auziros:jeana-tahnk

Jeana has been in the tech industry for 15+ years, both as a communications professional and writer. As Director of Global Communications at Auth0, she works with her internal team and external agencies to amplify the company's visibility worldwide and establish its leadership in the identity industry. When she is not working, she can most likely be found on a field watching one of her three kids playing sports, or cleaning up after her one-year-old retriever who chews everything.

Senior Director, Global Communications

Jeana Tahnk

Trusted integrations from industry-leading third-party solutions extend Auth0's functionality to solve increasingly complex identity needs



**BELLEVUE, Wash. – Sept. 22, 2020 –** The [Auth0](https://auth0.com/) Identity Platform, a product unit within Okta, today announced the launch of [Auth0 Marketplace](https://marketplace.auth0.com), a trusted partner integrations catalog that enables customers to quickly extend the core functionality of the Auth0 platform and use it as an identity solutions hub for their specific needs. Auth0 Marketplace, with its ever-growing breadth of verified partner integrations, provides customers with the extensibility, customization, and confidence to meet their identity needs of today and tomorrow.

Auth0 Marketplace gives customers the power and flexibility to combine Auth0 with adjacent technologies, enabling them to put identity at the forefront of larger projects such as digital transformation, threat detection, compliance, customer conversion, and more. The identity management landscape is increasingly complex, fueled in large part by new security threats, regulatory requirements, privacy laws, and user convenience demands. Yet its function within enterprises is simultaneously becoming more critical, making extensibility a pivotal feature within any identity platform. 

Auth0 Marketplace leverages Auth0's inherently extensible platform even further and supports solutions that cover a wide range of identity needs, including Consent Management, Identity Proofing, Log Streaming, Security, SMS/Email, Single Sign On, Social Login, and more. All integrations have been verified for security and functionality, and are easily discoverable. Once integrations are selected, installation wizards and guides help customers enable these new partner solutions quickly. 

The launch of Auth0 Marketplace reveals two new categories of partner integrations: 

* [**Consent Management**](https://marketplace.auth0.com/categories/consent-management): Obtain and maintain user consent records for collecting data (e.g., via cookies) for ongoing adherence to data privacy regulations like GDPR, CCPA, etc. Auth0 Marketplace features new partner integrations from MyLife Digital, OneTrust, and others. 

* [**Identity Proofing**](https://marketplace.auth0.com/categories/identity-proofing): Verify a user's identity based on real-world factors (e.g., biometrics) and additional factors before granting access. Auth0 Marketplace launches with new partner integrations from Onfido, Vouched, ID DataWeb, Caisson, and others. 

Auth0's existing integrations are now discoverable and available in [Auth0 Marketplace](https://marketplace.auth0.com/), including recently-launched Log Streaming from Splunk, Datadog, Azure Event Grid, and Amazon EventBridge. 

"Consent management, together with identity management, provide a powerful solution for the adherence to the many data privacy policies, like GDPR and CCPA, that continue to crop up and provide incredible hassles for companies," said Kevin Kiley, Chief Revenue Officer at OneTrust. "This issue and need will not go away. Being a premier launch partner in Auth0 Marketplace gives us visibility with Auth0's thousands of customers, and provides them with an integral technology that is more important than ever with today's numerous privacy laws." 

"We are excited to be part of the Auth0 Marketplace launch and have our solution serve as an integral component for Auth0 customers' identity architectures," said Rick Hofmann, VP of Global Partnerships and Alliances at Onfido. "As companies look to accelerate and scale their digital transformation, being able to remotely tie a user to their real, physical identity at onboarding and at other points along the customer journey, is critical to reducing fraud and building customer trust. We look forward to servicing additional audiences via Auth0 Marketplace."

By becoming part of Auth0 Marketplace, partners can participate in the growing demand for digital identity solutions and showcase their innovative products to Auth0's 9,000+ customers worldwide.

"Launching Auth0 Marketplace is a great milestone for the company and further highlights the demand for an extensible identity platform. Giving customers the power to fully adapt Auth0 to their needs widens their ability to build a secure, end-to-end holistic identity solution. Auth0 Marketplace partners represent the integrations that matter for identity," said Shiven Ramji, Chief Product Officer at Auth0. "Auth0 Marketplace will open the door to external innovation and make it easier for our customers to work with Auth0 as a true hub for identity management."

'[**Introducing Auth0 Marketplace**](https://auth0.com/blog/introducing-auth0-marketplace)' provides more detail about how to discover and enable integrations that help businesses solve identity. In addition, Auth0 will be hosting a webinar on October 7th to take a deep dive into Auth0 Marketplace and how it can help customers. Please visit the [registration page](https://auth0.com/resources/upcoming-webinars/auth0-marketplace-webinar) for more details. Companies that wish to become part of Auth0 Marketplace can find more information at the [Auth0 Partners page](https://auth0.com/partners). 
 
<include src="asides/AboutAuth0" />

### Media Contacts
Jeana Tahnk <br />
Global Communications <br />
Auth0 <br />
press@auth0.com

Hannah Carroll <br />
Matter for Auth0 <br />
auth0@matternow.com <br />


Auth0 Marketplace Launches and Provides Even Greater Extensibility for Building Identity Solutions

josh-cunningham

I’ve been working on the web since 2007 as an engineer, designer, strategist, user interface consultant, team lead, project manager, and product builder. I’m currently the lead engineer on our Marketplace team helping partners design, build, and publish integrations to the Auth0 platform. I’m fascinated by current trends in digital identity, how we communicate asynchronously in our personal and professional lives, how software gets made on a team, and note-taking techniques.

Lead Ecosystem Engineer

Josh Cunningham



Auth0 is an identity platform that offers comprehensive authentication solutions to cover customers in every market sector. One of our most popular features is Single Sign-On or SSO, for short. This feature lets users sign in only once to gain access to different sites and mobile and web applications.

To help secure one of the most popular web platforms in the world with the flexibility and power of SSO, Auth0 offers WordPress developers the [**Login by Auth0**](https://wordpress.org/plugins/auth0/) plugin, which provides SSO between different WordPress installs and applications on any other platform.

The concept of SSO can be a little confusing for developers and site administrators that may be new to it. So in this post, we'll explore the different concepts associated with SSO and how our WordPress plugin can help you.

## What Is SSO?

SSO allows multiple apps to share a single session from a central provider. Users log in once, in this case to an authorization server powered by Auth0, to establish the main session and then are redirected to the application to establish a session there. When that user visits a different site or application associated with the same authorization server, the existing first session is used to create a session without having to log in again.

When you delegate authentication, you hand off the responsibility of verifying a user's credentials (such as username and password) to a third party. In this post, that third party is Auth0 but it could also be Google, Facebook, or another identity provider. For SSO to work, you need to have two sessions:

1. The session with the Auth0 authorization server, created when you log in.
2. The session with WordPress, created when you're redirected back after logging in.

At Auth0, we use the term [_tenant_ to indicate a particular namespace](https://auth0.com/docs/getting-started/the-basics#account-and-tenants). When you sign up for Auth0, you choose a tenant name which becomes part of your Auth0 domain used for OAuth and API endpoints.

<include src="SignupCTA" text="Try out the most powerful authentication platform for free." linkText="Get started →" />

When you log in to the Auth0 dashboard, the controls and menus that you see are for the specific tenant you are using. If you create a second tenant or are added to an existing one, you can switch tenants from the menu on the top right. The name next to your avatar is the tenant that you are currently using.

This tenant is a logical boundary around Auth0 functionality like Applications, Connections, Users, Rules, and more. All the Applications within a tenant can share a session (in other words, can use SSO between them) and can use the same Connections to log in if configured to do so.

This means that once you login to Auth0 and establish the first session, all the applications for that same tenant can use that session to determine whether the user is logged in or not. For the user, the process looks like this:

1. Click "Login" on **App 1**
2. Log in with Auth0
3. _The user is now logged in with **App 1**_
4. Visit **App 2** and click on "Login" there. _**Note:** The user may also be redirected to log in from a page that requires authentication_
5. _The user bypasses any login forms and is now logged in with **App 2** as well_
6. Visit **App 3** and click "Login"
7. _The user is then logged in with **App 3** as well_

> For a more detailed description of how this process works, see our [Single Sign-On with Auth0](https://auth0.com/docs/sso/current/introduction) document.

As you can see, this is a great way to create a simple, low-friction authentication experience for users in your network of sites and apps. [Learn more about SSO, here.](https://auth0.com/blog/what-is-and-how-does-single-sign-on-work/)

## How Does Single Sign-On (SSO) Work in WordPress?

SSO in WordPress works the same as above, just replace "App" with "WP Site" anywhere in the process. SSO can happen between WordPress sites as well as with other web or mobile applications. As long as the different instances are using Auth0 and a browser for authentication, you can use SSO between them.

Let's see how that works in a little more detail:

1. Users request a restricted page or try to take an action that requires authentication (like accessing the profile page).
2. The site checks for a session in WordPress with [`is_user_logged_in()`](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/is_user_logged_in/) (this checks for a specific cookie set by WordPress on login).
3. If there is no session, users are redirected to check for an Auth0 session.
4. If users already have a valid session with Auth0 (they are already logged in to Auth0 and it has not expired), they are prompted (if desired) to continue with the same account then redirected back to WordPress.
5. Once redirected, the Auth0 authentication is verified and the WordPress session is re-started.
6. Users proceed to view the restricted page or carry out the action they wanted to take.

While there is a lot going on behind the scenes, most of this will be transparent to the users. Their session was renewed without asking for credentials again and they were able to continue with their action.

This process works whether the users have an account with the second (or third or fourth) WordPress site or not. The plugin can be configured to allow new accounts to be created from Auth0 users even if site registration is turned off. This allows new sites to be added without requiring known users to register!

## Additional Benefits of Enabling SSO

The benefits of enabling SSO for a network of sites and applications aren't limited to just simplifying the user experience, but also include storing users in a central location and improving sign-up conversions. You can easily bring these benefits to your WordPress project by implementing SSO with Auth0.

Auth0 connects [to many different identity providers](https://auth0.com/docs/identityproviders) while also providing you with a [central user database](https://auth0.com/docs/connections/database) that can be associated with some or all of your WordPress sites and applications. This central user database creates a single source of truth for all user data and allows you to efficiently search for and update users in the dashboard or using our [Management API](https://auth0.com/docs/api/management/v2).

A single database for multiple sites also allows you to streamline and enforce security measures across all the sites that use it. Password strength and composition, as well as username restrictions, can be enabled and managed in one place, improving the security of all sites within the network.

![Auth0 Password Strength](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/17hIrSOkmNN51I5a4TYxat/b8f570597d815e185a95231e94bb1564/auth0-password-strength)

Finally, Auth0 provides additional [login security](https://auth0.com/security/), particularly when using the Universal Login Page. The WordPress login page URL is standard across all sites, making it a common target for enumeration and DDoS attacks. Putting Auth0 in front of your authentication flow protects from as-yet-unknown vulnerabilities, out-of-date core code, and additional holes that might be opened by plugins.

<include src="TweetQuote" quoteText="Discover the benefits of enabling SSO in your WordPress applications."/>

## Does SSO Work with Multisite Networks?

The Login by Auth0 plugin is regularly tested with WordPress multisite. That means that multisite networks can use SSO between networks with the same benefits as single sites. Network administration (such as managing access to each site for each user) still happens in WordPress but the initial authentication will happen in Auth0. To be clear, SSO with Auth0 does not happen between sites _within_ a WordPress multisite network but can between networks.

There are some considerations regarding setup that are covered in our [Auth0 WordPress plugin installation documentation](https://auth0.com/docs/cms/wordpress/installation#multisite-setup). Also, the plugin settings can be [set via PHP constants](https://auth0.com/docs/cms/wordpress/configuration#php-constant-setting-storage) and will map to all sites in the multisite network. If you have any questions about plugin configuration or how it works, please see the end of this post for a link to our Community channel where you can connect with other WordPress developers like you using Auth0.

## Try WordPress SSO with Auth0 Out

The best way to see how WordPress SSO works with Auth0 is to try it out yourself. This will require setting up two different WordPress sites and connecting them through Auth0. You can set this up between two existing sites but please note that while the Auth0 plugin is not destructive (it will not delete users, metadata, or roles), it does take control over your login process so it’s best to try the setup on test/development sites or on sites that only use authentication for site administration. Deactivating the plugin will return the login process to its original state.

For this setup and testing process, make sure to **use the same browser window** (separate tabs are fine) to guarantee that you’re using the same cookie store to make SSO work.

First, [sign up for an Auth0 account here](https://auth0.com/signup) (it’s free for up to 7,000 users). If you want to get more familiar with the dashboard and what Auth0 has to offer, follow the tutorials that appear. Don’t worry about creating Applications or Connections for your test WordPress sites, that’s all done automatically during plugin setup.

Next, decide which two sites you want to connect, log in as an administrator and install the [Login by Auth0](https://wordpress.org/plugins/auth0/) plugin on both (the login page will not change until the plugin is configured).

![WordPress site dashboard with plugins selected](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/6DZjl7ws8uqH7HV175VloC/7f13857eb581e15d7e3e272bffca3206/wordpress-site-plugins-latest)

On one of the sites, activate the plugin and you’ll be redirected to a Setup Wizard.

![WordPress Login by Auth0 setup wizard in WordPress dashboard](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/5IbcaBYK2d244mdoePWK9h/afe72bbf243f197ffeedb51c6ba1631b/wordpress-sso-with-auth0_wordpress-login-by-auth0-setup-wizard)

Follow the [**Standard Setup** instructions from this document](https://auth0.com/docs/cms/wordpress/installation#option-1-standard-setupgt) to create an Application, Database Connection, and a user account for yourself. Before continuing, check your email and click on the verify email link that was sent.

Once the setup is complete, go to **Auth0 > Settings > Features** tab in your WordPress admin and make sure that **Universal Login Page** is turned on (this is a default setting in the latest version of the plugin).

![Auth0 WordPress Plugin Settings](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/3EX0rvHJ79LsOwcBghXsMR/1c34d58af6452aa147d4f1263bac54c8/wordpress-sso-with-auth0_auth0-wordpress-plugin-settings)

To test that everything is working properly, log out of WordPress, then visit the `wp-login.php` page. You should be redirected to the Universal Login Page on Auth0.

![Auth0 WordPress Universal Login](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/1InlXMxWDGgMyO1oGT1eM5/086d13f6e01e96d2792856e02a84fbc0/wordpress-sso-with-auth0_auth0-wordpress-universal-login)

Try logging in with the same credentials used during Auth0 WordPress plugin setup to make sure it’s working properly.

If your site is set up to require verified email addresses, you'll see the following page if you haven't done so:

![WordPress site requiring a verified email address](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/6t9ZJQsgofaVLCxdGbXTZ4/fee983b680b06fecc0769aa4b6343390/wordpress-sso-with-auth0_wordpress-site-requiring-a-verified-email-address)

Once you are logged in, you'll see the home page of your first site:

![WordPress site home page](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/5b6OwbziDzNMTBXLCdgfUh/1b83ab71885a4308fc61781f3086e56b/wordpress-sso-with-auth0_wordpress-site-home-page)

On the second site, follow the same procedure to install and activate the plugin. There's one difference to have in mind when running through the Setup Wizard: on the screen where you’re asked for an admin password, click **Skip this step**.

![Auth0 WordPress Setup Wizard skip choosing a password](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/2c2nuxF73sHkUSh94toONt/4486c0fecb606914254213290fa6dcfa/wordpress-sso-with-auth0_auth0-wordpress-setup-wizard-skip-choosing-a-password)

You're going to use SSO to link your Auth0 account to your WordPress one. Once the setup completes, go to **Auth0 > Settings > Features** tab in your WordPress admin, make sure that **Universal Login Page** is turned on, and turn **Single Logout** off.

The Single Logout feature logs users out of Auth0 when they log out of WordPress. By turning this off, you allow users to keep an active session with the Auth0 authorization server even after they log out from one of your sites. Users are also allowed to log back into one of your sites using SSO and without having to re-enter their credentials.

Next, go to your **Auth0 Dashboard > Setup > Applications** and select the Application created for the _second_ WordPress site.

![Auth0 applications](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/1XKNNzZOIL1YHCiWivOAp9/23484c0b3f23489fe3a10c1d21a7620f/wordpress-sso-with-auth0_auth0-applications)

> If your dashboard looks different than the screenshots above, go to **Auth0 Dashboard > Applications** to select the application.

Click the **Connections** tab, turn **off** the database Connection created for this site, and turn **on ** the Database Connection being used for the first site.

![Auth0 applications Connection settings](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/cIhmgDVbpqEZQlPWrntxa/93c5c1d7c04dc14ec743b17f7a5bcb8b/wordpress-sso-with-auth0_auth0-applications-connection-settings-2)

To avoid confusion, go to **Auth0 Dashboard > Authentication > Database** and delete the Connection created for the _second_ site.

![Auth0 Database Connections](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/1YfTQZgFRIe4c9IrPiMZ0J/9393c5356d19612caade702c622b1664/wordpress-sso-with-auth0_auth0-database-connections)

> If your dashboard looks different than the screenshots above, go to **Auth0 Dashboard > Connections > Database** to delete the second database.

Select the database of the second WordPress application from the list and scroll down until you see a red button named "Delete" and click it:

![Deleting an Auth0 Database Connection](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/71XejtNz6L1LPi82pwYlEi/4b31e34a7e8dafb4fc7b3da12a6b9fca/wordpress-sso-with-auth0_auth0-deleting-a-database-connection)

Finally, confirm the database deletion in the modal that comes up.

You now have two Applications and one Database Connection that’s activated for both.

On the second site, you want to test that the account that was created during the setup of the first site, the one tied to the session created at Auth0, maps to the second site. Log out of the second site and visit the `wp-login.php` page. You will see a pause in your browser followed by the homepage of your second site, where you are logged in.

**Congrats, you just set up SSO between two WordPress sites!** You can follow the steps for the second site for as many WordPress sites as you need. Just make sure they are all using the same Database Connection so that same Auth0 user account is used across applications.

<include src="TweetQuote" quoteText="Learn how simple and easy is to add SSO to WordPress apps using Auth0."/>

## Summary

We hope you learned a bit about SSO in general and, specifically, how it works with WordPress. If you have any questions about capability, configuration, or anything else, please post in the thread below and we’ll be happy to help!


WordPress SSO with Auth0

angela-devlin

Program manager focused on all things self service at Auth0. I am passionate about making Auth0 the very best user experience for all of our customers. In my free time, I’m with my husband and two daughters at the park, hanging out with my adorable old cat or heads down working on my MBA.

Program Manager, Self Service

Angela Devlin

How using Auth0 can solve your startup's authorization and identity needs.



As an Identity Platform, we believe it is especially critical for young startups to determine their identity solution and implement it right from the start, to avoid complications and extra work down the road. Auth0 has always been dedicated to innovation by offering simple authorization and identity solutions to developers, so you can focus on what matters most to you. We are also dedicated to equality and want to level the playing field by making our services easily accessible to minority founders and companies that may run into specific challenges during their first steps as a business. To help you with your awesome new ideas, **we are now offering our startup plan free for a year** to anyone that meets the following criteria:

* Your startup must be under two years old.
* Your startup must be venture-backed and with less than $2M of funding.
* Your startup must have less than $1M in revenue.

Auth0 can help you by handling your business critical identity processes, providing a seamless and safe login experience. Auth0 is also compliant with end user data requirements, GDPR, HIPPA, and more; we can help you stay compliant as your business and identity needs grow. 

_"We are a privacy-first company. Knowing that Auth0 is GDPR compliant was a big factor in our decision to expand our partnership. It goes without saying; we feel very secure."_ Itay Flikier, Engineering Team Leader at Otonomo.

Auth0 is an industry leader in simplicity, control, and extensibility. We know how much time you need to spend on your core business, especially in the early stages, and want to take care of your identity needs, so you can focus on what is most important. We also know that as a new startup, you will be concerned with saving money. While our customers see significant cost and time savings using Auth0, the startup program will be provided to you for free for a full year, so you don't have to worry about that either.

_"If we didn't have Auth0, we'd probably need seven or eight developers focused on [identity]. Our teams now can spend much more time working on the improvements that our customers actually see and care about. Not having to spend time on means that we get to spend time on everything else."_ Chris Hood, CT, and Co-Founder at GO1.

Auth0 safeguards billions of transactions each month, let us help you with yours.

Sign up at [https://auth0.com/startups/](https://auth0.com/startups/)


Auth0 Startup Plan Now Free for Everyone

auziros:mckenzie-mayer

Customer Identity (CIAM) Product Comms lead, driving collective storytelling across Okta and Auth0. Making technology accessible for everyone.

Customer Identity Product Comms Lead at Okta

McKenzie Mayer

IAM systems integrator enables digital transformation for Germany’s top companies


**LONDON – 7 January 2020 –** The [Auth0](https://auth0.com/) Identity Platform, a product unit within Okta, today announced a partnership with systems integrator [iC Consult Group](https://ic-consult.com/en/ic-consult-home/#services_img). The specialist in Identity and Access Management (IAM) is Auth0’s first partner covering the German market and works with 50% of major German companies on the DAX stock index. iC Consult Group also operates globally with 12 offices across the UK, Europe, America, and Asia.

The addition of iC Consult Group and [Auth0’s overall growth in DACH](https://auth0.com/blog/auth0-announces-growth-in-dach/) indicates demand for cloud-based identity management solutions that balance security and customer experience. According to a recent survey from Germany’s digital association Bitkom and KPMG, cloud is an important driver of [digital transformation](https://hub.kpmg.de/cloud-monitor-2019) with 73% of German companies using some form of cloud computing. iC Consult Group introduces a tremendous opportunity for Auth0 to help German customers increase their efficiency in managing user identities across digital apps and services.

“In the area of identity management, we’re seeing more of our customers deviate from on-premise to cloud-based alternatives. Auth0 addresses this need by providing a lightweight solution that is quick to implement and does not tie up unnecessary development resources. Because at the end of the day, it’s all about accelerating the digitization of services,” said Andre Priebe, Chief Technology Officer at iC Consult Group.

In addition to the classic enterprise IAM topics of governance, provisioning, Single Sign On (SSO) and identity federation, the systems integrator wants to focus more on consumer IAM, including social media logins like [Sign in with Apple](https://auth0.com/blog/learn-how-to-implement-sign-in-with-apple-easily/), and [Device Flow](https://auth0.com/blog/oauth-device-flow-no-hassle-authentication-as-seen-on-tv/) for the Internet of Things.

"We are thrilled to welcome iC Consult Group to our program. The move to the cloud requires a new approach and specific expertise. Combining Auth0's flexible and extensible identity platform with iC Consult Group's experience moving businesses into the cloud can be a true source of competitive advantage for our mutual customers,” said Bill Lapcevic, VP of business development at Auth0.

Expansion to Germany follows the recent [growth of Auth0’s global partner programme](https://auth0.com/blog/auth0-partner-program-accelerates-global-growth/) and brings the total number of European partners to 30. Learn more and join the [Auth0 Partner Program here](https://auth0.com/partners).

## About iC Consult Group

iC Consult Group and its companies – iC Consult, xdi360, IAM Worx, and Service Layers – specialize in Identity and Access Management (IAM). The services we provide include IAM Business Consulting, Architecture and Design, Implementation and Integration, Managed Services, and our Identity as a Service offering: Service Layers. With over 300 consultants, 30 IAM product partners, and more than 1000 successful projects, we have demonstrably achieved customer success.

For more than 20 years, we have been inspiring our renowned global customers from the automotive, logistics, pharmaceutical, and financial sectors – but not only with classic IAM. We are also at the forefront of innovative topics such as Customer IAM, Internet of Things, and API Management.

For more information, please visit [https://ic-consult.com](https://ic-consult.com).

<include src="asides/AboutAuth0" />

### Media Contacts:
Silvia Hänig<br>
[shaenig@wireside.com](mailto:shaenig@wireside.com)<br>
0173-3838572<br>
089-44848127<br>

Mark Fowler<br>
Racepoint Global for Auth0, EMEA<br>
[auth0@racepointglobal.com](mailto:auth0@racepointglobal.com)<br>
+44 (0) 77 1124 4113<br>


Auth0 Expands Partner Programme to Germany with iC Consult Group

0cd73f2f2f39709bd03646e9225cc3d3?s=200 avatar

0cd73f2f2f39709bd03646e9225cc3d3?s=200

I’m an engineer with a passion for building frictionless products. I’ve built effective teams and have grown them into successful engineering organizations. I like to forge a culture.

CTO and Co-founder

Matias Woloski

A company retrospective and future vision from Auth0’s CTO and Co-Founder.



Last week we had our annual offsite in Cabo, Mexico where we shared with all the Auziros where we come from and where we are going with our product. Yesterday, we [announced our new funding](https://auth0.com/blog/auth0-closes-103m-in-funding-passes-1b-valuation/) and I wanted to share some of the same things we talked about last week.

<include src="TweetQuote" quoteText="A company retrospective and future vision from Auth0’s CTO and Co-Founder @woloski"/>

## The Beginning

When we started Auth0 in 2013, there were three important shifts developers were going through related to authentication and authorization:

1. Identity becoming the ultimate firewall with software deployed in the cloud and widespread smartphone usage, and consequently, richer API emergence

2. Developers picking best-of-breed platform and languages

3. Password and data breaches becoming a much more prevalent threat 

Suddenly, implementing your own authentication and authorization layer was not a great idea. Developers were confronted with software deployed anywhere; the user identity flowing throughout multiple services written in different languages/platforms; and the need to implement best security practices to prevent a breach.

## Developer-First, Simple, and Extensible

Given the challenges inherent to building authentication and authorization, our strategy for the first few years was to build a platform for developers that would provide a simplified layer on top of this complexity. At the same time, when we started serving our first enterprise customers, we had to deal with last-mile integration issues and the need to customize the platform for their specific requirements. That was the driver to implement Webtask, our serverless runtime that provides built-in extensibility, in 2014 (even before AWS Lambda was a thing).

![Auth0 first strategy was to build a developer-first identity management solution.](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/4W7Vw30Gsgjo1355FYo0ql/509d30f885700cbf858adcff6f32e7ce/developer-first-simples-and-extensible)

Our very first homepage had a clear message about making identity simpler for developers.

![Auth0 makes clear that one of its goals is to make identity simpler for developers.](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/4RuNdazcERtfTw4or0eu85/6c722eeb8885af6af361697148647b3a/identity-made-simple-for-developers)

We spent a great deal of time building our resources and documentation for developers, not only for Auth0-specific usage but for identity topics in general. We found that there was a huge gap in knowledge, especially with the pace at which cloud computing was evolving, and the need for identity was increasing exponentially. We genuinely wanted to help developers. 

After six years and thousands of articles, quickstarts, and guides, our blog is now read by more than 700,000 developers monthly around the world. From this number, 17,000 of them sign up for a trial every month.

![After six years, Auth0's blog is now read by more than 700,000 developers monthly.](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/4e79DMnoySjkThE4LpSWiU/8ec489eb763eb597980b099430a7768b/700000-developers)

As we have dedicated the last six years to also continually improving our identity platform, one constant has been keeping it developer-centric and relying on our proprietary extensibility capabilities to service our customers’ every identity need. It is this simple, yet powerful, last-mile customization capability that makes us stand out. And it’s evident that our customers take advantage of it, with almost *87% of them extending our platform* using serverless [rules](https://auth0.com/docs/rules) to achieve pretty much any use case you can think of.

![87% of Auth0's customers extend the platform by using serverless rules.](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/2ewezukUfH9V5ev9cZzDYd/e7a557d16b8ce18cdc7d440df93427e5/87-percent-of-auth0s-customer-extend-the-platform)

## Scale, Trust, and Enterprise Readiness

When we raised our [Series A in 2015](https://auth0.com/blog/another-big-milestone/), we knew we had found our product market fit. We started to see more and more traction in the enterprise and were turning into a "real" company. With more enterprise customers needing our services and signing on as customers, we had to scale our product and organization.

Our focus then turned to scalability, trust and compliance, and enterprise readiness:

![Auth0 is also focused on scalability, trustworthiness, and enterprises.](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/3LiWhgKqDmgAWiwh2KLxfg/d8154a6ae0a74e00782408768f2515e7/scalable-trustworthy-and-enterprise-readiness)

Midway 2019, Auth0 is a world-class platform that helps developers, administrators and end users to do their job simply and effectively, while offering unparalleled extensibility at every stage of the authentication and authorization lifecycle.

![Inside the Auth0 engine](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/7Hjjueo0hs8FVorgfHytTi/b7620e17df28df15cd2f66c71365316d/inside-the-auth0-engine-low-res)

[Download the high resolution image here](https://cdn.auth0.com/blog/auth0-raises-100m-to-fuel-the-growth/inside-the-auth0-engine-high-res.jpg)

On the scalability front, we’ve had to go from 300 logins per second to 3,000. Today, we handle 2.5 billion logins per month, and have tens of million users registered, securing hundreds of thousands of applications.

![Auth0 is currently handling 2.5 billion logins per month.](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/5JcN6MNxhW5CCb6S9WCDUC/9ff45507ee29a08be4928e604eb75f71/2-point-5-billion-logins-per-month)

On trust and compliance, we’ve grown our Security and Compliance teams and have achieved important certifications, such as ISO 27001 and 270218, SOC 2 Type 2, HIPAA, and PCI.

![Auth0 achieve important certifications, such as ISO 27001 and 270218, SOC 2 Type 2, HIPAA and PCI.](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/5bNX1VaqkT6F1k02tsSG9U/c607cadac61e75f6b5c00ae05312f82b/auth0-certifications)

We made our product enterprise-ready, providing our customers with management tools like our Account Center; developing our Professional Services teams to help customers with the most complex scenarios implement even quicker; we started partnering with System Integrators and other developer-led companies like Twilio, Sendgrid, AWS, and others. 

![Auth0 made the product enterprise-ready, providing customers management tools and partnering with system integrators.](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/3WqAAUjyBoisXLmhlrcMRH/58f22ea6bebc0515b643272154a8dcb2/auth0-partners-and-services)

In these six years, we’ve created a new category: a developer-first identity platform that is simple to implement and easy to extend. On top of that, we scaled it and made it trustworthy. So, what comes next for us? 

## Our Vision

Since our inception, we’ve always believed in a single platform to solve all Identity and Access Management (IAM) requirements. We take a very different approach compared to what traditionally has been done in this industry. Developers, the "makers" of this new world, appreciate building blocks that are simple to integrate but that can adapt to different situations.

When we think about how our platform evolves, we want to take the simplicity and flexibility we’ve built for the developer to a new level. Providing end-to-end workflows for the different actors using our software:

![Auth0 focuses on different actors, like end users, security teams, and administrators and IT professionals.](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/1S43nIErK2EYrEYKuB1SoD/08b241acac6544ea5c554bffb2a7bf1e/end-to-end-solution-to-different-personas)

- **End Users**: We are all end users of software on the internet. But many idiosyncrasies happen with authentication, mostly because developers are choosing between optimizing between user experience and security as a zero-sum game. We are creating a platform that unlocks this dependency allowing you to increase BOTH. Rather than forcing users to log into applications every single time they want to use them, we enable developers to improve the overall experience and keep customers secure at the same time. Previously, only large companies with extensive resources, with hundreds of dedicated engineers were able to achieve that perfect balance. We aim to democratize this and make it available to all developers in the world.

- **Security teams**: Every company is a software company, which makes hiring security experts more and more challenging. CISOs are looking for ways to automate their jobs as much as possible with the end goal of protecting users’ security and privacy. We want to provide them with a single pane of glass that alerts them and self-remediates any sort of attack.

- **Administrators and IT Professionals**: IT departments and business support comprise the backend of IAM. Their day consists of keeping all systems humming, often amidst a relentless barrage of inbound help desk tickets. They have to deal with things like getting audit logs for compliance, onboarding users to new applications, updating a SAML certificate that might have expired, assigning permissions to access an API, resetting the MFA of someone who lost their device, etc. Now, multiply that by the number of users and applications they have to deal with, and you can understand why it can be gruesome. We can decentralize and automate this work by providing out-of-the-box integrations and self-service tools to create an ecosystem where developers can easily implement those to reduce the resources and costs involved in fielding these requests.

We are building a single platform consisting of building blocks and out-of-the-box customizable experiences to solve use cases for all these people. Our vision is to **provide people with secure access to any application in one-click or less**.

<include src="TweetQuote" quoteText="Auth0's vision is to provide people with secure access to any application in one-click or less."/>

## Our Guiding Principles

The one thing that stays constant, as we deliver on this vision, is our guiding principles. Providing a developer-first, simple, and extensible platform, is what makes Auth0 unique. Those differentiators lay on top of two foundational principles that we developed over the years: our scalability and trustworthiness.

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![Auth0 product pillars](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/4Ix2H1Un4Xx554OT6ID7R9/166b92f3f94d19e39c3e645841d97f91/auth0s-story-and-future_auth0-product-pillars)

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When we think about solutions to the jobs these people above have; when we are answering a question to a customer; when we write a blog post; the whole product think about _simplicity_, _extensibility_, _developer-first_, _scalability_, and _trustworthiness_. If we are not holding the bar high on these principles, we want you to keep us accountable.

## What’s Next

The new funding will give us more fuel that will be used to accelerate investment in all areas. To accomplish the vision we have, we will: grow our Product Engineering teams; continue to invest in our developer-led go-to-market strategy with our Marketing teams; continue to invest in our global expansion to sell our product everywhere; and continue to grow our security, trustworthiness, performance, and scalability practices. 

![What's next for Auth0 after this funding?](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/2yCB5Bu68m5rh1ihfAGgLi/b2e0ef7fd286c93957d9b3e257abdbe3/103-investment)

We are so thrilled with the support we have experienced thus far. With continued growth and global expansion, our mission and reason for existing will remain unchanged – to help developers innovate faster.

If you identify yourself with our vision and mission (and our [culture](https://auth0.com/blog/our-culture-and-values-at-auth0/)), please, go ahead and [apply to join us](https://auth0.com/careers)!


"identity-platform"