Identity, as my cultural-historian friends would tell you, is a loaded word. But in the enterprise, it means something that is both specific and increasingly complicated in the age of the cloud, where defining system users and controlling which applications and resources they can access is more challenging than ever. Okta thinks it has an answer, and it's pushing it aggressively to the channel via a pair of new partner programs that it launched this week.

Companies such as Okta represent the future of user-identity management. They are thinking beyond the limits of localized directory services which, even with connectors that allow them to work in the cloud, inevitably face limitations when handling apps and access control that span across firewalls and involve increasingly large numbers of BYOD devices.

Okta's solution, in the company's own words, "addresses these challenges with a modern approach to enterprise identity management that harnesses the power of the cloud." By connecting multiple apps, user directories and devices together, even if they exist on different clouds or behind firewalls, the company says, "Okta overcomes the economic and technological limitations of legacy identity management software to the benefit of the entire Enterprise Identity ecosystem."

Okta currently counts more than 300 enterprise customers. But beginning this week, it is seeking to magnify its reach within the channel through two partner programs, Okta Solution Providers and Okta Technology Alliances. The company hopes with these initiatives to build a partner ecosystem that includes includes referral partners, resellers, systems integrators (SIs) and independent software vendors (ISVs).

Once certified by Otka for inclusion in the programs, partners can modify and deploy Okta's software within their own solutions. They also receive rebates, technical advising and joint marketing opportunities.

Okta is operating in a sphere that has yet to be defined fully. Legacy directory services continue to function in many cases, and a much newer, cloud-based alternative may be a tough thing to pitch to enterprises—although Okta certainly has obvious selling points precisely because of the inherent limitations of legacy identity management. Either way, this news is a reminder of the opportunities that have arisen for new identity solutions in the age of the cloud. Don't expect that demand to end anytime soon.