Amazon Web Services is simplifying the way users can sign into their accounts, dumping a clunky web address that used to be required for certain users.
Jeff Barr of AWS announced the change, which will roll out “soon” to AWS admins responsible for setting access policies to their organization’s accounts, in a blog post Monday. It looks like the new process will make it faster and easier to set up new users and simpler for existing users.
The sign-in process for #AWS accounts will change soon. Read this now be prepared! https://t.co/WyiV9po3YO
— Jeff Barr ☁️ (@jeffbarr) July 17, 2017
Right now, if you’re an Identify and Account Management (IAM) user of AWS services, you have to log into your organization’s AWS account from a URL linked to that account, which can be long and obnoxious to type on a mobile devices and easy to lose amid a crush of email. The change will allow IAM users to sign in directly through the Management Console home page using an account ID or an account alias, which will be much easier than trying to remember where a link to that sign-in URL is hiding in your email inbox.
It’s another sign that AWS is expanding beyond its roots as a service for early adopters in small companies. AWS admins inside large companies could be spending a lot of time simply dealing with user login problems as users lose the URLs, switch to a new computer, or any other number of scenarios in which logging in from a unique URL can be problematic.
And if you prefer the URL-based login method, don’t worry, it’s not going away.