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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)
1st
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 April 2026, in the Identity Management (IM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 7.4%, down from 13.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Identity Management is 2.3%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity Management (IM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Entra ID7.4%
SAP Identity Management2.3%
Other90.3%
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

"The single sign-on is very convenient for us."
"When it comes to ROI, there is low friction and a high, immediate return on investment."
"I like that you can run it on-premises. I also like that I can use Azure at any time as the main one."
"The identity and access management piece is probably the most valuable to us."
"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."
"This product has improved our overall security posture."
"The most valuable feature is that it is very easy to implement, you don't need a lot of effort to set up the solution. This is the most advantageous point, that you can do anything on Azure without taking too much time."
"Entra ID enables us to implement security easily and effectively."
"What I found most valuable in SAP Identity Management is process automation."
"I find it an excellent tool for data synchronization and cleansing."
"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."
"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 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."
"The setup process is straightforward."
"Rather than implement a basic SSO, this solution assisted us with setting up two-factor authentication."
 

Cons

"They have had a few outages, so stability is a little bit of an issue. It is global. That is the thing. I know some of the other competitors are regionalized ID platforms, but Entra ID is global, so when something goes wrong, it is a problem because it underpins everything, whether you are logging in to M365 or you have single sign-on to Azure, Autopilot, Intune, Exchange mailbox or another application. If there is a problem with Entra ID, all of that falls apart, so its great strength and weakness is the global single tenant for it. Stability is a key area for me. Otherwise, it is generally pretty good."
"Rule management and permissions need improvements. I have had discussions with product managers about these challenges and sent emails regarding them. Additionally, improvements are needed in the Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) side of things."
"The transition from on-prem Active Directory to the Azure Cloud was difficult because there aren't group policy objectives. This is handled differently in the Azure cloud environment."
"Microsoft Entra ID does not orchestrate or interface well with that type of environment."
"When you start to deal with legacy applications, provisioning is not as intuitive."
"The product needs to improve its support."
"Everything should be in one package. There are so many different packages."
"The synchronization between my AD and Azure AD needs improvement."
"Research and marketing need to be improved."
"There are also some issues with the UI, the ACLs and performance - depending on the configuration and Identity DB size."
"SAP Identity Management can improve risk analysis and authority checks."
"The standard one is not friendly and very time-consuming for elementary operation."
"Research and marketing need to be improved."
"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."
"For SAP support in Brazil, everything is in English, which poses a difficulty for many customers."
"A lack of startup connectors to different systems, and could have better connectors for SAP IDM."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay about $35 per user."
"It can be a bit expensive for organizations, but they do have different pricing models. Their free tier can be used on a personal level, but for an organization, the licenses might be a bit expensive. In general, the licenses can become cheaper, which will make it accessible for more people."
"The process for buying licenses from Microsoft is somewhat messy and really hard to do. We have to talk to someone because it's hard to find out how many licenses we need. If I'm applying for 2,000 users, how many Windows licenses do we need? They could also charge less for support."
"It is a packaged license. We have a Premium P1 subscription of Office 365, and it came with that."
"The price of Azure Active Directory and Amazon AWS, are almost the same, but most people prefer Amazon AWS because they find it's a little cheaper to some extent and an easier platform to use."
"Licensing fees are paid monthly."
"I'm not totally aware of the pricing and licensing, but I do know that the pricing and licensing must be quite balanced. We are a pretty old client of Microsoft, and MSA is just one of the services we use from Microsoft. There's a whole Microsoft 365 suite that's implemented as well. I'm sure it is something that is acceptable to both parties."
"Microsoft has a free version of Azure AD. So, if you don't do a lot of advanced features, then you can use the free version, which is no cost at all because it is underpinning Office 365. Because Microsoft gives it to you as a SaaS, so there are no infrastructure costs whatsoever that you need to incur. If you use the free version, then it is free. If you use the advanced features (that we use), it is a license fee per user."
"I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten."
"The licensing cost varies depending on the specific requirements and deployment size."
"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
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business90
Midsize Enterprise39
Large Enterprise160
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?
I believe Microsoft Entra ID can be improved, and I think it's already on the roadmap. We value the selective sync where Microsoft Entra ID is actually the authoritative source and then will provis...
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.
891,869 professionals have used our research since 2012.