SSO "Wall of Shame" vs "Wall of Fame"

The SSO Wall of Shame is a list highlighting companies that treat single sign-on (SSO) as a luxury feature rather than a fundamental security necessity, often using it as a revenue-generating tool by charging exorbitant prices, as exemplified by Hubspot's 6300% markup. This practice raises questions about the ethics of profiting from essential security features, especially in a climate where security and privacy are paramount. In contrast, the SSO Wall of Fame celebrates companies like Grafana and Sumo Logic that provide SSO without exploiting customers, emphasizing the importance of supporting businesses that prioritize integrity over profit. The challenges faced by startups in differentiating their enterprise pricing tiers are acknowledged, as implementing and maintaining SSO can be costly and complex due to the intricacies of protocols like SAML and the demands of supporting large enterprise clients. The text suggests alternative pricing strategies, such as charging for other enterprise features or basing prices on user numbers, to avoid the negative implications of the so-called "SSO tax."