SSO comparison request from executive management (IAM David Bantz)

[Mike Schwartz]

David,

Ping has 1,000 customers--and only a small handful of universities. 
Shibboleth is the most widely deployed SAML IDP on the planet. I think 
Shibboleth has more installations than Ping in the UK alone.

Ping does not support multi-party federation metadata, and privacy 
protecting features were a secondary consideration. So in addition to 
its lower adoption rate, it has less features that universities need.

SAML is stable. If you need OpenID Connect, there are many free open 
source alternatives (like the Gluu Server which integrates well with 
Shib). So buying expensive proprietary enterprise software should only 
be a last resort.

Open source software has been shown to have a lower defect rate than 
proprietary software. Here are just a few articles that show how moving 
from open source to proprietary software would be contrary to the 
current trend in both education, government and enterprise IT in 
general:

  Rise of Open Source
  http://www.gluu.co/rise-foss-platform

  Open source software gains traction in federal IT
  http://www.gluu.co/foss-govt

  Embrace Open Source:
  http://www.gluu.co/.1g7i3

  Open Source Golden Age:
  http://www.gluu.co/foss-golden-age

  Open Source Beats Proprietary Software
  http://www.gluu.co/.v3qh

  Open Source marches into Enterprise
  http://www.gluu.co/.vaf4

  Open Source in big companies
  http://www.gluu.co/enterprise-foss

Ping's $100M in VC funds gives them lots of budget to market. But it 
doesn't make them a profitable business. So long term, their business 
model is no more sure a thing than a strong community of dedicated 
individuals and instutions with a common goal.

If your managment wants to shell out 1/4 million for enterprise 
software, perhaps they should re-direct those funds to the Shibboleth 
Foundation--I think they'll see a better return.

thx,

Mike


-------------------------------------
Michael Schwartz
Gluu
Founder / CEO
mike at gluu.org