Encap, a provider of authentication technology, released a study that compares the cost of authentication methods for enterprises.

It reveals that large companies could halve the total cost of ownership of authentication technology used by employees for secure access to enterprise services and applications via private and enterprise owned networks. An enterprise with around 3,000 employees could save up to $165,000 over three years by migrating from hardware-based solutions.

Top line findings:

• Capital Expenditures: The deployment cost for one-time passcode hardware tokens is $202,000 vs. smart phone device-based software at $9,000, representing a 95% decrease in cost
• Replacement costs: Hardware one-time passcode replacement costs are over 90% more expensive than all software based approaches
• Annual cost per user: Text message one-time passcode is the highest annual cost per user at $35, when compared to $15 for smart device-based software
  Software-based: Smart device-based software is at least 60% less expensive than all other software based approaches in terms of annual costs per user

Authentication methods have been are predominantly hardware-based and usually take the form of a small device or token that provides a one-time-passcode that an employee uses to access enterprise or cloud services. The need for employee authentication is increasing in importance with the emergence of the “bring your own device” phenomenon.

Encap’s study analyzed the average cost of the six most prevalent approaches to authentication for a large enterprise with 3,000 users over a three-year period. These include hardware approaches such as hardware one-time passcode tokens and smart cards, as well as software such as smart device-based software, mobile one-time passcode in the form of an app, PC one-time passcode via a Web-browser and text OTP.

All of the approaches are two-factor authentication where the user requires something they have – a card or token – and something they know – password or PIN – to gain access.