AWS IAM Identity Center vs Microsoft Active Directory comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft are both solutions in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.5, while Microsoft is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.6. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 2.7% mindshare in SSO, compared to Microsoft’s 4.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

AWS IAM Identity Center

Read 4 AWS IAM Identity Center reviews

385 Views
341 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Active Directory

Read 39 Microsoft Active Directory reviews

949 Views
671 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

AWS IAM Identity Center

Microsoft Active Directory

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between AWS IAM Identity Center and Microsoft Active Directory based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Single Sign-On (SSO) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed AWS IAM Identity Center vs. Microsoft Active Directory Report (Updated: November 2024).

Buyer's Guide

AWS IAM Identity Center vs. Microsoft Active Directory

November 2024

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Helped 815,442 peers since 2012

Categories and Ranking

AWS IAM Identity Center

Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)

13th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (18th)

Microsoft Active Directory

Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)

7th

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Active Directory Management (6th)

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of AWS IAM Identity Center is 2.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 4.0%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Featured Reviews

Nizamuddeen TZ

Assistant Consultant at Tata Consultancy

Apr 2, 2024

Helps users provide or revoke accesses whenever needed

I don't think there is any need for improvement in the product since everything has been created architecturally by AWS. AWS has given all the features in the tool. In the product, two groups cannot have the same name. There will be a conflict if the same name is provided to two groups in the tool. If you want to say something to another user, the tool fails to identify which group out of the two having the same name is involved in the activity. In general, the tool does not allow for the duplication of names. The aforementioned area can be considered for improvement in the product.

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Rajitha Abhisheka

Senior Systems Engineer at Virtual IT Group - Australia

Sep 29, 2022

A solution that easily merges with cloud-based ADs and provides superior data security

The interface for logs should be user-friendly and allow for enhanced filtering to drill down to incidents. It is time consuming to get a clear picture and review deviations in conditional policies because you have to check each and every log to find information on malicious attacks, a compromised end-user's account, or phishing emails. The logs for sign-ins and auditing should be available for more than a 30-90 day window. Most logs are displayed in UTC but it would be helpful to include time conversions for tenant regions. Currently, we must do time conversions manually before we contact users to share information and troubleshoot issues.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The most valuable features of AWS IAM Identity Center are role-based permissions and existing permissions templates."

"Overall, IAM Identity Center is a great service, currently rated at nine out of ten."

"The organizational value of AWS IAM Identity Center is definitely significant, as it helps ensure that the least required permissions are given to users, thus preventing unnecessary access and reducing the risk of accidental deletions or changes."

"The most valuable feature is the security configuration ease, which is great for me, especially as a beginner."

"The product is easy for beginners to learn and use."

"The most valuable feature of AWS Identity Center is its ability to centrally create permission templates, known as permission sets, which define AWS IAM roles."

"It is easy to understand all the components."

"The ability for a single sign-on for applications."

"The most valuable feature is the configured appliance system in Hypervisor."

"The most valuable features of Microsoft Active Directory are the management of user and group policies."

"The user-friendliness of Microsoft Active Directory is a valuable feature."

"The solution's technical support is good."

"One advantage of Active Directory is that you can sync it with Microsoft Office 365, so you can manage on-premise and cloud operations, which can have different requirements. The flexibility of a hybrid management solution is valuable."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is authentication."

More Microsoft Active Directory pros

Cons

"I would like to see more flexibility in the features as sometimes it doesn't meet my expectations."

"There is a desire to see integration or adoption of time-based user creation features within AWS IAM Identity Center."

"In the product, two groups cannot have the same name...In general, the tool does not allow for the duplication of names."

"I would like to see more flexibility in the features as sometimes it doesn't meet my expectations."

"The AWS Identity Center's user interface could be improved to provide a clearer understanding of how the system operates."

"I would like to see more integration with cloud-based applications. This would make it easier to manage users and devices across multiple platforms."

"There is room for improvement in the support."

"The cloud service of Microsoft Active Directory is an area with certain shortcomings that need improvement."

"The solution needs to be simplified to navigate."

"It could be more scalable. We still need another software solution to monitor the network in addition to Active Directory and OpManager, our domain controller. We use SolarWinds."

"UI is not very user-friendly."

"The DNS services could improve in Microsoft Active Directory."

"Microsoft Active Directory fails to provide MFA. MFA, which is also known as multi-factor authentication on top of the password and username, is what I would like to see in the product's future releases."

More Microsoft Active Directory cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is cheap since it is available on the cloud."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten."

"I rate the product’s pricing a five out of ten."

"The version of Microsoft Active Directory I was using was expensive because it was used for large companies."

"The product's premium support services are expensive."

"Its price is reasonable."

"I'm unsure about the cost of the solution, as I was never involved in that aspect. However, I don't think it would be expensive. It might be average, around four or five out of ten."

"Active Directory is built-in into Microsoft Windows 10. I'm not an administrator and would not be involved in purchasing decisions for new versions of the software. I have only used the client portion of it, I do not know if there is a cost to using the solution."

"It's not overly expensive. It's considered a base function by Microsoft."

More Microsoft Active Directory pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

28%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

20%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS IAM Identity Center?

The product is easy for beginners to learn and use.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS IAM Identity Center?

The product is cheap since it is available on the cloud. AWS IAM Identity Center does not fall under the services that my company provides continuously to our customers, but we do create users and ...

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What needs improvement with AWS IAM Identity Center?

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft Active Directory?

The solution is easy to install and has good reliability.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Active Directory?

The challenges everyone now has in mind is how to really migrate fully to the cloud. Many companies face both technical and cost-related challenges when moving from on-premise Active Directory to M...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Active Directory?

We are still on a hybrid environment where we have Azure Directory on-premises, and sync it up to Microsoft.

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Entra ID vs AWS IAM Identity Center

Compared 66% of the time

Red Hat Single Sign On vs AWS IAM Identity Center

Compared 17% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs AWS IAM Identity Center

Compared 16% of the time

More AWS IAM Identity Center Competitors

ManageEngine ADManager Plus vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 28% of the time

Ping Identity Platform vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 25% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 18% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 15% of the time

CyberArk Identity vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 6% of the time

More Microsoft Active Directory Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Single Sign-On (SSO)

November 2024

Download AWS IAM Identity Center product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Active Directory

October 2024

Download Microsoft Active Directory product report

Also Known As

AWS Single Sign On, AWS SSO

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Learn More

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

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Microsoft

Overview

AWS IAM Identity Center is the recommended service for managing your workforce's access to AWS applications or your multiple AWS accounts (or both). It is a flexible solution that can be used to connect your existing identity source or help you create users in AWS. IAM Identity Center can be used alongside your existing AWS account access configurations.

Active Directory stores information about objects on the network and makes this information easy for administrators and users to find and use. Active Directory uses a structured data store as the basis for a logical, hierarchical organization of directory information.

This data store, also known as the directory, contains information about Active Directory objects. These objects typically include shared resources such as servers, volumes, printers, and the network user and computer accounts.

Security is integrated with Active Directory through logon authentication and access control to objects in the directory. With a single network logon, administrators can manage directory data and organization throughout their network, and authorized network users can access resources anywhere on the network. Policy-based administration eases the management of even the most complex network.

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

AWS IAM Identity Center vs. Microsoft Active Directory

November 2024

Free Report: AWS IAM Identity Center vs. Microsoft Active Directory

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