There is no denying that cloud computing is on the upswing and that the demand for public cloud services remains strong. As a result of this, the cloud computing market revenue is expected to witness a considerable rise in the near future. The segment has been led by startups which figured out that businesses needed help managing the increasing number of cloud apps that their employees are using. The new breed of cloud identity and access management services let end users log in once to access all their services, making it easy for IT professionals to give and revoke permission to access cloud services. The cloud computing market is already a crowded place, with both startups and already established vendors getting into the mix, so here are some emerging players to have your eye on in this rapidly changing market.
Next Big Names in Cloud Computing Market
OneLogin
According to analysts and businesspersons, OneLogin is at the top of the list when it comes to cloud identity management. It is no wonder then that this firm has just received a $13 million investment from Charles River Ventures and The Social+Capital Partnership. It boasts such renowned clients as Netflix, Pandora and AAA, and offers a free trial as an easy way for businesses to get started and try it out.
Okta
Another big shot is surely Okta, also having big investors and customers. There have been claims that it scored $27 million last month from Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners and Khosla Ventures. Its impressive client list includes the likes of LinkedIn,Groupon, and SAP. Enough said.
Ping Identity
Not to be outdone, this company grossed staggering $44 million worth of investment this summer. It reportedly has about 900 clients, among whom Cisco, Boeing, Comcast are undoubtedly the biggest names. What sets Ping apart from its startup competitors is the fact that it offersa single sign on for both cloud and on-premises apps.
Symplified
Those in the know claim that Symplified is ranked immediately behind OneLogin, Okta and Ping Identity. It was announced that the company would receive a $20 million investment from Ignition Partners, but that was back in January 2012. Notwithstanding the foregoing, its clients include HP, BlueShield and Qualcomm.
Salesforce Identity
Salesforcehas recently launched its Identity product for general availability, offering it for free to the existing Salesforce customers. As the service has a range of solid capabilities, it is highly unlikely that this company will go under, especially when we know who’s behind it.
Microsoft Azure Active Directory
Azure Active Directoryis already offering a basic single sign on service for cloud apps but plans to start delivering more amenities to its clients in the following months, plus it plans to offer the service free of charge. And as for Salesforce, its customers really shouldn’t worry too much about the future of the company.
Centrify
Centrify also offers the possibility of managing on-premises apps. Knowing that it also has services targeted to federal government clients, you really needn’t worry about security issues. Another thing that might appeal to the companies operating in strictly regulated fields as healthcare and finance are its auditing features.
Bitium
There’s an air of controversy about Bitium, as it is positioning itself as a single sign on provider for end users – not IT. This practically means that individual employees can sign up for it, and then do things like grant and revoke access to apps for other users. Bitium positions competitive offerings as giving IT the keys to what apps workers can use, at the expense of the user. That’s why IT departments won’t be too happy to learn about this company.
It is too early for analysts to release market share reports, so the positions of newcomers have yet to be determined. One thing is certain, though – as there are so many participants, it seems inevitable that some of them will go out of business, while others might get acquired by bigger IT vendors wanting to enter this field. In order to protect yourself in the event of dramatic changes, you should stick with standards based tools offered by your provider and carefully choose the directory you connect to. Most of the vendors connect to Active Directory, but they also let companies create new directories hosted by the provider. Make sure you can transfer that just to be on the safe side.
Olivia Still is a blogger, technivore, cloud computing enthusiast, and online marketing consultant for a number of Australian companies. Currently closely collaborating with Crucial VPS Hosting.
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