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F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs Microsoft Entra ID comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...
Ranking in Access Management
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (20th), Network Access Control (NAC) (7th), SSL VPN (5th), Remote Access (14th)
Microsoft Entra ID
Ranking in Access Management
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
218
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Authentication Systems (1st), Identity Management (IM) (1st), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Access Management category, the mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is 3.0%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 29.9%, up from 26.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Access Management
 

Featured Reviews

Ashish Kumar Rai - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers remote access control, good GUI and easy to configure
I'd suggest improved documentation integration directly within the GUI. Right now, finding comprehensive documentation often requires going to external websites like the community portal. In the APM interface itself, they could add direct hyperlinks to relevant online documentation. This would provide easy access to admin guides and other resources when working within the GUI.
Vinod Survase - PeerSpot reviewer
Saves us time and money and features Conditional Access policies, SSPR, and MFA
I want better integration between Azure AD and the on-prem environment because there are currently limitations that can hamper employee experience. We use a feature called password writeback, that can be challenging to implement in a hybrid environment. Employees can change their passwords using a self-service password reset (SSPR) feature, which reflects from the cloud to the on-prem identity, but not the other way around. Currently, there is no way to reflect passwords from on-prem identities to the cloud. There are other similar limitations, such as a cap on the number of identities that can be synchronized in a particular time frame, which can be an issue for large enterprises with 300,000 employees or more.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product allows us to create customized portals for your users."
"The performance of the solution is valuable."
"Our organization is small - a college with about 3,500 students. We use F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager to protect our site, especially from the Iranian attacks we faced last year. We restrict access to only inside the country."
"The solution is stable and reliable."
"This is a product that is easy to install and integrate, and it is simple to use."
"We have seen a return on investment from F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager. It provided access at a time when we didn't have it."
"F5 BIG-IP APM is relatively easy to use."
"Our customers have never complained about the stability"
"We can have an audit and we can easily audit logs."
"Syncing with our on-prem Active Directory is valuable because we do not have to keep multiple identities for each of our staff members. We can easily evaluate login risks and provide access for SSO via 365 into applications, such as Salesforce, and other things that we run our business on."
"The tool's most valuable feature is conditional access."
"The features I find most valuable are conditional access, privilege management, and dynamic groups."
"It has been very instrumental towards a lot of services we run, especially on the single sign-on side. For example, we have 160 countries that all run their own IT but we still are able to provide users with a single sign-on experience towards global applications. So, they have a certain set of accounts that they get from their local IT department, then they use exactly the same account and credentials to sign into global services. For the user, it has been quite instrumental in that space. It is about efficiency, but also about users not having to remember multiple accounts and passwords since it is all single sign-on. Therefore, the single sign-on experience for us has been the most instrumental for the end user experience."
"Microsoft customer service is the best in the industry."
"One of the most important is the Conditional Access. It helps affect a Zero Trust strategy positively."
"User and device management is the most valuable feature."
 

Cons

"We do not have knowledgeable support teams locally."
"The solution’s GUI looks very old."
"F5 BIG-IP APM disconnects when you leave it for long enough, but that is natural for IT solutions to do. That's a little bit frustrating."
"I'd suggest improved documentation integration directly within the GUI. Right now, finding comprehensive documentation often requires going to external websites like the community portal."
"The initial setup was complex."
"F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager has room for improvement in integration with other products."
"Integrating identity providers and single sign-on solutions can simplify user authentication and access control."
"The operational deployment is not great."
"The automation aspects of Entra ID could be improved, particularly when automating through different providers and SDKs."
"Everything should be in one package. There are so many different packages. They need to provide guidance because there are so many features and we don't know how to implement them in our organization."
"The synchronization with the local Active Directory and synchronization with all of the users on the local and cloud could be better."
"The product takes at least ten minutes to activate privilege identity management roles."
"Transitioning to the cloud is very difficult. They need the training to make it easier."
"It would be good to have more clarity around licensing."
"I want better integration between Azure AD and the on-prem environment because there are currently limitations that can hamper employee experience. We use a feature called password writeback, that can be challenging to implement in a hybrid environment. Employees can change their passwords using a self-service password reset (SSPR) feature, which reflects from the cloud to the on-prem identity, but not the other way around. Currently, there is no way to reflect passwords from on-prem identities to the cloud."
"The licensing and support are expensive and have room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is a little bit expensive."
"I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The product is very expensive."
"Recently, they have simplified the licensing"
"It is a packaged license. We have a Premium P1 subscription of Office 365, and it came with that."
"Its price is okay. It is easy to go from P1 to P2 license. It is not exactly a bargain, but I would recommend the P2 license."
"We are always looking for better pricing."
"Azure AD has four licensing options- Free, Office 365 apps, Premium P1, and Premium P2. The free option has a limited number of identities and features, and the Office 365 version comes included in several Office 365 subscriptions. With the P1 and P2 licenses, we get all the freeware features plus additional security features, but these come at a higher price. The base price for P1 and P2 is $6 and $9 per user per month, respectively."
"I do not have experience with pricing."
"The licensing model is straightforward. I don't think there are any issues with the E3 license or E5 license."
"I give the cost a three out of ten."
"The P1 version costs $6 per user per month."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
10%
Educational Organization
32%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options and policy configuration tools in the GUI. It's good and good enough to work.
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
Regarding price, I'm not directly involved in purchasing, but our CIO thinks the product is very expensive. He's considering moving from the tool to Citrix NetScaler WAF because it's cheaper, and w...
How does Duo Security compare with Microsoft Authenticator?
We switched to Duo Security for identity verification. We’d been using a competitor but got the chance to evaluate Duo for 30 days, and we could not be happier. Duo Security is easy to configure a...
What do you like most about Azure Active Directory?
It is very simple. The Active Directory functions are very easy for us. Its integration with anything is very easy. We can easily do third-party multifactor authentication.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?
Most features of Entra ID are part of Microsoft's ecosystem and included in Microsoft 365 bundles, which means there are no additional costs associated with pricing and licensing.
 

Also Known As

F5 Access Policy Manager
Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
 

Learn More

 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.
Find out what your peers are saying about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Microsoft Entra ID and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.