Google Authenticator is a mobile authentication app.
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Microsoft Entra ID
Score 8.9 out of 10
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Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Microsoft Azure Active Directory or Azure AD) is a cloud-based identity and access management (IAM) solution supporting restricted access to applications with Azure Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) built-in, single sign-on (SSO), B2B collaboration controls, self-service password, and integration with Microsoft productivity and cloud storage (Office 365, OneDrive, etc) as well as 3rd party services.
Microsoft Entra ID makes it so easy and seamless to manage an environment full of Microsoft apps, that it didn't make much sense to deploy another option. If we were heavily invested in the Google platform, then it might make sense to use a Google offering for SSO.
Logging into my work accounts is where Google Authenticator works best. Also, I had a personal account get hacked. I had an account created to book hotels, but someone was constantly resetting my password. To prevent further hacking attempts, I set up Google Authenticator. I do not believe it would be appropriate for banking accounts.
If you have a mixed solution, such as different types of devices with different types of operating systems, it could be more complicated. But if you have already decided that your company will be a Microsoft company in terms of everything internally running with Microsoft software, like the operating system, Windows 11, then this is probably the best way to use it. So if you have mixed or hybrid solutions or scenarios, maybe it's not exactly what you mean.
Many people at our company work remotely, including the sales and procurement teams. So people usually travel from one country to another country. Some people travel to Australia or some people travel to Canada based on the business requirements. So we usually audit the sign-in logs and verify whether the user is valid while they're using our company's email ID to perform their day-to-day operations.
I once performed a factory reset of my smartphone which had Google Authenticator. I didn't have a backup for the device. When I restored my phone with the same google account, I was not able to restore the authenticator app settings. I had to add all the keys back into the app to use it. This is cumbersome, but I understand it is set up this way for security reasons.
I don't like the ease with which it lets you delete a key. If I accidentally delete a key, I am doomed to get my 2FA key reset, unless I still have the QR code saved somewhere.
I say "cost" on a per-user basis for smaller organizations, which is why Microsoft has small-business programs. I'm trying to figure out if anything is uniquely gripping. I guess transitions to and from, but to be honest, that's where we live. The difficulty of adopting Microsoft Entra ID when you didn't start there as an organization is a little bit sizable, but that's the case with any identity provider. It's not anything endemic to Microsoft Entra ID. It works. It's efficient.
MSFT Entra ID has been essential for managing our geographically dispersed team. We're confident that it will scale with us as grow, and we'll be able to take advantage of additional security and ID management features as they become necessary. Being able to centrally manage our user access from anywhere with a small support team is such a relief.
It's as easy as opening the app and what I need it for is there. I don't have to fumble with other accounts or getting something else to open it for me. I have all the access that I need for the use of the app within seconds and I can get access to the info that I need.
Simply because of what I mentioned earlier, the feature set sort of keeps changing and they do a lot of, they integrated with a lot of the other tools and so for users who are not as well seasoned, it may be a little bit more complicated for them to begin working within the tool.
I have found Google’s support to be hit or miss. There are times when they are very responsive, and I get my issue resolved quickly, and there are times where a response from them takes weeks. There is no in-between. But my support experience with this particular product is nonexistent because I have not had a problem with it yet. Hopefully, we do not have any problems with it either.
I have not needed to engage support for anything at this time. I have been able to find the answers either online or in a knowledgebase. I tried to skip the question but it would not let me, so I rated a 9 based on other interactions with Microsoft support I have had
Make sure you use a good partner. Our implementation was a bit longer and more problematic than we expected. Our partner got it done, but, in my opinion, some of their inexperience and staffing issues were evident.
First, Google Authenticator meets the security requirements which should be considered "table stakes". Second, simplicity is critical. Many users don' understand why they are setting up MFA (or they just don't care), and so adding additional complications to their day-to-day is always challenging. When it is simple, it makes life a lot easier. Finally, trust (due to the brand name recognition, primarily) removes any notion of "what is this?" that the user may have from being required to install something on their personal device for work purposes.
Microsoft Entra ID is not as stand-alone product as competitors like Okta. It may lack some of the features that competing products have but on the other hand it integrates both technically and license wise with other Microsoft cloud services and is easy to deploy. It is also the easiest way to extend identity management to the cloud if you already have Microsoft Active Directory in use.
Microsoft Professional Services' technical knowledge is appreciable as consultants design the solution as per customer requirements. Mapping of features per user specifications and assisting Customer IT engineers to implement so they can manage and administer the services.
More secure data = less worried about a data breach.
Takes longer to log in, and if I don't have my phone then I have to go looking for it, so it really makes it so that you can't be without your phone, which in certain instances is annoying or not possible and can hold up work time.
Everyone is willing to use the same program because everyone likes Google—makes it easier to manage.
I think managing costs was probably the biggest one as a nonprofit. We're always worried about the financial impact that any product can have. And as licenses change or they are shut down, migrating to the proper product without going over budget is always something we are concerned about. But for the most part, it's been positive. Microsoft works for us as nonprofits to make sure that we get very fair pricing.
