SAML Basics
Introductory information about how Coupa utilizes SAML for SSO.
Introduction
Coupa supports the use of SAML 2.0 (Security Assertion Markup Language) for SSO (Single Sign On) support between Coupa and your Identity Management solution. This allows the user to click on a link to Coupa and automatically be signed in if they were already logged in to your SSO.
Once SAML is enabled for your Coupa service you have the ability to allow some users to bypass SAML and log in using Coupa credentials. This is a safeguard in case your SAML server is offline, and an administrator still needed access to Coupa to disable SAML.
Advantages
Integrating your Coupa instance through SAML provides several benefits, including:
- Users do not need to remember a new password for Coupa
- Coupa does not store or maintain password information, alleviating any audit/risk concerns
- Centralize account control through your Intranet and corporate standards
- SAML is an industry-accepted standard for SSO
User Experience
- A user visits a webpage on your Coupa instance.
- Coupa redirects the user to your SSO site for authentication.
- Your SSO site returns a webpage that directs the user's browser to post the SAML response to a Coupa-provided URL.
- Coupa verifies the response. Upon success, the newly-authenticated user will not be required to re-authenticate with your SSO site until the session times out. The session timeout can be configured by an administrator