Microsoft's Passport Program: A Failed Attempt at Dominating Web Authentication

Strategic Insights -

Microsoft's Passport program, once hailed as a revolutionary single sign-in solution, has been slowly losing support from major web services, with eBay and Monster.com being the latest to abandon the service. The decline of Passport can be attributed to a combination of factors, including security concerns, competition from alternative authentication methods, and fears of Microsoft's increasing control over the e-commerce highway.

Key Takeaways:

  • eBay is no longer supporting Passport, and members will have to log in directly to the website.
  • Monster.com also stopped using Passport in October.
  • Microsoft's Passport program has failed to deliver on its promised federated system, with the company only implementing the service on its own web sites and a few close partners.
  • Approximately 700 web sites still use Passport, although the exact number is unknown.
  • Microsoft has shifted the focus of Passport to MSN and Microsoft online services, essentially admitting that they will no longer be recruiting new customers.
  • The company has discontinued its Site Directory and scrapped Passport Express Purchase, which included an electronic wallet add-on.
  • Microsoft's security glitches, concerns over Passport's centralized authentication architecture, and competition from alternative methods, such as the Sun-spawned Liberty Alliance, have contributed to Passport's decline.

Statistics:

  • 5 years: The amount of time Passport has been in operation.
  • $25 million - $40 million: The reported cost of Microsoft's acquisition of Firefly Network Inc.
  • 700: The approximate number of web sites still using Passport.
  • July 1999: The month Passport debuted.
  • March 2003: The month Microsoft scrapped Passport Express Purchase, which included an electronic wallet add-on.

Sources:

  • Microsoft spokesperson
  • eBay
  • Monster.com
  • Microsoft Corporation
  • Firefly Network Inc
  • "Microsoft scraps Passport Express Purchase" article from March 2003 without date
  • "Passport Continues to Support Multiple Sign-In -- On Microsoft Sites" article without date