What is SAML?
SAML (Security Assertions Markup Language) provides a basic framework for federated authentication and authorization. Essentially SAML allows a user (person or application) to authenticate once against a server that validates the identity. Once authenticated the server will issue an authentication assertion to the user (the server can also generate an authorization assertion that grants privileges to the user), the user can pass this (these) assertion(s) on to other application that can then verify that the user is who they say they are, without having any prior knowledge of the user. This would be most useful in partnership environments, where an enterprise can rely on its partners to authenticate their own users.
