Boost Security and Productivity with AWS IAM Identity Center

Managing user access across numerous AWS accounts and business applications can be a significant operational challenge. AWS provides a robust solution to streamline this complexity: IAM Identity Center.

This article provides a technical overview of federated identity and a detailed look at AWS IAM Identity Center (the successor to AWS Single Sign-On). We will cover its core concepts, operational mechanics, and key use cases, followed by essential tips for those preparing for AWS certification exams.(Identity and Access Management).

Understanding Federated Identity

Federated identity is a system that allows a user’s digital identity and attributes to be shared across multiple, distinct IT systems or organizations. Most users manage multiple digital identities—separate usernames and passwords for email, social media, and internal corporate applications.  

Federated identity simplifies this by enabling Single Sign-On (SSO), where a single set of credentials can be used to authenticate once and gain access to multiple independent software systems. This ensures a user’s identity is trusted and recognized across a defined federation of systems and applications.

What is the IAM Identity Center?

IAM Identity Center is the recommended AWS service for centrally managing user access to AWS accounts and cloud applications. It is built upon the concept of federated identity to provide a unified SSO experience.  

The service requires and integrates with AWS Organizations, allowing administrators to manage permissions and grant access centrally across all accounts within their organization. The primary goal of IAM Identity Center is to provide centralized, single sign-on access to all of your assigned AWS accounts and cloud applications.  

How It Works: Operational Mechanics

The setup and operation of IAM Identity Center follow a clear, logical path:

1. Enable the Service: You begin by enabling IAM Identity Center within your AWS management account. This action requires AWS Organizations to be active.  
2. Choose an Identity Source: Next, you configure an identity source, which is the system that stores and manages your users and groups. You have several options:
   • Identity Center Directory: The default, built-in directory where you can create and manage users and groups directly within the service.  
   • Active Directory: You can connect to an existing Microsoft Active Directory, whether it’s an AWS Managed Microsoft AD, a self-hosted AD on EC2, or an on-premises AD connected via an AD Connector or a trust relationship.  
   • External Identity Provider (IdP): You can connect to a standards-based external IdP, such as Okta, Azure AD (now Microsoft Entra ID), or Ping Identity, using the SAML 2.0 standard.  
3. Configure Permissions: An administrator then configures permissions using Permission Sets, which are centrally defined access policies. These are collections of IAM policies that define the level of access a user has (e.g., Administrator Access, Read-Only Access).  
4. Assign Access: Finally, the administrator assigns these Permission Sets to users or groups from the chosen identity source, granting them access to specific AWS accounts.
5. User Access: Users log in via a personalized AWS access portal, where they see all the AWS accounts and applications they are assigned, enabling one-click access without needing separate credentials for each resource.  

Key Features and Use Cases

IAM Identity Center is a versatile service with several powerful features.  

• Centralized Multi-Account Access: Its primary use case is providing a single point of administration for user access across an entire AWS Organization.  
• Business Application Integration: It simplifies access to a wide range of business cloud applications that support SAML 2.0, including popular platforms like Salesforce, Dropbox, Slack, and Microsoft 365.
• Active Directory Integration: Organizations can leverage their existing investment in Active Directory by using their current user credentials and group memberships to control AWS access.  
• Custom Application Support: The service supports custom-built SAML applications, including those hosted on AWS resources like Amazon EC2 and AWS Elastic Beanstalk.  

In effect, IAM Identity Center acts as the “front door to AWS,” offering a unified solution for identity and access management

Exam Tips

If you are preparing for an AWS exam, be sure to understand these key points:

• Federated identity is the core concept that enables SSO by allowing a user’s identity to be trusted across multiple systems.
• IAM Identity Center is the AWS service for managing federated access and SSO into AWS accounts and cloud applications.  
• To integrate with an on-premises Active Directory, the two primary methods are using an AD Connector or establishing an AD trust relationship via AWS Directory Service.  
• IAM Identity Center relies on Permission Sets to define and assign user permissions centrally across your AWS Organization.

Want to learn more about training and procedures for beginners? Check out the rest of our introductory content.