How to Evaluate the True Costs of Multi-Factor Authentication

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Not all multi-factor authentication (MFA) solutions are equal. There are some extra features on some and hidden costs in others. The total cost of ownership includes all direct and indirect costs of owning a product. For a two-factor authentication solution, that may include hidden costs, such as upfront, capital, licensing, support, maintenance, and operating costs. Don’t forget the many other unforeseen expenses like professional services and ongoing operation and administration costs that accumulate over time.

“With Duo, we were able to bring consistent security controls across all of our apps by streamlining to one MFA and SSO solution at a much lower total cost of ownership…. Our clients are able to easily self-enroll, deploy 2FA and SSO against their own applications, regardless of where they’re hosted, and Duo nearly halved our 2FA-related support workload.” —John Bryant, Chief Technology Officer, Options Technology Ltd.

How can you be sure you’re getting the best security return on your investment?

Upfront Costs

See if your vendor’s purchasing model requires that you pay per device, user or integration – this is important if your company plans to scale and add new applications or services in the future. Many hosted services provide a per-user license model, with a flat monthly or annual cost for each enrolled user. When investigating licensing costs, make sure to confirm whether licenses are named (locked to a single user ID) or transferable, whether there are add-on charges for additional devices or integrations configured, or delivery charges for different factor methods. Estimate and plan for how much it will cost to deploy multi-factor authentication to all of your apps and users.

Administrative Software/Hardware Requirements

Are these included in the software license? Additional management software is often required for some companies – without this, customers can’t deploy MFA. Does the service require the purchase and configuration of hardware within your environment? Confirm the initial and recurring costs for this equipment, and research the typical time and labor commitment necessary to set u

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