Aliyah Winfrey

I'm Aliyah Winfrey, a staff design researcher who’s passionate about creating clarity and alignment in complex research spaces. I thrive on asking the right questions and uncovering insights that drive meaningful design. Outside work, I tend to my garden, experiment with new baking recipes, or get lost in a classic PS2 game.

Staff Design Researcher

Exploring the evolving tech/identifier trends, needs, and behaviors of a global audience

As an advocate for developers and a company that trusts the developer community, we are open-sourcing this survey data to foster dialogue, innovation, and shared learning. By making these insights publicly available, we invite researchers, developers, and CIAM leaders to analyze and build upon our findings. Understanding global digital identity trends requires diverse perspectives, and an open-source approach allows for an informed and equitable discussion. 

Digital technologies continue to change human interactions, shaping global attitudes toward identity, security, and new technological innovations in similar and different ways. Our latest End-User Device & Login Sentiment survey highlights key trends in digital identity preferences, authentication methods, and security concerns. This survey and high-level takeaways contribute to the broader discourse of technology, CIAM, and an evolving general population market. Please find details on the purpose, audience, and collection below:

## Purpose

Understand the general population of global users' evolving technology needs and behaviors to identify key trends and shifts. The following Key topics were covered: 

**Device/OS usage**

* Personal vs. Work device usage 
* Device registration preference
* Work application usage

**Attitude towards technology**

* Overall tech familiarity 
* Hardware update motives
* Frequency of technology updates

**Identifier preference**

* Identifier familiarity 
* Identifier registration preference
* Perceived vulnerability and convenience 

**Password management**

* Reuse & Change Password
* Compromised PII
* Fraud Check

![Key Topics](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/34N68QuL8Q9JZBT8ql8wXB/218ff72b8716be2887562adb892c3e28/key_topics.png)

### Research Questions

1. Understand current technology devices and usage patterns 
2. Identifying emerging trends in end-user preference 
3. Discover unmet needs and pain points to capitalize on new opportunities, driving innovation and strategic growth

### Target Audience

Partnered with Qualtrics for a 33-question survey in the following regions/countries: EMEA (France & United Kingdom), NAMR (United States & Canada), LATAM (Mexico & Brazil), and India. 

### Sample

**N=1049**

* Age
 * Age 18-23: 19%
 * Age 24-30 19%
 * Age 35-54: 32%
 * Age 55+: 30%
* Region
 * NAMR 25%
 * EMEA 25%
 * LATAM 25%
 * APAC 25%
* Gender
 * Male:48%
 * Female: 52%
* Community Type
 * 1/3 Rural
 * 1/3 Suburban
 * 1/3 Urban
* Household Income
 * Less than $25,000- 5%
 * $25,001 - $50,000- 10%
 * $50,001 - $75,000- 20%
 * $75,001 - $100,000- 30%
 * $100,001 - $150,000- 20%
 * $150,001 - $200,000- 10%
 * More than $200,000- 5%

### Data Integrity 

No personally identifying information (PII) was collected. All responses shorter than 3 minutes (180 seconds) were removed. The median completion time was 6.08 minutes. Participants were compensated for completing the survey. 

Samplings across regions are representative of age and gender distributions. For example, given the larger youth population, more youth aged 18 to 30 were sampled in India. Given the country's demographics, ages ranging from 45 to 59+ were skewed towards EMEA and NAMR. 

Additionally, LATAM skewed predominantly toward the urban community type, EMEA represented much of the rural community type, and NAMR led heavily toward the Suburban community type.

### Regression analysis

![Regression analysis](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/2cF18Iz0eEWlprYHPlHlFR/f21d36a8cb21cabedd6100f1037f7aba/Regression_analysis.png)
_Logistic Regression on survey data was completed to gauge if any response options forecast an individual's Willingness to Try New Identifiers. No substantial evidence indicates these factors are significant predictors._

 
Six low-level predictors for Willingness to Try New Identifiers were identified. These include the following:

1. Attitude towards New Tech
2. Familiarity with Identifiers other than Email and Username
3. How often do individuals update their devices
4. Age
5. Apple-Only OS Owners
6. APAC/India region 

Data was collected in October of 2024. Data is accessible via a[ CSV. file](https://cdn.auth0.com/blog/blog/End-User-Sentiments-Survey.csv).

#### Citation

1 End-User Device and Login Sentiment, Auth0, 2024. [Link](https://auth0.com/blog/digital-identity-what-users-think-about-devices-and-logins/)

## Insights

### Top 10 Learnings 

1. Android Phone and Windows OS more widely adopted across diverse groups: 
 - Adoption more prevalent in LATAM and APAC
 - Android users tend to be lower to middle-household income 
![Android, Windows OS lead in adoption](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/1cz14tdcdDmqEZI5ZBgD9M/15021e7a00fe7d4967d9255f16f99b7d/Screenshot_2025-03-21_at_12.39.11_PM.png)
2. Younger demographics and higher income are more likely to use Apple OS 
 - Apple OS more pronounced in EMEA and NAMR
3. Younger demographics and higher income are more likely to use Apple OS 
 - Positive attitude toward new technology, higher frequency of device updates, and more open to adopting new identifiers
4. EMEA and NAMR are more cautious about approaching new technologies 
 - Preference could be influenced by cultural differences and regulations
![General comfortability with adopting tech once mainstream](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/6LXzCLV1QzEPUbZk2rh5c9/33bea12287c85db2359d9e8990a5bda4/Screenshot_2025-03-21_at_12.29.28_PM.png)
5. Top upgrade motivators are new features, device damage, battery issues, and limited memory. 
 - India/APAC unique concern for social brand preference and security concerns
![New features and de ice damage lead us upgrade motivators](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/7CbnGFomOPj6PfmU4IfzeD/e92edbcce72f7994c1ca55ac4575dfa8/Screenshot_2025-03-21_at_12.30.33_PM.png)
6. Respondents who are more familiar with alternative identifiers (email and username) show higher readiness to adopt new ones. 
 - Apple OS users less likely to try new identifiers 
7. The most familiar and used identifiers include Email, username, phone/SMS, and biometrics. In contrast, the least used and familiar include Blockchain and hardware security keys. 
 - Social login is slightly more prevalent in LATAM and APAC
![APAC lead in familiarity and use for most methods](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/71S0j1xEeG6isV67O1SwkP/4a7cdda42233bd8cc16c2a6a2f5829cf/Screenshot_2025-03-21_at_12.35.26_PM.png)
8. Username, email, and fingerprint are rated as the most convenient across all regions. 
 - EMEA and NAMR seem to be more sensitive to non-conventional identifiers such as government ID, security key, and voice ID, while even social login is ranked neutral. 
![Username, email, and fingerprint rated as most convenient](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/7JSF843aMWSNsNSTxBBF0d/c1e9723a8b0efd52cc02748b81256bf6/Screenshot_2025-03-21_at_12.36.02_PM.png)
9. In contrast, Social Login is perceived as the most vulnerable to hackers and cyber-attacks. 
 - Our recent article, Demystifying Social Login, dives deeper into the security of leveraging Auth0 social connections for end-users. 
![Social Login seen as most vulnerable to cyberattacks](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/7zuPvErvRjmZo3uflHsRdG/49f35a40cc73261e8d7ad06cffba6f8b/Screenshot_2024-12-17_at_10.27.55_AM.png)
10. Security and Privacy priority for motivations to try new identifiers 
 - NAMR and EMEA rank innovation as one of the lowest drivers
![Security and Privacy priority for motivations to try new identifiers](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/3LpGrqWztktMy8Nw1H2lYJ/550ad822c4f8684ef18c2cea1f751d56/Screenshot_2025-03-21_at_12.34.25_PM.png)

> Download the [.CSV data here](https://cdn.auth0.com/blog/blog/End-User-Sentiments-Survey.csv).

Join the conversation! Share your thoughts, repost, and tag us to discuss the future of digital identity.

Digital Identity: What Users Think About Devices and Logins

auziros:mckenzie-mayer

Customer Identity (CIAM) Product Comms lead, driving collective storytelling across Okta and Auth0. Making technology accessible for everyone.

Customer Identity Product Comms Lead at Okta

McKenzie Mayer

Desire for ease and security driving consumers to seek out modern identity technology

> Editor's Note: The Login Experience Customers Want study has been expanded to include 12 markets and is now available as part of The Log Inn campaign. To learn more about the campaign and read the full study please visit: https://info.auth0.com/expectation-vs-reality

**LONDON – June 1, 2021 –** The [Auth0](https://auth0.com/) Identity Platform, a product unit within Okta, today announced findings from its international research into Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM), ‘[The Login Experience Customers Want](https://info.auth0.com/expectation-vs-reality).’ The study, conducted by Auth0 and YouGov, reveals that most organizations fail to meet consumer expectations around login technology, highlighting how a login box can impact the user experience of a brand.

The study found that consumers around the world want greater choice in login technologies, and actively seek them out. Half (47%) of consumers surveyed say they are more likely to sign up to an app or online service if a company offers Multi-factor Authentication (MFA). More than four in ten (44%) are also more likely to sign up if they can log in with [Single Sign-On (SSO)](https://auth0.com/case-studies/siteminder/) – using a single ID and password for multiple related services, followed closely by demand for biometrics (42%), [social logins](https://auth0.com/case-studies/flo-health/) (34%), and passwordless (32%). 

Most businesses don’t offer these login options, despite the demand, and general [frustration with using traditional passwords](https://info.auth0.com/expectation-vs-reality). While 45% of businesses surveyed do offer SSO capabilities, less than [one-third offer MFA](https://auth0.com/case-studies/siemens/) (28%), biometrics (21%), social logins (31%), or passwordless (20%). Across the six markets surveyed, 11% of the IT and marketing decision makers said they don’t offer any of these login technologies.

“Clearly, there’s a gap between consumer and business expectations, but it really comes down to convenience. Consumers want to use digital services, but if the login process is clunky or frustrating, they will take their businesses elsewhere,” said Steven Rees-Pullman, SVP, International at Auth0. “With the proliferation of online threats, organizations are challenged to find the right balance between ease and security, and it’s really an ‘aha moment’ when they realize how identity management can help.”

Comparing the results internationally, European organizations are on par with their Asia-Pacific counterparts in offering SSO for their customers; however, they’re well behind the curve when it comes to biometric login adoption vs. consumer expectations. UK businesses are falling especially short when it comes to biometrics, where only 14% of businesses offer biometrics, MFA (28%), and passwordless (13%). 

APAC organizations are ahead of their European counterparts in offering technology such as social logins, biometrics, and MFA. Australian and Singaporean businesses are twice as likely to use biometric login, with 34% of IT and marketing decision-makers surveyed saying their companies currently offer customers the ability to log in with the use of biometrics, compared to Germany (17%), Japan (15%), France (14%), and the UK (14%).

“MFA and SSO are still relatively new technologies for the vast majority of organizations, and developing biometrics or passwordless is a heavy lift,” adds Rees-Pullman. “With a modern identity platform, businesses can not only offer the easiest and most secure user experience possible, but they can also experiment with different login options to find what works best for their audience.”

[Auth0, recently acquired by Okta](https://auth0.com/blog/okta-acquisition-announcement/), provides a modern identity platform that helps organizations meet the security, privacy, and convenience needs of their users. Please visit [Auth0 Identity Platform](https://auth0.com/identity-platform) to learn more.

## Methodology

‘The Login Experience Customers Want’ study was conducted online by Auth0 and YouGov between 23 February and 1 March 2021. The research consisted of two surveys, questioning more than 8,000 consumers and 1,200 IT and marketing decision-makers who work for businesses that offer an app/online service to customers (excluding sole-traders) across six global markets: the UK, France, Germany, Australia, Singapore, and Japan. The data for the consumer study was post-weighted by age, gender, and region to reflect the latest population estimates in each market.

<include src="asides/AboutAuth0" />
### Media Contacts
Global Communications 
Auth0 
[press@auth0.com](mailto:press@auth0.com)

Businesses Fall Short of Consumer Expectations for Login Experiences, Auth0 Survey Reveals

kerry-ok

Kerry is a marketer that loves to partner with the sales organization. As our SVP for Marketing, she is focused on sharing the Auth0 narrative across the globe. Before Auth0, Kerry spent many years working in B2B Tech at Skytap and F5 Networks. She spends her spare time with her family, dog, working in the yard, and enjoying fantasy football.

Chief Marketing Officer

Kerry Ok

Taking a closer look at our recent YouGov survey results

![image](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/3ECzfjyrDSou0kNDj6grh6/dcd039b4cd4f6f4b85d3aa4da305d679/Uploaded_from_What_Your_Customers_Really_Want_From_Your_Login_Box_-_Steven_Rees-Pullman)

We think a lot about login boxes. 

But you would be surprised by just how much your customers are thinking about them as well.

Now, we would say that, since we are in the business of making login boxes. So that’s why we went out and asked people what _they_ thought: more than 17,000 global technology leaders and consumers across 12 global markets: United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.

The survey report, called “[Expectation vs. Reality at The Log Inn](https://info.auth0.com/expectation-vs-reality),” and conducted in partnership with third-party research firm YouGov, revealed that most organizations fail to meet consumer expectations around login experiences.

Everywhere we looked, consumers' expectations didn’t match reality. If you’ve ever had to fill out endless registration forms just to buy a pair of jeans, or create yet another (weak) password for websites owned by the same company (even worse), you know the pain. 

And it makes sense, right? Login should be simple, invisible almost. Because it’s a marketer’s worst nightmare when you get frustrated and decide to take your business elsewhere.

At least, that _would_ _be_ the case, if anyone were paying attention to the login box.

## Won’t Somebody Think of the Login Boxes?

It’s easy to forget about login boxes. After all, no one visits a website just to play with the [CAPTCHA](https://auth0.com/blog/introducing-auth0-craptchas/) – and they are rarely the first place executives and their marketing teams look to increase revenue and reduce churn. But, if you have a website or application, it’s likely you have a login box, and it’s the first thing that customers see. 

So, what did the study show customers want?

A winning lottery ticket?

No.

They want choice.

When they arrive at your login, customers want convenience and control: they want to choose which authentication method to use – whether it’s MFA or SSO or biometrics. They want a brand experience that resembles a concierge desk: a 24/7 service where no demand is too big. To top it off, they don’t want to see any technical glitches, or have to re-sign up on another device: they want seamless omni-channel experiences – not to be left out in the cold.

* **Passwords just don’t do it for people** &mdash; Consumers rank “Creating a password that has to meet certain requirements” (e.g. number of digits, symbols) among their top frustrations with the sign-up process (47%).
* **One ID to rule them all** &mdash; Almost half (48%) of consumers are likely to sign up to an app or service if they can use Single Sign-On (SSO) – using a single ID and password for multiple related services. This number is higher for Latin American (61%) consumers compared to their global counterparts (APAC 52%, EMEA 41%, and the US 47%). 

## But Login Boxes Aren’t Really a Big Deal, Right?

To make things interesting, we asked businesses what they thought consumers thought (getting meta with this study), and they often didn’t realize just how important login experiences really are:

* **Minding the gap with biometrics**
    * 44% of consumers are likely to sign up to an app or online service if a company offers biometric authentication — only 25% of companies offer biometrics as an option.
* **Going fully passwordless**
    * LATAM (43%), US (42%), and APAC (40%) consumers are more likely than their EMEA counterparts (29%) to sign-up to an app/online service if they were able to use passwordless services. Across the globe, just 20% of companies offer passwordless authentication.


## It’s More than Just a Login Box

Not having the technologies above is not just a minor annoyance; it’s an actual turn-off for many consumers when it comes to engaging with your brand. Oftentimes your login box is actually standing in the way of users signing up to your app or making a purchase.

* **It’s not about the journey, it’s about the destination**
    * About half of the consumers (48%) are frustrated by having to fill in long login or sign-up forms. This number rises for consumers in APAC (55%) and LATAM (51%) compared to consumers in EMEA (46%) and the US (36%).
* **I’m outta here**
    * Our research shows that 83% of consumers have abandoned a purchase or an account setup because the login process was too arduous. This rises to the highest levels in Singapore (89%), Brazil (87%), Australia (86%), France (86%), US (86%), UK (85%), and Mexico (85%).

## Okay, You Have My Attention

Good. Very few executives are used to paying much attention to customer identity management (their login box). But as many of us emerge from the past year, more digital than we’ve ever been, creating safe and simple access to online services is essential. 

The opportunity to build trust is massive.

This is admittedly just a glimpse into the minds and behaviors of consumers. We are working on a series of blogs that look deeper at what consumers want, and how the login box can help.

What Your Customers Really Want From Your Login Box

auziros:jeana-tahnk

Jeana has been in the tech industry for 15+ years, both as a communications professional and writer. As Director of Global Communications at Auth0, she works with her internal team and external agencies to amplify the company's visibility worldwide and establish its leadership in the identity industry. When she is not working, she can most likely be found on a field watching one of her three kids playing sports, or cleaning up after her one-year-old retriever who chews everything.

Senior Director, Global Communications

Jeana Tahnk

Developer input on purchasing decisions critical for productivity and satisfaction

**BELLEVUE, Wash. – Oct. 21, 2020 –** The [Auth0](https://auth0.com/) Identity Platform, a product unit within Okta, today announced the results of a global survey entitled, "[How Development Teams Purchase SaaS](https://auth0.com/resources/whitepapers/how-development-teams-purchase-saas)," sponsored in partnership with Bessemer Venture Partners(1). This digital research survey, operated by SD Times—encompassing respondents from a range of company sizes, industries, regions, and roles within an application development team—revealed two trends: Companies that implement more SaaS components innovate faster than those that don't, and those that do innovate faster are relying more heavily on developer teams for input in SaaS purchasing decisions. 

Building software has become a necessity for companies to stay competitive in today's highly cloud-dominated market. SaaS components like authentication, monitoring, and payment processing provide invaluable building blocks to development teams, enabling them to build applications faster and smarter. The survey findings show a correlation between using SaaS components and speed and frequency of releasing new services, including:

* More than half of survey respondents (51%) who released new features once a month or faster used SaaS components in more than half of their applications. 
* 80% of respondents who released new features more slowly (between 1-12 months) do not use SaaS components in the majority of their applications.
* Using SaaS components for 'time savings and agility' was cited as the number one reason why they are implemented (76%), followed by 'features and functionality,' and 'utilizing technical expertise.' 

There is still tremendous market opportunity for SaaS component integration that remains untapped, and 58% of respondents say their companies will increase investment in third-party SaaS services over the next year. The application components cited as being the most burdensome to build in-house were: 1) Payment processing; 2) Authentication; 3) Data Management and Storage. Implementing SaaS components for each function are well worth the investment. Of the respondents that use a SaaS platform for authentication, 83% cited a reduction in time-to-market. 

"As early investors in the category, we've been stunned by the massive growth of cloud computing this year, especially during these challenging times," said Ethan Kurzweil, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. "2020 provided evidence that the cloud is the underlying foundation to digital operations and delivery of software. Now more than ever, enterprises across the globe need to integrate SaaS components to save time, cost and deliver on product innovation. Auth0's survey underscores the value and role developer platforms play in driving the speed and value of software development."

The way in which SaaS components get selected was also an overriding theme of the survey, revealing that developers care greatly about being consulted in SaaS component purchase decisions. The survey also found resounding results around the way in which these companies are integrating development teams' feedback into their SaaS purchasing decisions. Having a say in which SaaS components are selected matters to 91% of developers and results in a vast majority citing overall job satisfaction (88%) and increased productivity (87%).

"The purchasing power [of SaaS components] isn't held exclusively by the executive team at Toast, but rather it's a collaborative effort between the development team's recommendation and the business's requirements," said Chance Kirsch, staff software engineer at Toast. 

"Auth0 was founded on the idea of empowering developers so they can focus on innovation that matters for their customers. This survey only amplifies that belief, and it's fantastic to see their increasingly influential role at their companies when making important business-driving decisions," said Shiven Ramji, Chief Product Officer at Auth0. "This survey reinforces the power that SaaS components have on overall productivity and team collaboration. We are still in the early days of adoption, and services like authentication will continue to see increases in adoption, especially as the use of SaaS components becomes ubiquitous."

Operated by SD Times, this was a blind online survey to a global audience of 352 respondents, 64% from North America, 20% from EMEA, 15% from APAC, and 1% from South America. For more detailed information, please visit Auth0's Resources page to download the full "[How Development Teams Purchase SaaS](https://auth0.com/resources/whitepapers/how-development-teams-purchase-saas)" survey results. 

(1): Bessemer Venture Partners is an investor of Auth0. 

<include src="asides/AboutAuth0" />

### Media Contacts:
Global Communications 
Auth0 
[press@auth0.com](mailto:press@auth0.com) 

Matter for Auth0 
[auth0@matternow.com](mailto:auth0@matternow.com)

Companies That Use SaaS Components Innovate and Launch Products Faster, According to Auth0 Survey

New survey reveals behaviors and usage patterns of application builders; authentication required in 83% of applications built

**BELLEVUE, Wash. – May 19, 2020 –** The [Auth0](https://auth0.com/) Identity Platform, a product unit within Okta, today released a [**2020 State of Application Assembly**](https://auth0.com/resources/whitepapers/state-app-assembly-2020) survey, revealing that a majority of development teams are turning to best-in-class SaaS services and the adaptability of APIs for building unique features and functionalities into the many apps they are responsible for each year.

Surveying 426 global technical professionals across a variety of roles (developers, engineers, CTOs, directors of engineering, software architects) and company sizes, Auth0 determined that 51% of respondents are responsible for building two to five apps per year, and more than a quarter (28%) build 6-10+ apps per year, with three-quarters of these apps being used for external audiences. There are currently more than 4.1 million apps available on leading app stores ([Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/276623/number-of-apps-available-in-leading-app-stores/)), indicating the staggering amount of development these builders are responsible for. 

The survey explored application builder behavior around several services and key findings included: 

* For applications that required payment, 74% of respondents outsourced, with Stripe being the dominant tool of choice.
* For applications that required messaging, 71% outsourced this solution, with Twilio being the highly preferred tool.
* The third service explored was authentication, cited as a requirement in 83% of applications built. However, the numbers for outsourcing authentication were lower than the other two services, with respondents outsourcing 58% of the time. 

With a substantial percentage of companies still building authentication tools in-house – and because authentication is present in the majority of apps – there’s a large potential opportunity for application building teams to streamline their processes and improve efficiency by using a third-party IDaaS tool. 

The accelerated timelines that come with app launches are driving teams away from in-house development and towards microservices – app ‘building blocks’ – that provide features and functionality that would be nearly impossible to build and maintain themselves. Relying on third-party services that are adaptable to their specific needs, significantly frees the team’s resources to focus on core innovation and speed-to-market. 

“These results confirm a trend of application development teams increasingly relying on first- and third-party APIs and external SaaS services when assembling apps, to simultaneously decrease time-to-market and increase completeness and security,” said Martin Gontovnikas, SVP of Marketing and Growth at Auth0. “Whether it’s payments, messaging, or authentication, this survey shows that teams are turning more to a ‘must-have SaaS stack’ to expedite development and enable them to focus on their core product.” 

The move to outsource services that are proven and fully adaptable gives application teams a competitive edge in innovation and implementation. By 2022, 90% of all apps will feature microservices architectures that improve the ability to design, debug, update, and leverage third-party code. Combined with agile/DevOps approaches and methodologies, enterprises can dramatically accelerate their ability to push out digital innovation – at 50-100x (or more) the frequency of traditional approaches ([IDC](https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS44417618)).

Please visit the [State of Application Assembly](https://auth0.com/resources/whitepapers/state-app-assembly-2020) for further details and to view all survey results.


<include src="asides/AboutAuth0" />

### Media Contacts
Jeana Tahnk 
Auth0 Global Communications 
[press@auth0.com](mailto:press@auth0.com)

Hannah Carroll 
Matter for Auth0 
[auth0@matternow.com](mailto:auth0@matternow.com)

Majority of Application Development Teams Rely More On SaaS Services vs. Building In-House

df6c864847fba9687d962cb80b482764?size=200 avatar

df6c864847fba9687d962cb80b482764?size=200

Martin Gontovnikas, a.k.a Gonto, is a software engineer at heart who moved to the ‘dark side’ and became VP of Marketing at Auth0. He considers himself lucky to have found a way to combine his two passions and apply his engineering thinking model to marketing. Gonto’s analytical thinking is a huge driver of his data-driven approach to marketing strategy and experimental design. He is based in the Bay area, and in his spare time, can be found eating gourmet food at the best new restaurants, visiting every local brewery he can find, or traveling the globe in search of new experiences.

Former SVP of Marketing and Growth at Auth0

Martin Gontovnikas

Auth0 surveyed 426 professionals to determine the state of application assembly in a variety of businesses.

The industry trend toward outsourcing software components to SaaS providers is undeniable. And more applications are becoming disaggregated, API-driven, distributed, and cloud-hosted. Software is indeed eating the world. And [SaaS is eating the software](https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterbendorsamuel/2019/10/14/software-is-eating-the-world-but-services-is-eating-software/#523117462116).

In fact, more businesses than ever are identifying opportunities where in-house, custom-written software components that are not a _core-competency_ are now being fronted by APIs, and then outsourced to cloud services. 

In our latest [_2020 State of Application Assembly_](https://auth0.com/resources/whitepapers/state-app-assembly-2020) survey results, we at Auth0 found that indeed, rather than build everything in-house, the majority of development teams are turning to best-in-class SaaS services in a number of specific use cases.

## What Did We Learn?

We wanted to sample teams actively considering outsourcing SaaS services like payment processing, authentication, security, messaging services, and others - and better understand the who, how, and when they did so. With such broad adoption of cloud services, some companies may still be hesitant to turn to SaaS for what they consider business-critical functions &mdash; even when those functions are not core competencies of their team.

We investigated the number of apps built per team, who the apps are built for, which apps are commonly used based on company size, and the relative use-cases of top SaaS services.

Overall:

* We saw a small, but significant, percentage of product managers and security team members still building their own apps.
* Regardless of company size or team size, 51% of teams were responsible for two to five applications and 27% were responsible for more than five. 
* More than 75% of apps built were built for externally-facing audiences.
* Dev teams tended to rely on SaaS largely for payments, messaging, data augmentation, and authentication, helping them to focus on their own differentiated core products.

## How You Can Learn More: 

The complete [survey report is available](https://auth0.com/resources/whitepapers/state-app-assembly-2020) free-of-charge on Auth0.com - More relevant information you might also find useful:

* [Build vs. Buy: Guide to Evaluating Identity Management](https://auth0.com/resources/whitepapers/build-vs-buy-evaluating-identity-management)
* [Do Identity Right – So Your Digital Business Strategy Succeeds](https://auth0.com/resources/whitepapers/identity-digital-business-strategy)
* [Auth0 Identity on AWS](https://auth0.com/resources/whitepapers/aws)


<include src="asides/AboutAuth0" />

Announcing the Auth0 2020 State of App Assembly Survey

Concerns of a breach prompting global retailers to invest in advanced identity management

**BELLEVUE, Wash. – April 2, 2019 –** [Auth0](https://auth0.com/), a global leader in Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS), today announced key findings on how retailers are approaching data security and customer experience in light of widespread data breaches and cyber attacks. Based on a survey of nearly 100 global retailers and case study examples collected by Internet Retailer, the report highlights how the age-old battle of security vs. customer experience is now being solved with modern identity management technology. More details from the 2019 Retail Data Security Report can be found [here](http://info.auth0.com/IdentityinRetailReport.html).

Retailers are in constant competition with each other to increase revenues, maintain customer loyalty, and offer the best user experience possible. But according to the survey, security comes first, with 35 percent of respondents ranking “securing customer and employee data” as their highest priority. Next comes the shopping experience for their consumers, with 29 percent of retailers citing “increasing conversion rates” as their second priority.

Security vs. customer experience has been a longstanding challenge in retail, but retailers no longer have to choose one over the other, thanks to today's modern approach to identity and authentication, like Auth0. With a single, centralized system for shopper identities, a retailer can reduce risk with extra layers of authentication, easily capture data to understand consumer preferences, and personalize the end-to-end experience.

The high costs of a breach are spurring retailers to invest heavily in identity, especially given that one in seven retailers surveyed had experienced a data breach in the past year. Nearly three-fourths of retailers (72 percent) cited multi-factor authentication as the top strategy to combat a data breach, followed by stronger passwords (53 percent), and step-up authentication based on user behavior (37 percent).

"Retailers are rarely experts in identity management, nor should they be. Implementing any authentication technology can be incredibly complex, and that's where an identity specialist like Auth0 can help," said Dave Wilner, Chief Revenue Officer at Auth0. "We're proud to provide retailers around the world with a universal identity solution that not only removes the burden of worrying about security, but also enables them to provide a much better shopping experience to their customers."

To read the full report, please visit: <http://info.auth0.com/IdentityinRetailReport.html>.

### **Media Contacts:**

Kasia Hall 
Matter for Auth0 
[khall@matternow.com](mailto:khall@matternow.com) 
971-246-7898


Mark Fowler 
Racepoint Global for Auth0, EMEA 
[auth0@racepointglobal.com](mailto:auth0@racepointglobal.com) 
+44 (0) 77 1124 4113

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