Glossary / SSO (Single Sign-On)
SSO (Single Sign-On)
An authentication scheme letting a user log in once and access multiple connected applications without re-entering credentials for each one, backed by a central identity provider.
SSO works by delegating authentication to a central identity provider — Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace — using a protocol like SAML or OAuth/OIDC to prove identity to each connected application without that application ever seeing the user's actual password.
The direct benefit is fewer passwords floating around, which means fewer places for one to leak — but the underrated benefit is deprovisioning: disable the identity provider account once, and access to every connected application disappears at the same time, instead of an admin working through a dozen individual app logins by hand.
The tradeoff is concentration: SSO ties an entire suite of applications to a single point of failure. A compromised identity-provider account is worse than a single compromised app login, because it can be the key to everything connected — which is exactly why MFA at the identity-provider layer specifically matters more than almost anywhere else in the stack.
How Nexus handles this
Nexus doesn't operate as an identity provider itself, but the same consolidation logic applies to MSP tooling more broadly — one platform for PSA, RMM, security, and CRM removes several of the separate logins an SSO deployment would otherwise need to cover in the first place.
More terms
MSP (Managed Service Provider)
A company that remotely manages a client's IT infrastructure and end-user systems on an ongoing, proactive basis — usually a flat-fee contract, not break-fix billing.
RMM (Remote Monitoring and Management)
Software that lets an MSP monitor device health and perform remote management tasks — patching, scripting, remote control — across every client site from one console.
PSA (Professional Services Automation)
Software that runs the business side of MSP operations — ticketing, SLAs, billing, contracts, and client records — the system of record most MSP work flows through.
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