On May 30, we were thrilled to have SkyKick Silver Partner F1 Computer Solutions join us to discuss the most recent update to the SkyKick Partner Portal: Single sign-on (SSO) using Office 365 credentials. As one of the early adopters of this capability, F1 Computer Solutions shared how this improvement can play a role in streamlining common pain-points in an MSP practice.
Security & user management challenges in an MSP practice
Kirsten Kunkler, President, and Tyler Cooper, Senior Systems Engineer of F1 Computer Solutions shared a strategic perspective on the important role that vendor management and security practices can play in the growth trajectory of an MSP practice. They reflected on the internal operational burden and exposure created by vendors-specific access and security approaches.
Vendor-specific credentials
“I don’t want my people to be focused on mundane tactical stuff like worrying about separate login credentials for every vendor. This can be frustrating and disruptive, and multiple sets of credentials can introduce security risks.” Kirsten Kunkler, President, F1 Computer Solutions
Security gaps and inconsistencies
“Given that we are also a federal contractor to the intelligence community, we are hyper-focused on security. That means we have to be especially careful to ensure there are no security gaps or inconsistencies as we interact with multiple vendors.” Kirsten Kunkler, President, F1 Computer Solutions
Vendor-specific access management
“Having to go through each vendor to approve or remove access is cumbersome. It can introduce risk if access is not removed for a worker who is no longer with the company and can delay the on boarding process for new employees.” Tyler Cooper, Senior Systems Engineer, F1 Computer Solutions
How SkyKick Partner Portal access via Office 365 single sign-on helps MSPs
Both Kirsten and Tyler further described how the capability to access the SkyKick Partner Portal via Office 365 SSO addresses the access, security, and management challenges they reported that are inherent in working with vendors.
Office 365 Single Sign-On
“Office 365 SSO streamlines access for everyone, keeping them engaged and moving forward without having to sign in separately or remember separate credentials. This translates to better client security and support.” Kirsten Kunkler, President, F1 Computer Solutions
Multi-Factor Authentication
“Security best-practices like Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) are critical for every MSP. Being able to leverage our current MFA for Office 365 login for the SkyKick Partner Portal delivers the layer of security we want without any additional effort.” Kirsten Kunkler, President, F1 Computer Solutions
Centralized access management
“Office 365 SSO streamlines my work, improves the onboarding experience for new employees, and removes risk of not fully offboarding former employees. We recently had a new engineer who was able to get started on a SkyKick migration on day one due to the ease of onboarding via O365 SSO. And I don’t need a process or a reminder to remove SkyKick access for a former employee. Once I remove them from AAD, their access to SkyKick is automatically disabled.” Tyler Cooper, Senior Systems Engineer, F1 Computer Solutions
Security-first focus
SkyKick continues to identify and prioritize ways to improve the security of its platform. Two security features coming in H2 2019 for SkyKick Partner Portal access were revealed by Anurag Kulkarni, Senior Product Manager of Platform Services.
MFA option for partners not implementing O365 SSO
Anurag explained, “In addition to our passion for security is our desire to provide partners with options. While many partners will leverage MFA via the Office 365 SSO feature, we will soon be releasing a separate MFA feature for those who have requested that option.
End-customer O365 SSO for SkyKick Customer Self-Service access
This feature will allow end-customers accessing SkyKick for self-service to use their Office 365 credentials for an SSO experience similar to the recently released feature for partners.
Fast and easy setup and management
“We want to make things as fast and easy for partners as possible,” states Ravi Mundunari, SkyKick Engineer Lead as he demonstrates the feature. “With Office 365 SSO, we focused not only on delivering the capability, but also how we could simplify both the enablement and management of the feature.”.
Get Started
To learn more, watch the recorded webinar, or set up today, go to Enable SkyKick Partner Portal access using Office 365 credentials
