{"id":23873,"date":"2018-11-15T13:45:31","date_gmt":"2018-11-15T20:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/?page_id=23873"},"modified":"2022-10-06T19:07:12","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T23:07:12","slug":"business-case-open-directory","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/resources\/business-case-open-directory","title":{"rendered":"The Business Case for the Open Directory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


Over the last two decades, the leading directory service,\u00a0Microsoft\u00a0Active Directory<\/a> (MAD or AD), has focused on supporting on-prem, Windows\u00ae<\/sup>-centric environments. Even as the cloud matured, SaaS apps flooded the market, and Mac\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0and Linux\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0systems exploded in use, AD has been slow to adopt a more open, cloud-forward approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This lack of flexibility has come at a high price. The more different resources there are, the more difficult it is to control and secure them. In order to maintain efficiency and agility, many directors of IT have had to shell out more money for add-on identity management solutions<\/a> (e.g. SSO, MDM, identity bridges).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, a next-gen directory service has recently emerged that takes a more modern approach by integrating with virtually any IT resource regardless of protocol, platform, provider, and location. It\u2019s an open directory service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many IT organizations are intrigued by such an approach and are very interested in the business case for the open directory. To be clear, their interest is not in Apple\u00a0Open Directory<\/a>, which happens to go by the same name. Rather, the open directory that is outlined in this post is a directory service that is\u00a0flexible<\/a>\u00a0instead of homogeneous. This concept will be discussed in greater detail here shortly, as well why an\u00a0adaptive directory<\/a>\u00a0is a game changer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, though, let\u2019s take a step back and look at how changes in the IT landscape have led to the predicament many IT admins find themselves in today.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Apple<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Active Directory and the IT Landscape<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Directory services<\/a>, as most know them today, got their \u201ctrue\u201d start in a broad commercial sense in 1999 when Microsoft released Active Directory. AD was built to help IT admins simplify identity management for their 100% Microsoft environments, which were the norm for most at the time. With AD at their side, IT admins could easily manage user access to networks, systems, applications, and file storage. However, Microsoft wasn\u2019t alone in producing a technological wonder that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that same year, Salesforce\u00ae<\/sup> emerged\u2014one of the early applications based on the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. Soon after, many more web-based applications followed in Salesforce\u2019s footsteps. The thing is, Active Directory wasn\u2019t built to manage this type of resource. So, IT admins found themselves managing users in Active Directory, and then also managing identities in each individual application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately in 2001, single sign-on (SSO) providers<\/a> emerged to help by federating AD identities to web-based applications. It was progress, but IT admins still found themselves needing to manage user access in multiple solutions. Of course, the problem only compounded as the decade unfolded. AWS\u00ae<\/sup> surfaced in 2006 and eliminated on-prem data centers. The iPhone\u00ae<\/sup>  emerged in 2007, creating with it a newfound appreciation for Mac systems. Then, as the years went on, RADIUS grew in importance as remote work became increasingly popular. With each change in the IT landscape, AD experienced a new point of inadequacy and needed assistance from third-party providers
Today, IT admins are managing a host of software solutions that include:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n