What is Ping Identity and What it Offers IT Leaders

If you're evaluating identity and access management solutions, you've likely come across Ping Identity. The company has been around long enough to secure more than 60% of Fortune 100 companies and processes 200 million logins every single day. That's not marketing speak. That's actual scale.

Ping Identity is an enterprise IAM platform provider. Private equity firm Thoma Bravo acquired them for $2.8 billion in 2022, then followed up by purchasing ForgeRock for another $2.3 billion in 2023. The combined platform now offers one of the most comprehensive identity solutions in the market. They've also been named a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader for Access Management for nine consecutive years, which tells you something about their staying power.

The platform handles more than 100 million users and processes over 1,000 transactions per second. They're approaching $800 million in annual recurring revenue with 31% year-over-year growth in their SaaS business. These numbers matter because they indicate both market validation and technical capability at scale.

Understanding the Ping Identity Platform

Platform Architecture and Deployment Options

Ping Identity isn't a single product. It's a platform with multiple deployment options. You can go fully cloud-native with PingOne, deploy on-premises with PingFederate and PingDirectory, or mix both in a hybrid setup. They also offer FedRAMP-certified options for government deployments.

The platform is built on industry standards: SAML, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, FIDO2/WebAuthn, and W3C Verifiable Credentials. This matters because you're not locked into proprietary protocols. Their approach to integration is extensive. They offer 350+ pre-built connectors and 6,500+ orchestrated capabilities through their DaVinci platform.

AI-Powered Intelligence with Helix

At the core sits Helix AI, their machine learning engine that powers fraud detection, behavioral analytics, and risk scoring. It's not bolted on as an afterthought. It's embedded throughout the platform.

Who Ping Identity Serves

Ping Identity primarily serves large enterprises with complex requirements. Think Fortune 1000 companies, highly regulated industries like government and financial services, and organizations that need to support millions of users. If you're a mid-market company with straightforward needs, there are simpler options. But if you need massive scale, hybrid deployment flexibility, or advanced capabilities, Ping makes sense.

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Zero Trust Architecture

Zero Trust operates on "never trust, always verify." Ping's implementation goes beyond buzzword compliance. They provide continuous authentication that evaluates risk in real-time, not just at login.

Continuous Authentication and Risk Scoring

Their risk-based authentication assigns every authentication attempt a score from 0 to 100. This happens in sub-second timeframes using over 100 different signals. The Helix AI engine analyzes:

• Device fingerprints: Unique device identification and reputation scoring
• Network intelligence: IP reputation, VPN/proxy detection, geolocation
• Behavioral patterns: Typing speed, mouse movements, navigation behavior
• Velocity checks: Login frequency, location changes, impossible travel
• Historical baselines: Normal user behavior and anomaly detection

If your user normally logs in from Chicago during business hours and suddenly appears in Singapore at 3 AM, the system notices. Session monitoring continues throughout user activity. If behavior becomes anomalous mid-session, like unusual data access or rapid navigation patterns, the system can require step-up authentication or terminate the session entirely.

Application-Level Security with PingAccess

PingAccess handles the application security layer. It acts as a reverse proxy enforcing policy-based access control at the web application and API level. This creates micro-segmentation where each application or API endpoint has its own access policies based on user attributes, device posture, location, time, and data sensitivity.

Applications become invisible to unauthorized users through software-defined perimeters. This approach replaces traditional network-based security with identity-centric controls.

Least Privilege Access Control

Least privilege access is enforced through both role-based and attribute-based access control:

• Just-in-time access: Temporary elevated privileges for specific tasks
• Time-based expiration: Automatic permission revocation
• Automated management: No manual intervention required
• Continuous monitoring: Ongoing access evaluation

Device Trust and Posture Assessment

Device trust matters in Zero Trust. Ping evaluates device health in real-time: OS version, patch level, antivirus status, encryption settings, screen lock configuration. They differentiate between corporate-managed devices and BYOD, applying different policies accordingly. Jailbroken or rooted devices get blocked. They integrate with MDM/UEM solutions like Intune, Jamf, and VMware Workspace ONE.

What Zero Trust Solves

This solves several problems. Network perimeters don't exist anymore. Remote work requires secure access from anywhere. Cloud applications bypass traditional controls. Zero Trust with Ping prevents lateral movement after breaches and provides consistent security across on-premises and cloud environments.

Best Suited For

• Organizations with distributed workforces
• Companies undergoing cloud migration
• Highly regulated industries with strict security requirements
• Businesses facing sophisticated threats
• Enterprises replacing legacy VPN infrastructure with modern ZTNA

Explore more Zero Trust partners and solution providers to work.

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Legacy IAM Modernization

Most enterprises have identity infrastructure accumulated over decades. Multiple identity silos. Inconsistent policies. Poor user experience. High operational costs. Security vulnerabilities from orphaned accounts and weak authentication. Cloud migration gets blocked by these legacy constraints.

Hybrid Identity Bridge

Ping's approach is gradual transition, not rip-and-replace. PingFederate acts as an integration hub connecting legacy and modern systems. It synchronizes identities bidirectionally between old directories like Active Directory or LDAP and cloud platforms.

Protocol translation converts legacy authentication methods like Kerberos and NTLM into modern standards like SAML, OAuth, and OIDC. Systems coexist during extended transition periods, allowing you to modernize at your own pace without disrupting operations.

Directory Consolidation with PingDirectory

For directory consolidation, PingDirectory provides high-performance LDAP that scales to billions of entries with sub-millisecond response times. Proxy mode allows gradual data migration without disruption. You can consolidate multiple fragmented identity silos while maintaining multi-master replication for high availability.

Progressive Authentication Modernization

Authentication modernization happens progressively:

1. Add MFA to legacy apps using PingAccess as a reverse proxy without changing application code
2. Implement SSO across modern and legacy applications simultaneously
3. Deploy risk-based authentication that adjusts security based on context
4. Enable passwordless authentication for applications that support it
5. Maintain legacy authentication as fallback during transition

Access Governance Capabilities

Access governance capabilities include:

• Centralized access reviews and certification campaigns
• Automated provisioning and deprovisioning
• Role-based access control with automated assignment
• Segregation of duties enforcement
• Comprehensive audit trails for SOX, HIPAA, and PCI DSS compliance
• Pre-built compliance reports

Cloud Migration Enablement

Cloud migration gets enabled through multiple paths:

• Lift-and-shift: Extends on-premises identity to cloud
• Cloud-native refactoring: Migrates to PingOne
• Hybrid architecture: Combines PingFederate on-premises with PingOne cloud
• Multi-cloud support: Federates with AWS IAM, Azure AD, and Google Cloud Identity

What Legacy IAM Modernization Solves

This solves fragmented identity silos, reduces operational costs from manual processes, improves security by eliminating orphaned accounts, enables previously blocked cloud migrations, and provides unified visibility for compliance.

Best Suited For

• Enterprises with decades-old infrastructure
• Organizations undergoing mergers and acquisitions needing identity consolidation
• Companies blocked from cloud migration by identity constraints
• Businesses with high operational IAM costs from manual provisioning
• Highly regulated organizations requiring comprehensive governance

Explore more Identity and Access Management solutions for your IT projects.

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Passwordless Authentication

Passwords cause 81% of breaches. Users spend nearly 11 hours per year managing them. Half of all help desk calls are password-related. The cost per employee annually is around $480 just for password management.

FIDO2 and WebAuthn Implementation

Ping's passwordless approach eliminates passwords entirely through cryptographic proof and biometrics. Their FIDO2/WebAuthn implementation in PingOne and PingFederate supports:

• Security keys: YubiKey, Titan Security Key, and other FIDO2-compliant devices
• Platform authenticators: Windows Hello, Touch ID, Face ID, Android biometrics
• Passkeys: Synced credentials across devices via iCloud Keychain or Google Password Manager

The authentication uses public key cryptography. Private keys never leave user devices. This makes it phishing-resistant because there's nothing to intercept or steal. When you authenticate, the server sends a challenge, your device signs it with the private key, and the server verifies the signature using the public key.

Mobile Biometric Authentication with PingID

The PingID mobile app provides another passwordless option:

• Push notifications arrive for authentication requests
• Users confirm with biometric verification on their mobile device
• Offline authentication works with time-based codes
• Device attestation verifies device integrity
• Biometric liveness detection prevents spoofing

Certificate-Based Authentication

For high-security environments, certificate-based authentication supports:

• Smart cards like PIV and CAC for government
• X.509 certificates on devices
• Hardware security module integration
• PKI for certificate lifecycle management
• Derived credentials for mobile devices

Flexible Implementation Options

Implementation flexibility matters. Multiple passwordless options let users choose. Support for multiple authenticators per user provides redundancy. Fallback mechanisms handle device loss. Cross-device authentication allows using your phone to authenticate on your computer.

Browser and platform compatibility covers Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. This ensures passwordless works across your entire device landscape.

What Passwordless Authentication Solves

This eliminates breaches from stolen passwords, removes the password management burden, eliminates password reset costs, prevents phishing and credential stuffing attacks, improves user experience with 2-3 second authentication instead of 30+ seconds, and reduces registration abandonment.

Best Suited For

• Organizations prioritizing user experience and convenience
• Companies facing credential-based attacks like phishing and credential stuffing
• Businesses with high password reset costs and help desk overhead
• Customer-facing applications requiring seamless authentication
• Financial services and healthcare requiring strong authentication
• Government agencies with smart card and PIV requirements

Centralized Fraud Detection and Orchestration

Fraud is sophisticated. Account takeover, new account fraud, payment fraud. Average cost per incident runs $15,000 to $50,000. Traditional approaches use siloed tools with limited context and high false positives that harm legitimate users.

PingOne Protect: AI-Powered Fraud Prevention

PingOne Protect provides AI-powered fraud detection through the Helix AI engine. Every authentication attempt receives a risk score from 0 to 100 in sub-second timeframes. The system analyzes over 100 signals simultaneously.

Multi-Signal Fraud Analysis

Device Intelligence:

• Fingerprinting that creates unique device identifiers
• Reputation scoring based on historical behavior
• Integrity checks for jailbreak or root detection
• Known device recognition

Network Intelligence:

• IP address reputation analysis
• VPN, proxy, and Tor network detection
• Impossible travel identification through geolocation
• Anonymous network flagging

Behavioral Analytics:

• Typing patterns and speed examination
• Mouse movement pattern analysis
• Navigation behavior monitoring
• Time spent on pages tracking

These behavioral biometrics can identify users by unique patterns, making fraud detection more accurate.

Velocity Checks:

• Login attempt frequency monitoring
• Location change velocity to catch impossible travel
• Device switching pattern analysis
• Transaction frequency tracking

Threat Intelligence:

• Compromised credential database checks
• Known bot network identification
• Attack pattern matching
• Dark web monitoring for stolen credentials

Historical Analysis:

• Each user's normal behavior baseline
• Anomaly and deviation detection
• Peer group comparison
• Time-of-day and day-of-week pattern tracking

Automated Risk-Based Response

Automated response happens based on risk scores:

• Low risk (0-30): Frictionless access with silent monitoring
• Medium risk (31-70): Step-up authentication like MFA, email or SMS verification
• High risk (71-100): Block access, require manual verification, trigger security investigation

Decisioning happens in under 100 milliseconds, ensuring security doesn't slow down legitimate users.

Specific Fraud Prevention Capabilities

Account Takeover Prevention:

The system achieves 95%+ detection rates with less than 1% false positives. It catches impossible travel, new devices from unusual locations, and behavioral changes that indicate compromised accounts.

Bot Detection:

Bot blocking reaches 99%+ effectiveness through behavioral CAPTCHAs, headless browser detection, mouse movement analysis, and known bot signatures.

New Account Fraud Prevention:

The system identifies disposable email addresses, VPN or proxy usage, devices associated with previous fraud, and synthetic identity markers. Integration with identity verification services like Onfido, Jumio, Trulioo, and IDology enables progressive verification based on risk.

Transaction Fraud Monitoring:

Real-time risk scoring for transactions, velocity limits, step-up authentication for high-risk transactions, and out-of-band confirmation for large transactions protect against payment fraud.

Fraud Orchestration with DaVinci

PingOne DaVinci orchestrates fraud responses without code. Its 350+ connectors include fraud services like Sift, Kount, Forter, Riskified, and Signifyd. You can design progressive verification workflows based on risk levels and integrate email/phone validation, credit bureaus, and behavioral biometrics services.

What Fraud Detection Solves

This stops sophisticated fraud attacks, eliminates siloed tools with centralized decisioning, reduces false positives by 50-70% versus rule-based systems, provides real-time detection and automated response, prevents bot attacks, and reduces manual fraud review by 90%.

Best Suited For

• Financial services organizations facing sophisticated fraud threats
• E-commerce and retail businesses with high transaction volumes
• Customer-facing applications with account takeover risk
• Organizations with high fraud losses requiring ROI justification
• Businesses balancing security with user experience
• Companies integrating multiple fraud detection services

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Customer Engagement Through Identity Orchestration

Registration friction kills conversion. Cart abandonment hits 27% due to complex checkout. Registration forms see 80% drop-off when too long. Password resets consume 30-50% of helpdesk calls.

PingOne DaVinci: No-Code Identity Orchestration

PingOne DaVinci provides no-code identity orchestration. The visual, drag-and-drop workflow designer requires zero coding. Those 6,500+ orchestrated capabilities span identity functions. The 350+ pre-built connectors integrate third-party services.

Key features include:

• Real-time journey adaptation responding to user behavior and risk
• A/B testing enabling optimization
• Multi-channel support covering web, mobile, IoT, and call centers
• Reusable workflow templates
• Visual debugging and monitoring

Progressive Profiling Strategy

Progressive profiling starts with minimal initial registration. Email only or social login. Then contextual data collection happens when needed, like shipping address at checkout. Value exchange motivates information sharing, like birthdate for birthday rewards.

Users control their preferences. Profile building happens gradually over time, reducing initial friction while still gathering necessary information.

Adaptive Authentication for Customer Journeys

Adaptive authentication adjusts dynamically:

• Low-risk scenarios: Passwordless, biometric, or single-factor authentication
• Medium-risk scenarios: Step-up authentication or email/SMS verification
• High-risk scenarios: Multi-factor authentication required

Security and user experience stay balanced based on actual risk, not blanket policies.

Social Login and Federation

Social login integration includes Google, Facebook, Apple, and LinkedIn. Registration takes 3-5 seconds instead of 2-3 minutes for form completion. Account linking connects multiple identities to a single profile. Profile enrichment leverages social data. Enterprise federation handles SAML/OAuth for B2B scenarios.

Omnichannel Identity Experience

Omnichannel identity provides:

• Seamless authentication across web, mobile, and in-store
• Call center integration enabling agent-assisted verification
• IoT device authentication binding users to devices
• Partner ecosystem federation extending identity
• Consistent experience spanning all touchpoints

Integration Ecosystem

The integration ecosystem connects:

• Identity verification services: Onfido, Jumio, Trulioo
• Fraud detection services: Sift, Kount, Forter
• CRM and marketing automation: Salesforce, HubSpot
• Communication services: Twilio, SendGrid
• Analytics platforms: Google Analytics, Segment

What Customer Engagement Orchestration Solves

This eliminates registration friction causing high drop-off rates, reduces cart abandonment, decreases password reset support calls, enables rapid prototyping without developers, provides consistent identity experience across touchpoints, and allows business teams to optimize flows without IT bottlenecks.

Best Suited For

• Customer-facing applications prioritizing conversion rates
• E-commerce and retail organizations with cart abandonment issues
• Financial services with complex digital onboarding requirements
• Media and entertainment platforms with subscription models
• Any organization where customer experience directly impacts revenue
• Businesses with limited development resources for identity customization

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Secure Workplace Access Management

Workplace access gets complex fast. Employees have too many systems. Manual provisioning takes days or weeks. Orphaned accounts from former employees create risks. Excessive permissions compound security problems. No visibility into who has access to what. Compliance demands proof of access control.

Identity Lifecycle Management

Identity lifecycle management automates everything. Integration with HR systems like Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, and Oracle HCM triggers automated account creation on hire.

Key capabilities:

• Role-based provisioning assigns access based on job function
• Access changes automatically on role transitions like promotions or transfers
• Immediate deprovisioning on termination happens across all systems
• Contractor and temporary worker lifecycle gets managed
• Lifecycle states handle joiners, movers, and leavers

Single Sign-On for Enterprise Applications

Single sign-on provides one login for all applications, cloud and on-premises:

• Support for thousands of pre-integrated applications
• Browser extensions and mobile apps extend access
• SAML, OAuth, and OIDC protocol support
• Kerberos and NTLM work for legacy applications
• Seamless application access eliminates repeated authentication

Multi-Factor Authentication for Workforce

PingID for workforce offers multiple authentication methods: mobile push, SMS, biometrics, FIDO2, and OTP. Adaptive MFA adjusts based on device, location, and behavior. Passwordless authentication options exist. Offline authentication works when needed. Integration with existing authentication infrastructure is straightforward.

Privileged Access Management

Privileged access management protects admin accounts:

• Mandatory MFA for all privileged accounts
• Just-in-time privilege elevation for specific tasks
• Session recording and monitoring for audit trails
• Approval workflows requiring manager authorization
• Automated privilege de-escalation after time expiration
• Integration with PAM solutions like CyberArk, BeyondTrust, and Delinea

Identity Governance and Compliance

Identity governance includes:

• Centralized access reviews and certification campaigns
• Segregation of duties enforcement preventing conflicting permissions
• Role mining and optimization refining access over time
• Automated compliance reporting covering SOX, HIPAA, and PCI DSS
• Risk-based access analytics identifying excessive permissions
• Audit trails capturing all access decisions

Least Privilege Implementation

Least privilege access uses:

• Role-based access control for standard permissions
• Attribute-based access control for fine-grained policies
• Time-based access that expires automatically
• Context-aware access considering location, device, and time-of-day
• Continuous access monitoring making adjustments

Self-Service Capabilities

Self-service capabilities reduce help desk load:

• Self-service password reset handles the majority of password issues
• Access request workflows route approvals automatically
• Application catalogs let users request access
• Profile management and preference updates happen without IT involvement

What Workplace Access Management Solves

This eliminates orphaned accounts creating security risks, reduces manual provisioning time from days to hours, decreases password-related help desk costs, prevents excessive permissions through least privilege, ensures compliance with comprehensive audit trails, improves employee productivity with SSO, and reduces security risk from privileged account misuse.

Best Suited For

• Enterprises with large workforces over 10,000 employees
• Organizations with high employee turnover requiring rapid provisioning
• Companies with extensive SaaS application portfolios
• Highly regulated industries requiring governance and compliance
• Businesses with remote or hybrid work environments
• Organizations with complex role structures and segregation of duties requirements

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Decentralized Identity

Centralized identity has limitations. Organizations store sensitive personal data, creating liability. Users have no control over their identity data. Identity verification gets repeated across services. Privacy concerns grow with data centralization. Verification costs and complexity increase.

PingOne Neo: Decentralized Identity Platform

PingOne Neo enables decentralized identity through W3C Verifiable Credentials and Decentralized Identifiers. Organizations issue cryptographically signed digital credentials. Users store credentials in digital wallets on mobile devices. Users present credentials to verifiers when needed. Verifiers cryptographically verify without contacting the issuer.

How Decentralized Identity Works

Selective disclosure proves attributes like "over 21" without revealing the actual birthdate. Zero-knowledge proofs enable verification without exposing sensitive information.

The technical architecture is blockchain and distributed ledger technology agnostic. Public key infrastructure handles credential verification. Biometrically secured device wallets store credentials. Cryptographic signatures prevent forgery. Tamper-evident storage protects credentials.

Core Capabilities

Credential issuance lets organizations create:

• Employment badges and verification credentials
• Professional licenses and certifications
• Educational diplomas and transcripts
• Government-issued digital IDs

Real-time verification services validate presented credentials. Digital wallet SDKs enable building or integrating wallet applications. W3C Verifiable Credentials and DIDComm standards ensure compliance. OpenID for Verifiable Credentials is supported. Privacy by design enables selective disclosure.

Use Cases for Decentralized Identity

Employment Verification:

Issue digital employment credentials for background checks and loan applications. Eliminate repeated verification calls to HR departments.

Educational Credentials:

Universities issue verifiable diplomas and transcripts. Employers verify instantly without contacting institutions. Academic records become tamper-proof.

Age Verification:

Prove age without revealing birthdate for alcohol, gambling, or content access. Enhanced privacy for users.

Healthcare Applications:

Patient credentials for accessing medical records across providers. Provider credentials enable cross-organization access. Privacy-preserving health data sharing becomes possible.

Financial Services KYC:

Reusable identity verification for account opening. One-time verification, multiple uses across institutions. Reduced onboarding friction.

Government Services:

Digital driver's licenses and professional licenses. Permits and certifications. Citizen identity services.

What Decentralized Identity Solves

This reduces organizational liability by not storing sensitive data, enhances privacy and GDPR/CCPA compliance through data minimization, lowers verification costs by eliminating repeated checks, improves user experience with one-time verification and reusable credentials, reduces fraud through cryptographically verifiable credentials, and provides competitive differentiation with next-generation technology.

Best Suited For

• Organizations exploring next-generation identity technology
• Use cases requiring enhanced privacy and data minimization
• Industries with credential verification needs like education and healthcare
• Companies wanting early-mover advantage in emerging technology
• Pilot projects and proof of concepts
• Government agencies implementing digital identity initiatives like the EU Digital Identity Wallet or mobile driver's licenses

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Understanding Fit: Is Ping Identity Right for You?

When Ping Identity Makes Sense

Ping Identity works best for large enterprises with complex, hybrid environments. Highly regulated industries like government, finance, and healthcare. Organizations requiring massive scale and advanced capabilities. Companies prioritizing security without sacrificing user experience. Businesses with existing Ping deployments looking to expand.

When to Consider Alternatives

It may not fit small-to-mid-market organizations with limited IAM expertise. Microsoft-heavy environments where Entra ID bundling makes economic sense. Organizations prioritizing simplicity over comprehensive features. Budget-constrained projects where premium pricing is prohibitive.

Making Your Decision

The platform offers seven distinct solutions that can be implemented independently or as part of a comprehensive identity strategy. Whether you're modernizing legacy IAM, implementing Zero Trust, eliminating passwords, preventing fraud, optimizing customer journeys, securing workplace access, or exploring decentralized identity, Ping provides enterprise-grade capabilities proven at scale.

The question isn't whether these identity capabilities are needed. Most IT leaders already know they are. The question is which solutions address your most pressing challenges and how quickly you can implement them to gain competitive advantage.