DEV Community

Canming Jiang
Canming Jiang

Posted on • Originally published at datawiza.com on

Unveiling the 6 Risks of Not Integrating Your Legacy Apps with Microsoft Entra ID SSO

In today’s technologically enhanced business landscape, enterprises employ a gamut of modern and legacy applications to power their operations. The onset of cloud technology has ushered organizations towards state-of-the-art applications. Yet, legacy applications, often the crown jewels of a company’s IT estate, hold a unique and critical value. These time-tested warriors – whether it’s a homegrown application, a CRM system or a ERP system offered by 3-rd party, – house copious amounts of valuable data and facilitate crucial business operations.

Yet, integrating these stalwarts with Single Sign-On (SSO) services like Microsoft Entra ID isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity that is all too often neglected. Opting out of Enterprise SSO integration for your legacy apps inadvertently exposes your organization to several significant risks. Let’s unveil the six major perils when your legacy apps sidestep connection with Microsoft Entra ID (formally Azure AD) SSO.

Risk 1: Increased Security Risks

A security risk often underestimated resides in legacy systems protected solely by traditional username and password methods. Regardless of these apps being accessed strictly within a corporate network or via VPN, they become easy targets for cyber-attacks. The fortification granted by SSO integration bolsters their security multifold, with advanced protection like Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and conditional access.

Risk 2: Compliance Issues

Navigating compliance, audit, and cyber insurance requirements without contemporary authentication methods like MFA and conditional access can lead to stifling roadblocks. Operating legacy apps without these safeguards and lacking a seamless process for user provisioning and deprovisioning can spark compliance complexities and undermine audit rigour.

Risk 3: Wasted Investment

Consider the expense of SSO, MFA, and conditional access based on per-user pricing models. Now, imagine not applying these top-tier features to your legacy apps – it’s equivalent to underutilizing valuable resources you’ve already invested in. Activate the full potential of your investment by reinforcing legacy apps with Entra ID SSO, optimizing every feature you’ve funded.

Risk 4: Increased IT Costs

Traditional authentication leads to substantial IT support needs, addressing user access issues, password resets and other administrative tasks. Without SSO, these costs escalate quickly, negatively affecting the overall operational efficiency. SSO adoption results in substantial cost savings by automating and simplifying these processes.

Risk 5: Difficulty in Access Management

The absence of an SSO integration turns user access management within each legacy application into a cumbersome task. SSO is not just about convenience – it’s about redeploying IT effort where it truly adds value to your organization.

Risk 6: Decreased Productivity

Juggling multiple login credentials often sees employees wasting valuable work time resetting forgotten passwords or locked accounts. With SSO adoption, employees can channel their efforts into their primary tasks, boosting organizational productivity.

Integrating legacy applications with Microsoft Entra ID SSO is not just modernization. It’s a strategic move with tangible benefits such as improved security, increased productivity, streamlined compliance, and optimized investments.

Don’t limit Microsoft Entra ID SSO to only your modern SaaS applications. Embrace it for your legacy applications, too, to chart a path towards a secure, streamlined, and financially astute future.

Reach Out to Us

Interested in learning more about how Datawiza helps integrating Microsoft Entra ID with your legacy applications? Get in touch with us or book a technical demo to gain firsthand insight.

The post Unveiling the 6 Risks of Not Integrating Your Legacy Apps with Microsoft Entra ID SSO appeared first on Datawiza.

Top comments (0)