"On-prem or cloud?" has always been the question.
For years, the IT world has been relying on on-premises solutions for their identity management. This made sense since the systems were primarily running on Windows, and all the devices, applications, and users were connected to their private network.
Everything was local, and everything was fine for a while. Until the cloud era began.
Cloud servers, cloud applications, and devices of various operating systems like Linux and macOS became common in workplaces. Since legacy on-premise solutions were not able to translate to the cloud, the need for cloud-based IAM solutions was born.
Cloud directories were able to connect to on-premise directories and other cloud directories. In this way, organizations get the best of both worlds. Organizations get to tap into the intricate controls that on-premise provides and still manage a diversified cloud infrastructure via cloud directories such as Zoho Directory.
Cloud directories help businesses that are relying on on-prem directories but looking for ways to access the wide range of cloud applications. On such occasions, it was possible for the business to sync user profiles from their current directories to the cloud directory and use it as a gateway to the cloud ecosystem while maintaining their current stack.
Beyond performing as the gateway to cloud apps, cloud directories are also a stand-alone identity and access management platform. It is possible for organizations to migrate their user information from HR systems or other on-prem directories and make it the go-to place for all identity and access-related information across the organization.
Zoho Directory, being a cloud-based identity and access management system, helps satisfy the above cases for organizations through Directory Stores.
What is Directory Stores and how does it help?
Zoho Directory's Directory Stores is an efficient feature that helps you sync users from different directories and maintain a unified user repository.
With the help of Directory Stores, you can sync user profiles from your on-prem directories, such as the Microsoft Active Directory, and manage all your cloud apps from inside Zoho Directory.
For instance, you can sync all your users from your Active Directory database and assign them to any cloud app or SAML app like the Gsuite and manage them via Zoho Directory.
Since user profiles can be synced from multiple directories, Zoho Directory can also be the central place to handle all your identity-related actions from one place.
What's new in Directory Stores?
While we initially launched Zoho Directory in 2023, we focused on Active Directory and Azure Active Directory syncs. Since then, we've extended Directory Stores's capabilities.
Directory Stores is constantly updated to accommodate new enhancements. Here are some of the latest improvements.
Multi-tenant support
Now, you can add multiple organizations as tenants and manage them from within Zoho Directory.
Store grouping
Whenever you create a store, a system-generated group will be created for this store. Any member synced through this store will now be added to this group by default.
Zoho Directory now supports Okta and Jumpcloud
We have now added Okta and Jumpcloud as directory sources in addition to Microsoft Active Directory and Azure AD.
Explore Zoho Directory and Directory Stores
Zoho Directory's Directory Stores lets you extend the power of your Active Directory to your cloud environment. You can sync user information from your on-prem solution and use it to authenticate your cloud apps and devices of varied operating systems.
But if you are a business who is looking to handle all your identity and access management over the cloud, Zoho Directory's Directory Stores can help you sync user information from several directories and move to a cloud first environment.
To learn more about Zoho Directory and how you can use Directory Stores to your advantage, sign up here to explore the product.
If you need help, feel free to drop us a demo request here.
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