Item: Microsoft Entra ID
Rating: 9
Author: Brandon Dieterich

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have migrated all of our systems to Entra ID for SSO. It provides a single point of sign-on for users while also providing multifactor authentication for security. Users are now able to reset their own passwords(previously, they would have to call the help desk), and we have better insight into where users are signing in from and also which accounts are being attacked by unknown third parties.

Pros and Cons

Single Sign On.
Security (Multifactor authentication).
User management.

The Entra ID interface has numerous options. It is sometimes easy to get lost looking for something.
The recent name change from Azure has confused some of our users, thinking they were logging into the wrong portal. This generated numerous calls to our help desk.
MS will change the locations of things inside their interface at will. Sometimes, they notify you beforehand, and others do not.

Return on Investment

While not specifically a monetary ROI, we've seen a great return on our time spent managing user accounts and SSO implementations. As almost everyone is compatible with Entra, it has been relatively easy to set up SSO for various services, and we spend less time managing user accounts(password resets, diagnosing login issues, etc.).
The reporting tools are also great for showing our administrative users (who are less tech-savvy) the added security benefits that Entra provides. It's easy to show them a report with the number of blocked sign-ins due to location restrictions, missing MFA requirements, or the number of "risky users" (potentially compromised accounts).
Being able to clearly demonstrate that all accounts are protected by a second factor has also lowered our insurance premiums, thus saving money for the entire organization.

Deployment

We are still using a local Active Directory domain for on-prem logins(we haven't moved to Entra-joined for that just yet) and Entra for cloud identity management. Entra also ties into our Microsoft 365 license so that users can access Microsoft 365 apps. Entra is a great identity provider, and we couldn't imagine life without it.

Multi-App Security

Yes. We have numerous non-Microsoft apps that we have tied in through SAML or Shibboleth. Once they are set up via Entra, we now have MFA-secured logins for these non-Microsoft applications.

None.

End User Experience

The end-user experience seems to be much better than before. We now have a true single sign-on environment where the end-user always knows what to expect. Previously some of our web apps would use just a username/password as a login and some would be a full email/password login. The logins could also be different so users were always forgetting which password went to which service.

Alternatives Considered

The Okta Identity Cloud

We reviewed Okta for identity management, but as we are an educational institution and receive a decent discount on Microsoft products, the price of Entra was hard to beat. Okta did have many of the features we were needing but the price just couldn't be matched.

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?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Microsoft Entra ID go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Microsoft Entra ID again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

Entra ID is well-suited for medium to large environments that are already users of Microsoft products. From that aspect, it's fairly simple to get set up and start using. I feel it's less useful to smaller businesses or businesses that are not already using MS products. Entra seems like it would be overkill for a small company of 20-30 users or those that don't have the budget for Entra. SSO can be done for cheaper via other identity management softwares.

Excellent cloud identity provider!

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Entra ID