The Era of Federation SSO and OAuth

As the internet matured, companies stopped being single-application platforms.

Users didn't just log into one system anymore – they interacted with ecosystems of services.

Think of Google, Microsoft, or Amazon – one account, many products.

But early token system were application-specific.

Each app had its own user database, login, and token store.

Users had to sign in repeatedly, and organizations had to manage user credentials across dozens of systems.

That's when the world entered the Era of Federation – where identity became portable.

The Problem of Many Logins

Imagine an enterprise with:

• Gmail, Drive, Calender (Google Workspace)
• Jira, Confluence, Slack (third-party apps)
• A custom internal dashboard

Before federation, you had to log into each separately – often with the same email and password.

This led to:

• Password reuse (a major security risk)
• User friction (too many logins)
• Complex IT management (resetting, syncing, revoking credentials)

Clearly, identity needed to become centralized and shareable – without compromising security.

The Solution – Federated Identity

Federated Authentication means allowing users to log into multiple systems using a single identity provider (IdP).

The IdP becomes the source of truth for authentication.

Other apps (called service providers) simply trust it.

Example:

You log into Trello using your Google account.

Google is the Identity Provider. Trello is the Service Provider.

You never share your password with Trello – Trello simply trusts the identity assertion from Google.

The Rise of SSO (Single Sign-On)