-As-A-Service, Q4 ‘17, Okta is named a Leader, and earns the highest ranking in both “current offering” and “strategy” in the report.
The rapid growth of applications and devices across the enterprise has eroded the traditional network perimeter, forcing organizations to reevaluate how they secure their extended enterprises. Organizations of all sizes are recognizing the importance of implementing a Zero Trust framework, ensuring that all users, devices and networks accessing corporate data are continuously evaluated against a set of policies to make contextual access decisions that define if access is legitimate. In this world, identity becomes the key control point for determining who can access corporate data, from where, and on what devices. By securing and protecting all identities across an organization — employees, contractors and partners — Okta is the foundation for a modern Zero Trust model.
“We believe Okta’s scores in Strategy and overall recognition as a Strong Performer in Forrester’s Zero Trust Wave further validates both the importance of identity in a Zero Trust framework as well as Okta’s continued investments in the space,” said Ryan Carlson, Chief Marketing Officer, Okta. “Our customers understand the critical importance of Zero Trust in the modern threat landscape. As an organization’s perimeter shifts from the network to people, an identity-driven security solution becomes the de facto platform for Zero Trust, and Okta is that solution.”
Earlier this year, Okta continued its investment in Zero Trust through the acquisition of Zero Trust pioneer, ScaleFT. In the new report, Forrester notes the significance of the move: “Okta also has invested heavily in growing its Zero Trust network and other ZTX capabilities by acquiring ScaleFT in the latter part of 2018.”
By incorporating ScaleFT’s Zero Trust platform into the Okta Identity Cloud, Okta will be able to further enable customers to easily authenticate users, devices, application and network information to grant secure access to data.
For a complimentary copy of The Forrester Wave™: Zero Trust eXtended (ZTX) Ecosystem Providers, Q4 2018, please visit Okta's website.
*The Forrester Tech Tide™: Identity And Access Management, Q4 2017, Forrester Research Inc., 5 February 2018.
**Forrester's Identity And Access Management Maturity Assessment, Forrester Research Inc., 23 August 2018
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