What term refers to a system that allows multiple organizations to use the same authentication credentials?

The term that refers to a system allowing multiple organizations to use the same authentication credentials is federation. Federation involves creating a trust relationship between different domains or organizations, enabling users to authenticate once and access resources across those domains without needing separate credentials for each. This approach streamlines user management and enhances the overall user experience since users can move seamlessly between different services while maintaining security.

In the context of cloud environments, federation facilitates collaboration between businesses or services that may otherwise rely on different authentication mechanisms. By establishing a federated identity management system, organizations can leverage existing authentication processes while ensuring that access permissions are respected and enforced. This arrangement often utilizes standards such as SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) or OAuth to facilitate smooth and secure communication between the entities involved.

The other concepts, while related to the broader topic of authentication and authorization, do not specifically encompass the idea of sharing credentials across multiple organizations.