Salesforce–Azure Active Directory Integration to Enable Enterprise Single Sign-On
Summary
An IT company providing SharePoint and Office 365 development and migration services engaged INNERLUXES as a subcontractor to set up single sign-on (SSO) for its end client — so employees could access both Salesforce Sales Cloud and the Office 365 portal with one set of credentials. INNERLUXES integrated Salesforce with Azure Active Directory, eliminating the need to log in separately to each system.
About the Client
The Client is an IT company providing development and migration services for SharePoint and Office 365.
The Challenge
The end client used an Office 365 portal for corporate email, storing user credentials, and managing corporate devices, and Salesforce Sales Cloud for managing sales. Users had to enter their credentials separately in Salesforce and Office 365, which was inconvenient and hampered a smooth workflow. As a result, the end client needed an easier way for employees to work with both systems. The Client commissioned INNERLUXES as a subcontractor to set up single sign-on (SSO) so its client could access both the Salesforce solution and the Office 365 portal via one set of login credentials.
The Solution
To provide SSO for the Salesforce solution and the Office 365 portal, INNERLUXES's team integrated Salesforce with Azure Active Directory (AD) — the cloud-based user authentication service used to sign in and access resources in Office 365. INNERLUXES's Salesforce developers performed the following steps in the Salesforce and Azure AD settings:
- Registered the end client's Salesforce solution in Azure AD, creating an authentication certificate within Azure AD. The certificate enabled an encrypted connection for transferring security tokens, allowing users to log in to both systems (Salesforce and Office 365).
- Registered the users who needed SSO to the Salesforce solution and the Office 365 portal within Azure AD and configured their permission settings.
- Performed the same activities — creating the authentication certificate, registering users, and providing permission settings — within the Salesforce solution.
The Results
- The end client gained the ability to access both its Salesforce solution and the Office 365 portal with one login and password via SSO.
- This significantly improved user convenience and simplified the process of working with both systems.
Technologies and Tools
Azure AD, Salesforce Sales Cloud, PowerShell.