SAML integration advantages

Some integrations let you choose either RADIUS or SAML 2.0 to interoperate with Okta.

SAML integrations offer the following advantages over RADIUS:

1. SAML integrations provide a rich, intuitive, and consistent login experience, while RADIUS uses a text-based challenge that has inconsistent formatting. Using SAML can reduce user training and support requirements, and its consistent sign in experience makes users less susceptible to phishing attempts.
2. SAML integrations provide greater security by exposing credentials to fewer parties.
3. SAML integrations use a simplified infrastructure. They involve minimal maintenance and don't require on-premises agents. The user agent (for example, browser, VPN client, and so on) transmits messages in a secure manner, so there's no need for the service provider (firewall or application server) to connect to Okta. Federation is established using a one-time exchange of SAML metadata. This one-time setup establishes trust for ongoing transactions.
4. Okta SAML integrations are robust and include adaptive MFA and provisioning.