SaaS applications are becoming more and more powerful, but it comes at the cost of a more complex configuration process. This is especially true for IAM systems, such as Okta, that require meticulous management to ensure security and compliance without compromising user experience.

In our recent webinar, we explored some of the challenges you likely face as an IAM administrator–and how to solve them using DevOps principles and practices for more flexible Okta configuration management.

Let’s dive in!

The challenges of managing Okta

Each organization has its unique set of identity and access requirements that are also changing over time, making it essential to continuously customize your Okta configuration. However, this process can become overwhelming, especially when dealing with large volumes of configuration elements spanning multiple tenants.

One of the primary challenges is maintaining visibility and understanding of your current configuration. With hundreds or even thousands of policies, rules, and applications in play, it becomes difficult to track all changes, identify dependencies, and assess the potential impact of planned modifications. 

The absence of native tools for syncing configuration across Okta tenants (or between your preview sandbox and production) poses a significant obstacle. Many teams resort to manual processes or risk making changes directly in production, leading to potential disruptions and security vulnerabilities. 

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The answer? DevOps!

Adopting DevOps principles and practices can be very beneficial when it comes to managing your Okta tenant. It provides you with a clear and complete textual representation of your configuration. Versioning configuration files in a source control system enables easy change documentation and reliable backup.

On top of that, with textual representation, you can see how all elements in your config are interconnected.     

What is even more interesting, using DevOps you can compare two tenants, see the differences between them, and automatically push configuration elements from one tenant to another. 

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Simplifying Okta configuration management with Salto

Now that we’re clear on the benefits of using DevOps for managing Okta, you’re probably wondering how. How can you implement those strategies? 

That’s where Salto comes in.

With Salto, you can effectively adopt those practices in your day-to-day. And unlike other DevOps platforms, you don’t need to code or have any prior experience with DevOps.

Below are a few powerful examples of what you can do with Salto. 

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How to find dependencies in your Okta configuration

Once you add your Okta tenant, Salto fetches your configuration and presents it in a structured, easy-to-explore format. This enables you, first of all, to view and search all of your policies, groups, rules, and other configuration elements in one place.

Salto also shows you the interdependencies within your Okta configuration, allowing you to conduct a complete impact analysis and to avoid errors, broken flows, and unforeseen disruptions when you make changes in your configuration:
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How to test changes safely and deploy them between tenants

With Salto, you can compare different Okta tenants and quickly move configurations between them. This process is crucial for testing new applications, policies, and groups in a preview sandbox before moving them into production.

Salto’s deployment features provides a safeguard against deploying bad or incomplete changes, offering an extra layer of protection for Okta:
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How to monitor changes that others make in Okta

Another useful Salto’s feature is change monitoring. To minimize the impact of unauthorized modifications, you can set up email or Slack alerts and get notified about changes that other admins make in your tenant. This can be done for your entire configuration or just specific elements that are more crucial to watch:
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How to enable configuration backup and rapid recovery

Salto’s configuration backup and restore capabilities can help you quickly recover from errors or adverse changes. This feature ensures that your Okta tenant will maintain a continuous and secure operational state, ready to revert any change if necessary while keeping always-on configuration backup:
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How to implement an approval process for Okta changes

Here’s a more advanced feature for teams that want even more control over the changes made in their Okta configurations.

By integrating Salto with Git, you will be able to implement approval gates for every deployment that goes through Salto, meaning that the change can be deployed only after a designated reviewer approves it. Here’s how it works:
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And more!

Managing Okta configuration, especially at scale, can be challenging. However, by embracing DevOps principles and leveraging a tool like Salto, you can make your configuration management a whole lot easier, all while maintaining high standards of security and operational efficiency.

Do you want to give Salto a try? Start a free 1-month trial >> or Book a demo with one of our experts >>