For many startups, Google Workspace is the natural starting point as an identity provider (IdP). Its single sign-on (SSO) authentication solution is simple, compatible with most web-based tools, and gets teams productive fast. But as companies grow and their security and compliance requirements evolve, 

For many startups, Google Workspace is the natural starting point for a simple single sign-on solution for most of their web-based tools. It's simple, familiar, and gets teams productive fast. But as companies grow, security and compliance requirements evolve. The typical path? Rip out Google as your identity provider (IdP) and migrate everyone to Okta or similar platforms – a process that's disruptive, expensive, and often overkill for what teams actually need.

As it turns out: you might not need to switch IdPs at all.

Where Teams Slip Off Course

As companies grow, many conflate authentication with access governance.

1. Authentication (IdP) = “Are you who you say you are?”

2. Authorization (IGA) = “Should you be allowed to do that?”

Google Workspace nails the first. But when it comes to controlling who gets access to what, when, and for how long, things often fall apart. A migration means:

• Forcing employees to learn new login flows

• Reconfiguring hundreds of SaaS apps

• Managing a complex cutover that risks breaking critical access

• Paying for IdP features you already had with Google

Enter Opal.

Keep Google. Add Opal. Ship Faster. Sleep Better.

Opal sits on top of your existing IdP – Google Workspace in this case – and turns basic access control into intelligent, risk-aware, lifecycle-driven governance.

No migrations. No broken workflows. No angry engineers.

You get:

• Complete audit trails for every access request and approval

• Just-in-time (JIT) access to eliminate standing privileges and shrink your blast radius

• Automated reviews and approvals that actually get done, and without humans in the loop 

• HR and ticketing system integrations (Workday, Jira, BambooHR) to drive access based on real org changes

• Unified visibility and control across all human and non-human identities – from employees to service accounts to AI agents

All without swapping your core IdP.

Many of our customers already run this streamlined stack, using Google for authentication and Opal for authorization. They get the best of both worlds without migration headaches.

Why Startups Choose Google and Opal

Here’s what we’re seeing from customers in fast-growing AI, cybersecurity, and dev tooling companies:

1. Zero user friction Your team keeps using Google SSO. No retraining, no login errors, no confusion.

2. Time to value in days, not months: You can get advanced governance up and running before your next board meeting.

3. Less spend, better control: Together, Google Workspace and Opal typically cost less than a full-blown Okta deployment while delivering far better signal-to-action.

4. Opal grows with you: Start with basic JIT then layer on approval workflows, automated audits, and risk-based decisions as complexity grows.

Certain Industries and Regulations Make Google IdP a Challenge

However, if your business exists in a heavily regulated industry, has legacy apps stuck in 2009, or needs arcane SAML configs, you may need to choose a different IdP like Okta, Entra, or Authentik.

But Google IdP and Opal together are ideal for startups that:

• Live in Google Workspace

• Want to improve access hygiene and accountability

• Prefer speed over “enterprise bloat”

The Composable Identity Stack

The days of buying one massive identity platform and praying it solves everything are over. Modern security stacks are modular by design – composable, flexible, and API-driven.

That’s what Opal does best:

• Bring just-in-time authorization to your Google-native world.

• Add policy-as-code guardrails without writing YAML.

• Deliver access decisions informed by who, what, and why—not just checkboxes.

TL;DR

You don’t need to migrate off Google just to get serious about access security.

Instead, keep what works. Swap out what doesn’t.

Use Opal to go from default-permit to least-privilege without killing velocity.

If you're growing fast and need real access governance without the drag, this might be the most startup-native move you make all year.

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