05.31.08
Single Signon is Duct Tape
Usually, duct tape solutions are hidden from view and only the IT guys know where they exist. Then along comes “Single Signon” and duct tape is waved like a grand solution.
Consider the history behind “Single Signon.” Over time the IS groups built or purchased applications to solve specific business problems. Each application would have one or more primary users of the system. Support organizations in the company might need only to access selective functions of each system. As the number of applications grew, so did the need for the support organizations to access multiple applications.
Single users complained to IT that they are required to Signon to multiple applications to get their work done. Some users needed access to ten, fifteen, or more applications to accomplish a day’s work.
IT saw that the users were required to maintain multiple user ids and passwords and concluded the obvious solution: Single Signon! First, IT made all of the user ids and passwords the same, but the user still needed to sign on to each application. Now, the idea is to pass the credentials to each application so the user is required to signon only once. But, this is a duct tape solution. Are the users really complaining about the logon or are they complaining about having multiple applications?
Every application has its own approach to presentation. The user needs to learn each of these as well as how to “cut and paste” information across the applications.
The other day I was talking with a user that needed access to eight different applications. He indicated that he was in his early fifties and did not understand systems like the younger guys. He said he just needed more training to be able to work with all those applications.
How sad is it that IT has convinced the application users that they are the problem. Could it be that the user experience of multiple applications is inherently bad? Isn’t it like having multiple remotes to control your TV?
The users do not want to signon to multiple applications. The operative words here are “multiple applications” not “signon.” They want to use a system designed to meet their holistic needs. The emphasis should be on consolidating multiple application presentations for each user and then there will be only one signon.
