Introducing Authentication Service (formerly ZIdentity): Migrating Admins to a Centralized Identity Experience

We are excited to announce upcoming customer migration for admins from the existing login experience across ZIA, ZPA, and ZDX portals to a centralized identity experience called authentication service (formerly ZIdentity). 

This migration marks a significant advancement in streamlining identity management and providing a seamless user experience for our valued customers.

Our newly introduce centralized  authentication service (formerly ZIdentity) offers a range of benefits that enhance administrative efficiency and security. Let's explore some of these key benefits:

1. Automated Identity Management: Identities can be managed using SCIM to automate the creation, entitlement assignment, and revocation of admins/users based on the identity data from identity providers. This automation reduces manual effort and ensures accurate, up-to-date user information.
2. Centralized Entitlement Management:  Provides a centralized platform for managing admin roles and entitlements across all Zscaler services. Administrators can easily assign roles, control access based on source IP addresses, and streamline entitlement management. This centralized approach simplifies administrative tasks and ensures consistent access control policies.
3. Streamlined Authentication: Offers a unified authentication experience for administrators accessing Zscaler services. With a single set of credentials, administrators can seamlessly authenticate and access all admin consoles, eliminating the need for multiple login credentials. This centralized authentication enhances productivity and user convenience.
4. Included Multifactor Authentication (MFA): Authentication service includes built-in support for multifactor authentication for hosted users and SAML and OpenID Connect single sign-on for users that authenticate at external IdPs. By centralizing authentication and providing enhanced security features like MFA, authentication service enhances user productivity while ensuring the protection of your Zscaler zero trust environment. MFA for enhanced security is required by default and we strongly encourage customers to keep it enabled.
   1. In the absence of MFA, a compromised admin account could provide attackers with unfettered access, leading to data breaches and network infiltration that can impact your organization. Protecting access to Zscaler with centralized identity management that includes MFA is a proactive step toward enhancing overall security and maintaining the integrity of your critical systems and data.

By migrating to authentication service, administrators can leverage these benefits to streamline their identity management processes, enhance security, and improve overall administrative efficiency. We have designed a more seamless solution that avoids disruption to admins. We will automatically upgrade some customers and for others we will provide a staging environment, depending on whether or not you use an external SAML identity provider for your admins.

We understand that change can sometimes be challenging, but we are here to support you throughout the migration process. Our dedicated support team is available to address any questions or concerns you may have, ensuring a smooth transition to the centralized identity experience of authentication service.

We are excited about the future of authentication service and the benefits it will bring to our administrators and users. Stay tuned for more updates and announcements as we continue to enhance our centralized identity solution.

If you have any questions or would like more information about authentication service (ZIdentity), please reach out to our support team.