Item: Microsoft Entra ID
Rating: 8
Author: Diego Quiros

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Entra ID is our cloud identity provider. We use it as part of the Azure core products, but also as idp for all the cloud applications that we have currently in place. It makes it a lot easier to deploy security measures, due to the possibility to apply conditional access rules, and also it's easy to manage both from the gui and from the console.

Pros and Cons

Conditional Access Rules
Logs (limited time by default)
Integration with 3rd party

Logs (security should be a basic, not a paid feature)
Price (you can do lot of things but must of them depend on the license, and the most interesting ones are always on the top one)
Stop changing names (this was Azure AD before, no need to change names, it can be confusing some times)

Return on Investment

+ Easy Cloud Identity Provider
+ Conditional Access Rules
+ Multi Factor Auth support
- Price / Licensing security features

Deployment

We have a mixed enviroment, working both with on premise appliances and also cloud services. We try to use the best part of the cloud deployment, such as conditional access, mfa, high availability, etc... to use it both on cloud solutions, 3rd party integrations and on premise applications. It can improve both cloud and on premise deployments.

Multi-App Security

As said before, we use it for Microsoft apps but also for 3rd party apps. It does not matter if the application is on premise or in cloud, it should be easy to integrate it with Entra ID as identity provider (we have do it with many applications) and take advantage of the feature that it offers

Yes, we have some SaaS applications wich are integrated with EntraID as identity provider, but I'll prefer no to give such details. However, the list of SaaS applications that are compatible with EntraID is huge, and you'll find material on how to connect them and how to make it work, so it should be an easy thing to do.

End User Experience

You will have to "teach" users to get used to the new login page, as they will be moved from their classic login screen to the Entra ID login page, so if you don't tell them, it will be weird for them.
Also, if you didn't have it before, multi factor auth is a plus, but it should be also showed to the users before taking it to a productive enviroment. Anyhow, you'll get calls from people that are unable to login, but added security features make it worth.

Alternatives Considered

I've not used any other product like Microsoft Entra ID for the moment

Key Insights

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

Not sure

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

Other Software Used

Microsoft 365, Netskope CASB, Fortinet FortiGate

Likelihood to Recommend

If you're already using Microsoft products, Azure tenant, O365... you will be using Entra ID. At that point, you should consider to use it as cloud identity provider, as it is really easy to use it with 3rd party applications, it has a lot of pre-built integrations, and you can apply conditional access rules, wich is a plus.
If you're not using any Microsoft products, either on-prem or on Azure... maybe it's not your best choice, as it'll be more expensive than other solutions.

Great product, but you'll pay for it

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Entra ID