Pro & Cons of Shibboleth Authentication for Office 365

[Cantor, Scott]

> Shibboleth may rely on AD as well, but in this case I see no reasons to use
> Shibboleth rather than ADFS, which gets better support (free for
> schools/universities), is easier to setup, and fully supports Lync clients which
> is currently are supported by Shibboleth.

If you qualify "better support" as "what Microsoft supports in the context of O365", then I can't disagree (and that's hardly surprising). If you're talking straight on product support for ADFS vs. Shibboleth, I'll take that bet any day of the week.

To the OP, I will say that fundamentally if you are more comfortable in Java and XML than with Microsoft's environment, you will find Shibboleth easier than ADFS (and it's much more flexible and open). If not, the opposite will be true.

I don't think the OP would be terribly happy using ADFS as the sole federation infrastructure in his/her environment. If all you need is O365, then I'm sure a better case could be made for it.

-- Scott