Item: Microsoft Entra ID
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I help administer the identity use cases for Microsoft Entra ID. We use it as our primary identity in a hybrid configuration with our on-prem Active Directory. This also provides the base for our Office 365 products.

Pros and Cons

Foundation for O365.
Mechanism for modern authentication (SSO, SAML, OAuth, OIDC).
Feature-rich with controls like Conditional Access to enforce MFA and other access restrictions to company applications.

I would like to see more low-code automation options.
Default options need to be set more restrictive to prevent accidentally relaxed security settings.
I would like to see more streamlined configuration pages. Many similar or related settings are scattered across different pages.

Return on Investment

Have been able to modernize SSO from ADFS to save on configuration and server management.
Modernize MFA options over legacy onprem solutions and replace other products/expenses.
Seamlessly expand AD into the public cloud space to use established identities for those use cases.

Deployment

We use Active Directory for our underlying identity and integrate Entra ID into that. We have on-prem data centers as well as public cloud configurations using these technologies to underpin our identity.

Multi-App Security

We use Entra ID as our primary means of integrating our identity with many products, both legacy on-prem as well as other cloud SaaS solutions. This allows SSO and Multifactor abilities to monitor and protect.

Cloud products like Workday and Salesforce work well with Entra ID as well as on-prem versions of Jira and Confluence.

End User Experience

User experience is streamlined by the use of Entra ID to protect our applications and provide SSO features that users expect.

Alternatives Considered

The Okta Identity Cloud

Okta appears to be a capable product, but if you are using O365 or Azure, the licensing doesn't make sense.

Key Insights

Do you think Microsoft Entra ID delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Microsoft Entra ID's feature set?

Yes

Did Microsoft Entra ID live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Microsoft Entra ID go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Microsoft Entra ID again?

Yes

Other Software Used

CyberArk Privileged Access Management, Citrix Workspace, Proofpoint Email Protection

Likelihood to Recommend

If you are using Active Directory as your primary identity and want a way to enhance it for modern or cloud identity scenarios then this is a great product to interface to that. Also if you are interested in Office 365 products it becomes the most obvious choice since it is very integrated. If you are not interested in O365, then paying for the additional licensing to get all of the Entra ID features may not make as much sense for you.

Microsoft Entra ID is a great identity solution.

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Entra ID