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Microsoft Entra ID vs SAP Identity Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Entra ID
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
276
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Authentication Systems (1st), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)
SAP Identity Management
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Identity Management (IM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 6.9%, down from 13.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Identity Management is 2.3%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity Management (IM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Entra ID6.9%
SAP Identity Management2.3%
Other90.8%
Identity Management (IM)
 

Featured Reviews

Stafin Jacob - PeerSpot reviewer
Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance Practice Lead at Invoke
Identity has become our central gatekeeper and has provided secure single sign-on for all users
Microsoft Entra ID can improve by focusing more on new passwordless methods and becoming a primary adopter. One feature we would like to see is the ability to have security questions for password resets. I know the current capability is phasing out, so we do not have an alternative method yet. Customers who already use security questions require a smoother transition for that capability to be available. My experience with the deployment has had some challenges, particularly around the Microsoft MFA campaigns. The hardest part is moving users from a different MFA provider to the Microsoft MFA provider, as it ultimately depends on user activity. In large enterprises with numerous users across various geographies, this transition takes time. If there are ways to exert more control around that process, it would improve the situation.
FM
Sales Executive at Minsait
Identity management enhances connectivity and productivity with streamlined access and robust security, offering time-saving processes and facilitating seamless integration with other BI tools
One area that could be improved with SAP Identity Management, other than support, is user engagement from an implementation perspective. It would be beneficial for SAP to extend their events and workshops that are currently performed for partners to their final customers, as many customers want to know what's new and what else they can do without solely depending on the partners. For SAP support in Brazil, everything is in English, which poses a difficulty for many customers. The support could be improved for the specific needs in Brazil, as many customers have difficulty accessing the support center due to the language barrier. This feedback is specific to Brazil, though it's unclear if SAP receives similar feedback from other countries. It could certainly be enhanced with Portuguese documents, among other improvements.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"My advice for another organization considering Microsoft Entra ID is simple: if you are utilizing Microsoft Office applications and the Microsoft 365 suite, using Microsoft Entra ID as your primary identity provider is a no-brainer."
"The product is easy to install and quick to deploy."
"We simply use Azure AD and everything is taken care of instantly; you need not worry about user management because everything is taken care of by Azure AD itself and you just simply have it in your application and everything is done out-of-the-box."
"With the Microsoft Entra ID platform, our company productivity is much higher, the performance is much higher, and it means that at the end of the day, we do the job with fewer people, saving costs."
"The tool's most valuable features are security and integration with other tenants."
"After implementing Microsoft Entra ID, secure access to apps has become seamless."
"It certainly centralizes usernames, and it certainly centralizes credentials. Companies have different tolerances for synchronizing those credentials versus redirecting to on-prem. The use case of maturing into the cloud helps from a SaaS adoption standpoint, and it also tends to be the jumping-off point for larger organizations to start doing PaaS and infrastructure as a service. So, platform as a service and infrastructure as a service kind of dovetail off the Active Directory synchronization piece and the email and SharePoint. It becomes a natural step for people, who wouldn't normally do infrastructure as a service, because they're already exposed to this, and they have already set up their email and SharePoint there. All of the components are there."
"Microsoft Entra ID's valuable features include integration capabilities, a simplified Active Directory approach, scalability, conditional access, and privileged identity management."
"The tool's most valuable features are its access control and approval of access requests. The self-service password reset feature is efficient. Role management capabilities streamline user access by assigning and revoking roles."
"IBM really gives you the power to implement a lot of functionality outside the current implementation if you know how to build the functionality you want."
"What's most valuable in SAP Identity Management is that it's easily an out-of-the-box solution for connectivity with SAP applications. We do not have to do any customizations, and this makes the solution very compatible with most SAP applications. SAP Identity Management is also very user-friendly."
"What's most valuable in SAP Identity Management is that it's easily an out-of-the-box solution for connectivity with SAP applications."
"Rather than implement a basic SSO, this solution assisted us with setting up two-factor authentication."
"What I like about SAP Identity Management is that it's stable for experienced users and suitable for access management, not just for SAP accounts, but for Active Directory, including file sharing and process sharing."
"The most valuable features of SAP Identity Management are business roles and automated user provisioning."
"Some processes that they used to perform in two to three days now take one to two hours, which has been really beneficial for them regarding the time saved."
 

Cons

"I want to see more features to improve security, such as integrated user behavior analysis."
"Microsoft Entra ID could be improved with more out-of-the-box integrations with other parties."
"The user administration has room for improvement because some parts are not available within the Azure AD portal, but they are available within the Microsoft 365 portal."
"The integration between the Azure active directory and the traditional active directory could be improved upon."
"Azure AD does not support legacy authentication protocols, such as NTLM or Kerberos."
"The SSO MyApps interface is very basic and needs better customization capabilities."
"The B2B Federation functionality is not perfect and could be improved. It is not on the same level that we could have if it were being used on-premises. It offers a different experience, which is a bit complicated and has some additional drawbacks."
"In Africa, we do not have the same bandwidth with internet speed. This slows the connectivity and it provides challenges for our business."
"A lack of startup connectors to different systems, and could have better connectors for SAP IDM."
"As SAP Identity Management is not compatible with non SAP applications, some of the clients are looking for other IDM applications such as SalePoint and Saviynt, so this is an issue we've observed in the solution."
"I find SAP Identity Management complicated to use. Maintaining it is also complex."
"One of the areas for improvement in the solution is its user interface which needs to be up-to-date and fancier, in particular, have better visualization in terms of the tabs and buttons."
"It needs to have the SSO for the HANA modules that SAP is releasing."
"SAP Identity Management can improve risk analysis and authority checks."
"I have encountered issues with the host authentication feature."
"What needs improvement in SAP Identity Management is its compatibility with third-party applications. We'd like to get connectors or plugin settings to make it easier to manage other applications, whether SAP or non SAP applications. As SAP Identity Management is not compatible with non SAP applications, some of the clients are looking for other IDM applications such as SalePoint and Saviynt, so this is an issue we've observed in the solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Previously, only building and global administrators could purchase subscriptions or licenses. Mid-last year, Microsoft made it so users can purchase the license online. Microsoft business subscription is for 200 to 300 users. If you have more than 300 users, you can't purchase the business plan. You have to purchase the enterprise plan. The enterprise plan is for 301 users and above. Pay as you go is also available. If you pay as you go in Azure, you will be billed for whatever you use."
"I do not have experience with pricing."
"The solution has three types of tiers: E1 has very basic features. You get limited stuff in E2 and cannot have Office 360 associated with it. E3 is on the costly side and has all the features."
"MFA and P2 licenses for two Azures for fully-enabled scenarios and features cost a lot of money. This is where Okta is trying to get the prices down."
"It comes free with the Microsoft account. We have a yearly agreement, and all products are covered under it."
"It is not too expensive."
"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."
"The price is fair. It's not very expensive given what they offer."
"The licensing cost varies depending on the specific requirements and deployment size."
"I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten."
"When evaluating the price of any product, I first look at how it meets my business requirements and if it meets requirements adequately and predictively. Currently, I don't see this from SAP Identity Management, so pricing for it is expensive, in my opinion."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business90
Midsize Enterprise41
Large Enterprise161
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that going through and being able to use these things is always part of delivering an M365 bundle, so I don't think the experience is great ...
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory?
Microsoft Entra ID can be improved by open-sourcing it. You already have Windows Subsystem for Linux, which is open-source Linux in Microsoft. One major shift for Microsoft would be using the commo...
What needs improvement with SAP Identity Management?
One area that could be improved with SAP Identity Management, other than support, is user engagement from an implementation perspective. It would be beneficial for SAP to extend their events and wo...
What is your primary use case for SAP Identity Management?
The use cases for SAP Identity Management include the logistics company, and we also have a beverage company that is using SAP Identity Management. We did not make the migration for them, but we im...
What advice do you have for others considering SAP Identity Management?
My clients use SAP Identity Management for managing access rights efficiently based on user roles. I have experience with other IAM tools, having worked for Oracle three or four years ago, but I ca...
 

Also Known As

Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
SAP NetWeaver Identity Management, NetWeaver Identity Management
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.
State of Indiana, Automotive Resources International (ARI), Alliander N.V., Chemion Logistik GmbH, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH)
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra ID vs. SAP Identity Management and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
896,510 professionals have used our research since 2012.