Centralized identity has streamlined zero trust access and automated user lifecycles
What is our primary use case?
We had a bunch of Active Directory servers, Windows Active Directory servers on-premises. We did an Okta Platform agent installation on those servers to synchronize the identities from Active Directory to Okta Platform. We then leveraged that integration and configured it as an Identity and Access Management and SSO solution.
I used Okta Platform as Identity and Access Management, which served as the source of truth for every single application entitlement and role-based access. Role-based access was a particularly important feature. Multi-Factor Authentication was essential, and I am using and consuming a lot of those even today for a couple of applications, though I am not managing that particular Okta Platform instance as it is managed by a third party. Identity and Access Management, Multi-Factor Authentication, role-based access, and SSO were all critical components, serving as the source of truth for the entire application footprint. I also used Okta Platform for Zero Trust Network Access on the consumer side, which was a Palo Alto engine that I integrated with Okta Platform.
Okta Platform is a SaaS service, not something which you have to host yourself on-premises. Of course, you need agents to synchronize if you are already moving from a traditional on-premises identity-based architecture. Okta Platform is SaaS-based. While there are competitors such as Ping Identity, which used to be a great one but has since been acquired, and Microsoft Entra, which does all of it as well, Okta Platform has a lot of advantages. Okta Platform has very rich integration capabilities with a lot of other vendors, including deep integration capabilities with Zscaler, CrowdStrike, most of the ZTNA vendors, and CASB vendors. The number of applications that you can natively integrate with it out of the box is quite huge. Another advantage is the risk-based authentication capability, where Okta Platform gives you the capability to have step-up authentication based upon superhuman activity or unusual login detections. MFA is fairly seamless, and while it is not something that Okta Platform is doing alone as others are doing it as well, Okta Platform is stable with no issues with downtime or maintenance. I never had any challenges with that. The rich integrations are a significant advantage.
What is most valuable?
Context-awareness is more about not just the username or service principals, but also depends upon where and how that particular user is accessing things from. If a particular user changes the endpoint from which they are trying to log in or changes location quite abruptly within a span of few minutes, which is superhuman activity, then that additional context gets captured. You get a true risk-based authentication wherein you have to satisfy more authentication parameters or factors before you can actually get access to the resource.
At the same time, you can also do a lot of conditional access things where if there is a certain level of risk associated with that particular authenticated session, then you can actually restrict the level of access that that particular user can have so that you do not penalize the user just because some session is potentially risky. You can let the user have the ability to do at least the basic work or remediate things. Okta Platform is a full-blown Identity and Access Management solution, so it does send out attributes which can be passed from the identity to the service principle, which is your application. Depending upon that, you can let the application know that this particular user, because it is risky, is not going to be able to access the usual things, but maybe restrict the access. This is completely based upon the context of that particular user's authentication session.
What needs improvement?
Okta Platform does what it promises that it does. It is certainly all cloud-based as a SaaS solution. For enterprises which really prefer to have their own identity within their own perimeter, Okta Platform might not be the solution they might look for. Of course, there are ways you can get your dedicated tenant, especially for governments and federal agencies and all of those things. I have not tried those use cases. I think Okta Platform is the best of the class and appears consistently at the top of the Gartner report and other research.
Based on the use cases I had, I was fairly happy with it. The PAM capabilities and attribute-based access controls, ABAC, represent a new paradigm. How practical that is for enterprises to deploy largely depends upon the use cases. There is always room for improvement, and it is not just for Okta Platform but typically for every single customer identity provider. There are a lot of other things the biometric and FIDO and all of those which can certainly be improved. However, that is more of a technological constraint rather than the vendor itself.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have experience working on Okta Platform Identity and Access Management and Secure Server Access. The earliest I remember was back in 2019.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Okta Platform is stable with no issues with downtime or maintenance. I never had any challenges with stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is handled because Okta Platform is a SaaS solution, so it is infinitely scalable. I have account managers that get assigned to the account who make sure that the underlying infrastructure is there to support the need for a lot of user identities that will be getting deployed. I never had any outages. I would rate it like eight or nine.
How are customer service and support?
Support is great. You get in-line support by just logging into it. I never faced a lot of challenges. There were one or two instances where the MFA was a bit slow, but they took care of it very quickly.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
The earliest I remember was back in 2019 when I first worked on Okta Platform doing integrations with Zscaler Private Access and Zscaler Internet Access. We had a bunch of Active Directory servers, Windows Active Directory servers on-premises, and we did an Okta Platform agent installation on those servers to synchronize the identities from Active Directory to Okta Platform. I then leveraged that integration and configured it as an Identity and Access Management and SSO solution.
Right now I am not using Okta Platform. I am currently using Entra ID, but I was a customer of Okta Platform until six or seven months ago.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is really straightforward. You get a tenant and you get in-line help. The documentation is very feature-rich. It is really straightforward. It takes time depending upon the number of identity providers that you need to integrate with, especially if you are doing a brownfield deployment. For a greenfield deployment, you just get a tenant assigned and start configuring it. It does not take a lot of time.
What about the implementation team?
I have not been asked about implementation teams. I am not even sure if that is a standard practice because Okta Platform sits in its own tenant and I do not think there is anything there.
What was our ROI?
The reason why I purchased Okta Platform was primarily to centralize Identity and Access Management because it was all scattered. From the identity and access governance standpoint, it made sense to not rely on scattered identity providers but to actually have a single centralized IDP. The ROI comes not from Okta Platform itself, of course, the platform enables it, but the thought process that goes into having all of the identities stored in one single tool, which eases a lot of your entitlements. You do not have to go into different places and give people entitlements. The identity and access governance timeline shortens drastically. Okta Platform has its own IAG as well, which is in-built. If you are a small or mid-sized company, you do not need to have a dedicated IAG and all of those things. Okta Platform can work alone. You can eliminate a lot of inconsistencies and sprawls with your existing tool stack if you move into this. Of course, it is true for Entra ID as well, but with Okta Platform, I think it is one solution that can take care of most of your identity and access related needs.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You get a real value for your money. Whatever amount you spend, you get a bang for it. Okta Platform is decently priced. It is certainly not cheap, but the features that you get, the functionality that you get, and whatever use cases that you have, it definitely satisfies those. There are no hidden things there. Once you have deployed it, they do not ask you for buying other things for integration or just to take care of your use cases. I think they are selling whatever is worth it if you are putting it in.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
The primary competitors I would think are Azure Entra ID. Azure Entra ID is one of the closest competitors. Both cater to different use cases. Based upon the use cases that I had, there were not a lot where one could do and the other could not. Both are in the same realm.
What other advice do I have?
Based on the use cases I had, I was fairly happy with it. The IAG, Identity and Access Governance, is one of the best features. You can use that for taking care of a lot of your entitlements. If there are people who are getting onboarded, such as bulk users getting onboarded which is true for most of the IT services industries where there are hundreds of people joining every week, and people getting offboarded, those automated lifecycle policies automate the entire thing. It not just removes or suspends your identities, but it also conveys it to the downstream applications. It is one of the best things that they introduced a couple of years ago. I would give Okta Platform an overall rating of nine out of ten.
Okta Makes Authentication and Login Management Seamless
What do you like best about the product?
We use Okta for authentication and login management.
What do you dislike about the product?
The initial setup is difficult, and we need to go through the documentation to get it working properly.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We have a large user base, and based on authentication, users are able to log in. We use this for security purposes.
Secure access has improved productivity and reduced help desk tickets for my security team
What is our primary use case?
My job title at FNTS is Senior Security Analyst.
I have been using Okta Platform for three years.
My main use case for Okta Platform is multifactor authentication.
For multifactor authentication in my organization, to log into specific sites, we need Okta Platform as a multifactor authentication to get in.
The process has made logging in easier and more secure for me and my team.
What is most valuable?
The best features Okta Platform offers are easy SSO, strong security, and improved productivity.
Out of easy SSO, strong security, and improved productivity, the single sign-on has had the biggest impact for my team because it protects effectively and signs on without problems.
Okta Platform has positively impacted my organization with easy single sign-on, as we need single sign-on multifactor authentication for various things and Okta Platform is very secure.
I have definitely noticed specific outcomes such as fewer help desk tickets, as it is very straightforward, streamlined, and easy to use.
What needs improvement?
I think the setup in the beginning can be a bit of a learning curve.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working in my current field for seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Okta Platform's scalability is good.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support is good.
I would rate the customer support on a scale of 1 to 10 as a nine.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used Duo and switched because we thought Okta Platform had better features.
How was the initial setup?
I think the setup cost was pretty good, but the pricing is moderate.
What about the implementation team?
I am not sure about Okta Integration Network's capability to enable faster deployments, as I have not used it in that capacity and I have not deployed it.
I would assess the role of Universal Directory as a single source of truth for user identities in my organization as it works effectively.
I cannot describe the impact of automated lifecycle management on onboarding and offboarding processes in terms of efficiency.
I have not had any experience with Okta Platform's integrated Privileged Access Management, PAM capabilities, so I cannot compare them to using separate tools.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment, as there have been fewer employees needed for multifactor technical responses, and the number of people to assist with tickets has gone down since Okta Platform is a really easy system to use.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I think the setup cost was pretty good, but the pricing is moderate.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Okta Platform, we evaluated other options, including Microsoft.
What other advice do I have?
I would advise others looking into using Okta Platform to look very carefully at the pricing and move forward.
My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
I find this interview satisfactory and do not think anything needs to change for the future.
I would rate this review an overall eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Robust Security, Seamless Integration
What do you like best about the product?
I like how easy it is to integrate Okta with applications like Active Directory. The strong multi-factor authentication options significantly improve security without impacting user experience, which makes access management both secure and practical. Application integrations save a lot of time compared to manual configurations, and Okta's strong security features and reliability are reasons for my high recommendation.
What do you dislike about the product?
Initial setup can be a bit complex, especially for advanced policies, and pricing becomes expensive when multiple features or add-ons are required. Reporting and log customization could also be improved.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use Okta for single sign-on and multi-factor authentication, centralizing user access, enhancing security, and reducing login management effort across applications.
Cloud identity platform has simplified integrations and optimized lifecycle and access governance
What is our primary use case?
As an integrator, I work with Okta Platform.
Okta Platform can be used for IAM and IGA; it is a cloud-based solution for Identity and Access Management, as well as Identity Governance and Access.
As an integrator, I find Okta Platform user-friendly with a good number of connectors, making it easy to integrate with applications, and it is easy for SSO implementation and MFA implementation.
Lifecycle Management is configurable in Okta Platform; you can configure the joiners, movers, and leavers process with this product.
What is most valuable?
Okta Platform is a cloud-based platform, so you do not have to take care of installations as you would with on-premises solutions for SailPoint or Oracle Identity Management, which is a big difference.
Based on requirements, context-aware policies of Adaptive MFA are configurable, which is a plus point, as you can configure it based on certain requirements, such as adaptive authentication based on behavioral patterns and logging in from one place to another.
It is time-saving, which is definitely linked with money; a lesser number of users are required to do the manual work, so it has that impact on money as well.
What needs improvement?
I have not encountered any negative points for this product.
For log monitoring, after a certain period of time, logs are deleted, such as after three months, and you have to configure it using a separate or external SIEM connector, such as Splunk or Cortex XSOAR, because after 90 days, the logs will be deleted, so we have to take an export manually or add one external log monitoring solution.
If the organization is big, I can say Okta Platform is affordable; however, for small-scale industries, I would not recommend it, but for medium and enterprise organizations, it is good.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Okta Platform for approximately one to one and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Okta Platform is a stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Okta Platform is a scalable product.
How are customer service and support?
I can rate Okta Platform support at approximately eight or nine out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have worked with Oracle Identity Management and SailPoint as other access management tools before.
What other advice do I have?
I have not worked with Universal Directory in my case, and I have not worked on it recently.
Okta Platform is an IGA solution, so in terms of PAM capabilities, it is not working as PAM for storing passwords or secret vaults, such as Delinea or CyberArk; it is a completely different product.
Reliable, Secure Identity Management with Seamless SSO and MFA at Scale
What do you like best about the product?
What I like most about Okta is its reliability and the strong security foundation it provides for identity and access management. It makes it straightforward to roll out SSO, MFA, and user lifecycle management at scale, and it integrates smoothly with a wide range of enterprise applications.
What do you dislike about the product?
Okta is a very powerful platform, but advanced policy configuration and troubleshooting can get complicated. I’ve also found that costs can rise as usage grows, so it’s something to keep in mind as you scale.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
For our enterprise application, Okta manages identity and access management end to end, including SSO, authentication, and user lifecycle management. It reduces the complexity of building and maintaining custom authentication, strengthens our security posture, and delivers a smoother, more reliable login experience for users.
Powerful, Secure SSO with Smooth MFA
What do you like best about the product?
Centralized identity and access management that simplifies sign-in across multiple applications
Strong security features like multi-factor authentication and adaptive access policies
Smooth single sign-on experience that reduces password fatigue for users
Easy integration with a wide range of enterprise and cloud applications
Clear visibility and control for admins over user access and lifecycle management
Scales well as teams and systems grow without adding complexity
Improves both security and user experience at the same time
What do you dislike about the product?
Setup and configuration can feel complex, especially for first-time admins
Troubleshooting authentication or policy issues isn’t always intuitive
The admin interface has a learning curve and can feel overwhelming
Costs can add up as features, users, or integrations scale
Custom workflows sometimes require deeper technical expertise than expected
Error messages during login failures aren’t always user-friendly or self-explanatory
Bottom line:
Okta is powerful and secure, but that power comes with complexity and cost. It works best when there’s strong admin expertise behind it, otherwise, it can feel heavier than necessary.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Solves the problem of managing multiple logins by providing single sign-on, which saves time and reduces password fatigue
Strengthens security through multi-factor authentication and access policies, lowering the risk of unauthorized access
Centralizes identity and access management across applications, making access control simpler and more consistent
Streamlines user onboarding and offboarding, reducing manual effort and security gaps
Improves visibility into who has access to what, making audits and reviews easier
Balances strong security with a smooth user experience, so protection doesn’t slow down productivity
Intuitive Interface, Reliable Member Management
What do you like best about the product?
I like how easy Okta makes it to keep track of everyone's files and remain HIPAA compliant, which is really important for my work in mental health support. I appreciate the interface; it makes training new employees simple and helps me maintain a clear and concise set of notes for each individual. I also found the initial setup pretty straightforward, which was nice since it's our first product.
What do you dislike about the product?
I've had a hard time with logging in before, but I believe it's just because it's secure.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use Okta to manage members’ files, ensuring HIPAA compliance and making it easy to train new employees while keeping clear notes.
Easy User Access & SSO Management with Strong Security
What do you like best about the product?
It makes user access and single sign-on easy to manage, while still keeping security strong.
What do you dislike about the product?
The UI can feel overly complex at times, and troubleshooting problems isn’t always straightforward or intuitive.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It centralizes identity and access management, strengthens security, and reduces the effort required to manage user logins and access.
Easy to Use, Customizable, and Integrates Seamlessly
What do you like best about the product?
The ease of use for users, the mobile app, the customizability and the ease of integration.
What do you dislike about the product?
There were cert errors that our Mac users had to deal with on a regualr basis.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Okta was solving our IDP issues and integration of our Mac and Windows environment.
