Almost a decade ago, The New Kingmakers made reference to the rise of a developer class that would fundamentally reshape technology decision-making. Today, two-thirds of professional developers have a voice when their organizations are purchasing new technologies, according to Stack Overflow. Product-led growth is official “a thing,” and companies that make life easier for developers have been crowned with success again and again.
The acquisition of Auth0 accelerated Okta’s own journey with developers. Over 2.8 million unique developers look to Auth0, now the Okta Customer Identity Cloud each month for expertise on how to implement customer identity, across in-person events, the Auth0 Ambassador program, and digital channels like docs, technical blogs, and JWT.io.
Today, at Oktane22, we announced the next giant leap in our journey toward making identity easier for developers: New partnerships with three of the leading developer platforms: DigitalOcean, Netlify, and Vercel. These are like-minded platforms that put developers at the heart of their missions. Together, we intend to bring expert advice and easy integrations to where developers already spend their time–with the ultimate vision of providing secure customer identity in one click or less within each platform environment.
“Creating compelling experiences is hard enough without having to be an identity expert, too. And the stakes are too high to get it wrong,” said Shiven Ramji, Chief Product Officer, Customer Identity at Okta. “Okta Customer Identity Cloud powered by Auth0 can be called by your app and hosted in your cloud of choice, but we don’t want to stop there. This is the first step in a multi-year journey to fully integrate secure identity capabilities where developers are building the future. We are honored to have DigitalOcean, Netlify, and Vercel join us on this quest.”
Abstracting Away Complexity
Developers are facing all kinds of application complexity and maintenance work that takes them away from innovation. The Covid-19 pandemic only amplified the need to be hyper-focused on shipping differentiated, user-centric products. Security has become a cat-and-mouse game as attackers shift their tactics and new privacy laws are established. Developers need to balance all of these priorities while dealing with resourcing and talent pressures.
Customer identity stands at the intersection of these forces: security, privacy, and user experience. Getting it right enables everyone to safely access any technology and developers to integrate customer identities across the stack. But according to a Gartner® report, “The cost of maintaining a homegrown CIAM toolset has grown, compared with commercial offerings. There is a growing preference for buying versus building, which is enabling the business to refocus development resources.”
Empowering Developers for a Safer Internet
Together, we believe Okta, DigitalOcean, Netlify, and Vercel can streamline the education, implementation, and activation of customer identity for developers across the globe. Today, we’re starting with improving education and awareness around the complexity of identity, followed by improving discoverability for our integrations along the developer journey, with the ultimate vision of one-click integrations.
Democratizing access to enterprise-grade customer identity for developers will have a massive impact on the security of end-consumers and empower developers to focus on innovation. As part of Okta Customer Identity Cloud, we can put adaptive multi-factor authentication (MFA), bot detection, passkeys, and more in the hands of developers with the literal flip of a switch. Meeting developers where they are is a key part of our strategy, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome DigitalOcean, Netlify, and Vercel to our network.
“We’re very excited to be working with Okta to better equip developers and small businesses to add customer identity into their Apps built on DigitalOcean,” said Tyler Healy, Vice President of Security at DigitalOcean. “When it comes to developers and digital entrepreneurs, simplicity is vital. This partnership will only further DigitalOcean’s ability to simplify innovation on our platform and enable builders to spend more time creating software that changes the world.”
“Developers are moving to a decoupled, composable web architecture because they want more flexibility to use any tool or framework to build faster, better-performing web experiences. At the same time, they need a great developer experience in a simple workflow. That’s where Netlify plays a key role as the platform connecting all developer’s tools, including Auth0 by Okta, and APIs in one place to build and run web apps. Working with Okta, we look forward to making identity and authentication as easy and simple as possible for millions of developers,” said Matt Biilmann, CEO and co-founder Netlify
“As a leading cloud platform for frontend developers, Vercel provides innovators with the speed and reliability they need to create at the moment of inspiration. Security and identity are at the core of building delightful digital experiences,” said Malte Ubl, CTO at Vercel. “By joining forces with Okta, we’re not only simplifying the role that identity plays on the web but also making a commitment to enhancing the speed and breadth of developer-friendly cybersecurity in an increasingly digital world.”
Neutrality to Build Your App, Your Way
Developers want the freedom and power to choose the best solutions for their digital ecosystem. Okta’s commitment to neutrality means not being restricted to a specific technology stack and having the ability to control and customize identity now and in the future. We are designing easy-to-integrate solutions that free developers to use any technology, regardless of platform, device, or infrastructure. We are 100% focused on identity, so developers can focus on innovation.
Availability and Signup
Developers can learn more about Okta’s new developer platform partnerships and get started with Okta Customer Identity Cloud on our Developer Center. We will release more information about the DigitalOcean, Netlify, and Vercel integrations as they become available.
If you’re a developer platform interested in joining our quest to make identity easier for developers, please reach out to our tech partnerships team.
About Okta
Okta is the World’s Identity Company. As the leading independent Identity partner, we free everyone to safely use any technology—anywhere, on any device or app. The most trusted brands trust Okta to enable secure access, authentication, and automation. With flexibility and neutrality at the core of our Okta Workforce Identity and Customer Identity Clouds, business leaders and developers can focus on innovation and accelerate digital transformation thanks to customizable solutions and more than 7,000 pre-built integrations. We’re building a world where Identity belongs to you. Learn more at okta.com.