7 September 2023
5 simple steps to implement SSO on your LMS
Kenny McCormack
Senior Solutions Architect
It’s easier than you might think to implement SSO and make it simple for learners to access your LMS.
Single sign-on (SSO) is a no-brainer for any LMS admin. The many benefits of single sign-on include:
- Easier access to your learning management system (LMS) and the potential for increased engagement.
- A more secure LMS
- Fewer password reset calls and emails
- Helping to meet Cyber Essentials
- Supporting multi-factor authentication (MFA)
Something that achieves all those things and more might seem a little daunting if the technical aspects of managing an LMS are not your area of expertise.
But it’s surprisingly easy to implement SSO on any LMS. You’ll just need to follow these five very simple steps.
1. Speak to your IT team
The SSO for your LMS needs to work within your organisation’s wider IT infrastructure. Ask your IT team what SSO methodology your organisation supports so that your LMS adopts the right one. We can provide consultancy to help you with this if needed.
2. Install an SSO plugin
Once you know the right SSO methodology, it’s time to install the plugin. If you’re not sure which plugin is right for your LMS, get in touch with us and we can install the correct SSO plugin on your LMS.
3. Testing and implementation
After the SSO plugin is installed, we will arrange for one of our experienced consultants to work with your IT team to implement SSO on your LMS. Testing might initially be carried out in a user acceptance testing (UAT) or sandbox environment before SSO goes live on your main site.
4. Prepare user accounts
Your consultant will help to get your LMS user accounts ready for the switch from manual authentication to SSO.
5. Go live with SSO
You’ll then be ready to start using SSO on your LMS. We’d recommend communicating the change to your users and explaining how SSO benefits them. If you think getting the message across will be challenging, the MultiLogin feature of the Spark theme, which is available exclusively to our customers, enables you to run SSO and manual authentication on your LMS at the same time.
On your agreed switchover date, we’d suggest placing your LMS into maintenance mode while your users are updated to the new authentication method and have the SSO configuration implemented on your live site.
It’s as simple as that. You’ll then have SSO set up on your LMS and, if required, you’ll also be able to roll out MFA at the same time.
Ready to implement SSO on your LMS?
If you’d like to follow those simple steps to get SSO up and running on your LMS, fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch to discuss your plans.
