No one cares about your authentication flow…until you get it wrong

When you open an app on your device, odds are, you’re not thinking about the authentication flow much (if at all). It’s something that exists in just about every app, and while it’s not flashy, it’s critically important. Users expect proper authentication and authorization behind their apps, and most of them really don’t care about it – until you get it wrong. 

The authentication that happens behind the scenes in your application is something you cannot afford to mess up. So why take a chance? Why waste valuable engineering resources building something that’s not really setting you apart, yet is potentially catastrophic if you get it wrong? 

Spend your time wisely

Building a secure authentication flow is no small feat. While creating a custom solution means it can be tailored to your specific needs, it also likely means hundreds of hours of your engineering team’s effort. 

Plus, it’s not enough to just build a solution and forget about it. Security standards and risks are ever-evolving, which means your team will need to continue to maintain the code to adapt. That means even more development cycles that could otherwise be spent building something more valuable. 

A turnkey authentication solution, on the other hand, is as quick and easy as flipping a switch. No development hours needed, as overhead is pushed off to the provider instead. Updates are also handled by your authentication vendor, freeing up your development team to focus their efforts elsewhere. 

Don’t put your money in a shredder

While time is money, there’s additional spend beyond development hours that goes into building your own authentication solution. Moreover, if that solution isn’t properly configured and implemented, you incur additional costs to remedy the situation. 

So what is the cost of getting it wrong?

In 2022, the average cost of a data breach was 4.35 million USD. That figure has climbed over 12% from 3.86 million in 2021. With a global pandemic reshaping the way we work and putting a greater emphasis on remote work more than ever before, it leaves devices (and businesses) open for cyber attacks. With the risk higher than ever, investing in a managed solution that has your business’s best interests in mind makes the most sense. 

Follow best practices

Here’s the tough thing about best practices- they’re always changing. That means that your security and authentication processes need to be constantly evolving as well, from patches to bug fixes – and that can become a major cost center and time suck. 

According to TechRepublic, over 40% of surveyed security professionals and over 30% of developers say they spend more than five hours each workday addressing security issues that could have been avoided in the first place. 

When the cost of maintenance becomes a business hindrance, turn to a solution provider and take it off your team’s plate entirely. With products designed with security best practices at their core, you can equip your apps with top-tier security, without adding to your team’s workload. These solutions are designed to work from the get-go, they’re kept up to date according to ever-changing best practices, and ensure continued compliance with today’s standards. 

AuthConnect from Ionic is just that – ready to go and always working seamlessly in the background to safeguard your users and their data. AuthConnect lets you rapidly integrate with auth services such as Auth0, AWS Cognito, Azure Active Directory, and more. It ensures complete protection, from initial login to logout and token refresh, and it uses a single API and the latest in native security best practices.

Get started

While your authentication flow should be effortless for a great user experience, the best-case scenario is that nobody has to think about it. If you can avoid sending users the dreaded ‘you need to change your password’ email, you maintain their trust and your reputation. 

Investing in the right authentication tool saves your team time, saves your company money, and saves everyone a headache. Rather than trying to build a solution, work with a trusted provider to leverage a solution that works out of the box and doesn’t require any manual maintenance. After all, nobody cares about your authentication flow anyway…until you get it wrong.