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08/06/2026 4:37 pm
TL;DR: OIDC is lighter and easier to implement, but SAML still dominates complex enterprise federation because it carries richer assertions, supports hub-and-spoke trust, and better fits compliance-heavy SSO environments, according to WorkOS. The practical issue is not protocol preference but whether your identity programme can preserve auditability, federation scale, and legacy application compatibility.
NHIMG editorial — based on content published by WorkOS: OIDC vs SAML: how a two-decade-old protocol still dominates identity federation
Questions worth separating out
Q: How should IAM teams decide between SAML and OIDC for enterprise apps?
A: Choose SAML when applications need rich attributes, mature federation, or detailed audit evidence.
Q: Why do many enterprises keep SAML even after adopting OIDC?
A: They keep SAML because migration is not only technical.
Q: What breaks when organisations try to replace SAML too quickly?
A: What usually breaks is not login alone.
Practitioner guidance
- Inventory protocol dependence by application class Map which applications require hierarchical attributes, explicit authentication context, or multi-party federation.
- Preserve SAML where audit evidence is part of the control requirement Keep SAML for regulated or legacy applications that rely on signed assertions, rich context, and non-repudiation.
- Standardise onboarding for hybrid federation Create a repeatable process for adding SAML and OIDC applications, including metadata exchange, client registration, and policy ownership.
What's in the full article
WorkOS's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:
- Concrete protocol comparison examples for SAML assertions and OIDC JWTs in real enterprise flows
- Migration considerations for organisations moving from legacy federation to modern app-first authentication
- Implementation detail on how WorkOS abstracts SAML and OIDC into a single integration layer
- Practical notes on hybrid identity estates where both protocols must coexist
👉 Read WorkOS's analysis of OIDC vs SAML in enterprise federation →
OIDC vs SAML in enterprise SSO: what IAM teams need to know?
Explore further
08/06/2026 6:19 pm
SAML persists because enterprise federation is still a trust problem, not just a token problem. The article shows that SAML’s value comes from rich assertions, standardized metadata exchange, and mature multi-party trust relationships. Those properties matter when an enterprise must onboard many apps, preserve compliance evidence, and keep legacy systems operating. Practitioners should treat federation as an ecosystem decision, not a front-end authentication preference.
A few things that frame the scale:
- 92% of organisations expose NHIs to third parties, raising concerns about supply chain security, according to Ultimate Guide to NHIs.
- Only 5.7% of organisations have full visibility into their service accounts, which means federation decisions often sit on top of incomplete identity inventory.
A question worth separating out:
Q: What is the difference between protocol migration and identity governance?
A: Protocol migration changes how assertions or tokens move between systems, but identity governance determines who owns the trust relationship, what evidence must be retained, and how onboarding and offboarding are controlled. A good migration plan must include governance ownership, not just technical compatibility.
👉 Read our full editorial: OIDC vs SAML: why enterprise federation still runs on SAML
