Google Apps Password Management

Google Apps, the cloud offering from Google, is widely used by enterprise users for email communications, storing and sharing files, collaborative document review, etc. It is the job of IT administrators of an enterprise to ensure that the users have a strong password for their Google Apps account. Unlike their Windows accounts, which are governed by the time-tested domain password policy stipulations, Google Apps doesn’t have any strong policies to protect the sensitive data. This poses a serious challenge, as managing users’ passwords of a cloud-based application like Google Apps would increase the workload of an already overburdened IT staff.

The best and simple solution for this challenge is synchronization of users’ passwords for Google Apps accounts with those of Windows Active Directory accounts. By doing so, the protection offered by Active Directory domain password policy is extended to Google apps passwords too.

Why synchronize passwords with Google Apps?

• Google Apps doesn’t require users to change their passwords at regular intervals as Windows Active Directory does. This puts sensitive information like emails and data stored in the cloud at a greater risk.
• Users have to remember more number of passwords in a corporate setup; first to gain access to their Windows machine, and then to the Google Apps application or other enterprise apps. Managing different sets of passwords is a hassle for users and administrators alike.
• Finally, the passwords that users can set for their Google Apps account doesn’t have to conform with any password complexity rules unlike their Windows Active Directory passwords. This, again, is a big security risk that needs to be addressed.

To overcome these challenges, ADSelfService Plus offers a comprehensive Password Synchronization solution that synchronizes password changes in Windows Active Directory with all the connected systems including Google Apps. Apart from bolstered up passwords there is another advantage to this: password self-service for Google apps too. If the users ever forget their Google Apps passwords, they can simply reset their Windows Active Directory passwords using ADSelfService Plus without IT assistance. The new password is automatically synchronized with the users’ Google Apps accounts.

Benefits of Google Apps Password Sync

ADSelfService Plus’s Password Synchronizer for Google Apps paves the way for a unified self-service password management solution for enterprises. The one-identity solutions lets IT administrators manage users’ identities in a hybrid setup easily and securely.

ADSelfService Plus’s Password Synchronizer for Google Apps will help you:

• Implement a secure, robust, cost-effective one-identity solution in no time
• Reduce the major source of helpdesk calls and free up IT administrators to focus on other important tasks
• Extend Windows Active Directory password complexity rules to Google Apps and all other connected systems
• Ensure that users’ passwords for Google Apps account are changed periodically in a timespan deemed safe by you
• Make the life of end-users easier by freeing them from having to remember a multitude of passwords

Benefits of ADSelfService Plus - Self Service Reset Password Management