Thanks Steve, appreciate your feedback. You're right, data and system availability are primary concerns, and ldap.io is designed with those factors in mind.
In the event of networking or connectivity problems -- for example, if your Internet link goes down -- we're considering providing an on-premise virtual appliance configured to automatically replicate with the hosted servers. It would be very low maintenance and a good option for BCP.
For the authentication issue in general, consider the current trend of Identity as a Service and Single Sign-on as a Service -- Okta, OneLogin, and Ping, to name a few. If you use ldap.io for authentication, it would be in the same category of services, and you would also have more control of the data layer.
In the event of networking or connectivity problems -- for example, if your Internet link goes down -- we're considering providing an on-premise virtual appliance configured to automatically replicate with the hosted servers. It would be very low maintenance and a good option for BCP.
For the authentication issue in general, consider the current trend of Identity as a Service and Single Sign-on as a Service -- Okta, OneLogin, and Ping, to name a few. If you use ldap.io for authentication, it would be in the same category of services, and you would also have more control of the data layer.
Along the same lines, Microsoft is now offering Active Directory for Windows Azure, to cater for similar use cases in the Windows world. See http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/services/active-directory/
In any case, totally understand your concerns, and it makes sense to use the service for non critical purposes, in the first instance.