Imagine you’re vacationing in Nova Scotia. You’re eager to visit the Annapolis Valley wineries, see the lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove, and enjoy succulent Digby scallops.
But at the start of your driving tour, you find yourself on a strange back road where every five yards or so, a steep concrete speed bump demands your patient attention.
There are 20 of these annoying hillocks stretching before you. It’s as if a roadworks engineer with winter madness invented a unique mental health project.
So, you proceed in stops and starts, like doing a series of hill tests in a clutch car. You now regret your choice of a guesthouse. And you’re irked that you chose this maddening route. The delays are sapping your enthusiasm.
If your employees must log on to 10 or more online systems during their regular workday, it would probably feel as frustrating as this speed bumps-gone-mad scenario.
Multiple logins not only slow you down, but they also fracture your attention, waste time, and can irritate you even more if you forget a password and then have to wait on the IT guy to reset it.
If each system interface has a totally different design and user experience, that can also confuse you and slow you down.
In such a situation, your people will probably minimize the systems they use. They’ll probably focus on core tasks. Complex, multiple sign-on systems affect the time and willingness to embrace any non-essential workplace learning or professional exploration.
A Single Sign-On solution eliminates such barriers to efficiency, exploration, and learning.
What is Single Sign-On?
SSO empowers your people to authenticate their identity by just using one set of credentials for multiple applications and websites. It lives on a central server, which all your apps trust and use to access your login credentials.
Many large platforms use SSO. A good example is Google. When you sign into your Google Drive once, you can access all other Google apps, such as Gmail, or Google Docs, without having to do separate logins.
When you make access to many systems easy and convenient, you’ll be more likely to use them.
An SSO solution also cuts down app fatigue: those moments of confusion, mild anxiety, weariness, or even frustration at having to rejig your memory to adapt to too many systems.
Here are five clear benefits of having single sign-on access for your LMS.
1. Saves time with quick access to all your software
A learning system with SSO not only benefits the learners. It also benefits anyone accessing other parts of the integrated system, for example, using the HR self-service to request a leave day, using CRM software to manage a marketing campaign, or using video conferencing for a team meeting.
Employees can access the entire toolbox with a single click. That’s a more pleasant, efficient, streamlined approach to work.
Speed is critical in settings like hospitals, emergency services, and defense industries, where many people and departments need quick access to the same apps and systems.
2. Happier employees and better productivity
Stress-free access to data, reports or systems you need creates a better user experience. It reduces password fatigue and simplifies username and password management.
This helps promote more expansive use of your systems in the flow of work.
One 2018 study by RingCentral found that most workers toggle between apps ten times an hour, which equates to up to 32 days lost per year in workplace productivity
That same study said workers found navigating between apps more annoying than doing household chores (53%), paying bills (52%), and trying to lose weight (50%).
A simple thing like SSO enables more informed, empowered, and productive workers who are happier troopers than those who must climb the humps of multiple sign-ons.
3. Relieves helpdesk workloads
Single Sign-On means fewer people are contacting IT for password help. That improves security and saves money.
4. Better identity security
Although SSO is convenient, if an attacker gets control of a user’s SSO credentials, they’ll have access to every app the user has rights to. To avoid that, firms should use robust identity governance to implement any SSO system.
Firms often combine SSO with other forms of security, such as two-factor (2FA) or multi-factor authentication (MFA) and risk-based authentication (RBA).
RBA lets you and your security team monitor user habits. So if you see any unusual behavior, such as the wrong IP address or multiple log-in failures, you can demand extra identity verification.
Such a combination of security approaches can prevent data theft and malicious website damage by hackers.
SSO, combined with these other security approaches, can reduce security risks for your customers, vendors, and partners, not just your employees.
5. Convenient online training at your fingertips
SSO is essential in digital learning because it lets learners easily switch between different systems, learning portals, and applications as they learn topics from other content providers or seek varied formats for a more personalized learning experience.
You make it possible by combining SSO with other integration technologies, such as connectors.
When you combine SSO with a cloud-based mobile LMS, it enables employees to access learning anytime, anywhere, on mobile devices. This is essential for remote and hybrid workforces.
SSO smooths the way for more coherent, uninterrupted learning in your LMS. It helps build the foundation for a more accessible and continuous learning culture in your organization.
PhenomeCloud is a comprehensive technology solutions provider committed to empowering businesses to overcome challenges, enhance their workforce capabilities, and achieve superior outcomes.
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