Domain-Based SSO for Internal vs External User Segregation
Managing user access effectively in growing Jira and Confluence environments is critical, especially when your organization includes both internal employees and external collaborators like vendors or customers. Without clear segregation external users can accidentally receive excessive permissions, increasing security risks. To segregate the users admins will also have to manually sort users into the right groups which is very time consuming.
Business Challenge:
As companies grow, they often encounter these pressing issues:
- Uncontrolled Access: External users sometimes end up with the same privileges as internal staff, risking sensitive data exposure.
- Manual Overhead: Admins spend hours assigning users to correct groups after login, slowing down onboarding and increasing errors.
- Security Gaps: Confusion over roles and permissions grows as user counts rise, making audits complicated.
- Lack of Automation: No simple way exists to automatically distinguish and segregate user types at login, creating inefficiencies.
Here’s what a Jira admin shared recently:
“We have hundreds of external vendors and internal employees accessing our Confluence. Previously, our team manually adjusted group assignments after user onboarding; it was time-consuming and prone to mistakes. We needed a way to automate user segregation.”
Solution Overview
The solution we provided is a domain-based Single Sign-On (SSO) approach that leverages the user’s email domain to intelligently and automatically determine whether the user is an internal employee or an external collaborator at the time of login. As soon as the user attempts to sign in, the system analyzes their email domain and immediately assigns them to the appropriate user group without the need for any manual intervention or administrative effort.
This automated group assignment ensures that internal users are granted full access to resources they need, while external users are placed into restricted-access groups with limited permissions. By eliminating the need for manual sorting and reducing the risk of human error, this setup not only streamlines access control but also significantly enhances security and compliance. It also provides a scalable and maintenance-friendly solution for organizations with a mix of internal staff and third-party collaborators, ensuring the right level of access is always enforced.
How It Works
Domain Verification at Login: When users authenticate via SAML SSO, their email domain is checked against a configured list of trusted internal domains (e.g., @yourcompany.com, @ext-yourcompany.com).
Automatic Group Assignment: If the domain matches an internal domain, the user is assigned to the “Internal Users” group with broader access. If it does not, they go to the “External Users” group with limited access.
Role-Based Access Contro: These groups control what content and features users can access in Jira or Confluence. Internal users can view and edit projects and pages, while external users see only what is necessary, such as restricted documentation or project statuses.
Key Benefits
Secure access with seamless integrations
Zero Manual Group Assignments
Automated user grouping frees up admin time and reduces human errors.
Clear Separation of Access Levels
Strong segregation between internal and external users protects sensitive data.
Improved User Experience
Users land in the right groups immediately, with appropriate access, speeding up productivity.
Simplified Security and Compliance
Organized user roles ensure consistent policies and easier audits.
Conclusion:
Domain-based SAML SSO is a smart, scalable way to manage complex user populations in Jira and Confluence. It empowers admins to automatically segregate users at login, securing your environment and streamlining user lifecycle management without manual effort or confusion.
