Overview
Partner and B2B Identity solutions enable secure collaboration across organizational boundaries—with suppliers, distributors, contractors, joint venture partners, and enterprise customers. Through identity federation, organizations grant external parties access to specific applications without creating local accounts, sharing passwords, or managing external identities. The partner authenticates at their own organization; you receive a trusted assertion of their identity. This 'bring your own identity' approach reduces administrative burden while maintaining security and compliance. Large enterprises typically federate with 50-200 partner organizations, with some global companies managing 1,000+ federation relationships.
Why It Matters
Third-party risk is exploding. According to 2025 research, 62% of breaches originate from third-party access—supply chain attacks, partner credential compromise, or vendor VPN abuse. Target, SolarWinds, and Okta breaches all involved compromised third-party access. Traditional approaches—creating local accounts for partners, sharing VPN credentials—create unmanaged risk. B2B identity federation ensures: partners use their own credentials (no shared passwords); you control what they access (not full VPN); access is automatically revoked when partnership ends; every access is auditable. Zero Trust demands treating partner access with the same rigor as employee access.
Key Concepts
1Identity Federation
Cryptographic trust agreement between organizations allowing users from one Identity Provider (IdP) to access applications protected by another. Partner user authenticates at their organization; you receive a signed SAML assertion or OIDC token proving their identity. No passwords cross organizational boundaries. Federation is the foundation of B2B identity—it's how you say 'I trust Acme Corp's authentication for their employees'.
2Just-in-Time (JIT) Provisioning
Automatically creating user accounts when a federated user first accesses an application. No pre-provisioning required—the account is created on first login using attributes from the federation assertion (name, email, department). Reduces onboarding friction from days to seconds. JIT provisioning must be paired with JIT deprovisioning (removing dormant accounts).
3Attribute Mapping & Claims Transformation
Translating user attributes from partner's identity schema to your application's expected format. Partner sends 'dept=Engineering'; your app expects 'costCenter=ENG001'. Attribute mapping normalizes diverse partner identity formats into consistent local representation. Critical for: group membership, authorization policies, and application-specific requirements.
4Cross-Domain Trust (IdP/SP Trust)
Establishing cryptographic trust between your Identity Provider and partner IdPs through metadata exchange and certificate validation. You provide your SP metadata (endpoints, certificate); partner provides their IdP metadata. Certificates validate assertion signatures. Trust is typically established per-organization; some platforms support 'enterprise discovery' for ad-hoc federation.
5Guest Access (Ad-Hoc Collaboration)
Lightweight external user access for partners without formal federation—one-time collaborators, small vendors, or individual contractors. Users are invited via email, authenticate via OTP/social login, and receive limited access. Microsoft Entra External ID and Okta Guest Access are common implementations. Guest access supplements, not replaces, full federation for major partners.
6Partner Lifecycle Management
Governance of external identities through the partnership lifecycle: onboarding new partners, managing access during partnership, and offboarding when partnerships end. Unlike employee lifecycle (HR-driven), partner lifecycle requires: contract-based access grants, periodic recertification, and immediate revocation when agreements terminate.
7Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) Integration
Connecting B2B identity with vendor risk assessment processes. High-risk partners may require additional authentication (MFA), restricted access (specific apps only), or enhanced monitoring. Partner risk score from TPRM tools (OneTrust, ServiceNow) influences identity access policies.
Key Capabilities
- SAML 2.0 and OIDC federation with unlimited partner IdPs
- Federated SSO with JIT user provisioning and deprovisioning
- Guest/ad-hoc access for non-federated external users
- Attribute mapping and claims transformation engine
- Partner self-service: onboarding portal, metadata exchange, testing tools
- Risk-based access policies per partner organization
- Partner access certification campaigns (quarterly review)
- Comprehensive audit trail of cross-organization access
- Integration with TPRM for risk-based partner policies
- Automatic access revocation when partnership contracts expire
Benefits
- No external credentials to manage—partners use their own enterprise identity
- Partner onboarding reduced from weeks to hours with self-service federation
- Clean access termination when partnerships end—no orphaned accounts
- Audit trail proving exactly which partner users accessed what
- Reduced third-party breach risk through controlled, monitored access
- Compliance evidence for vendor access audits (SOX, HIPAA, etc.)
- Scalable to 1000+ partner organizations
Common Challenges
Learning Path
Recommended learning sequence for Partner & B2B Identity professionals
Master SAML Federation
Deep understanding of SAML 2.0: assertions, protocols, bindings, profiles. Learn metadata structure, trust establishment, certificate management, and common debugging patterns
Learn OIDC Federation
OpenID Connect federation patterns: discovery, dynamic registration, claims mapping. Understand when to use SAML vs OIDC for partner federation
Implement B2B Scenarios
Hands-on with Microsoft Entra External ID, Okta Org2Org, or PingFederate. Set up federation, JIT provisioning, attribute mapping
Design Partner Governance
Partner lifecycle management: onboarding workflows, access certification, offboarding automation. Integration with TPRM for risk-based policies
Address Third-Party Risk
Understand supply chain security, third-party breach patterns, and how B2B identity reduces risk. Learn Zero Trust for partner access
Market Trends
Technologies
Standards & Frameworks
Related Vendors
Related Certifications
Security Incidents & Case Studies
Salesforce Customer Data Theft via Gainsight Breach
Third-party vendor Gainsight breach allowed access to 285 Salesforce instances. Demonstrates supply chain and partner identity risks.
CertGPSOpenAI API Customer Data Breach via Mixpanel Vendor Hack
Third-party analytics vendor Mixpanel breach exposed OpenAI customer data. Shows need for vendor access controls and data minimization.
CertGPSMarquis Software Solutions Ransomware Attack
Vendor ransomware attack impacted 74+ US banks and credit unions, exposing 400,000+ customers. Highlights third-party risk in financial services.
CertGPS