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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

"The most valuable feature is the ease with which a person can log in remotely using only a password or pin without creating a profile or policy."
"We have the ability to define the email user in the designated field."
"What I find most valuable about Microsoft Entra ID is centralizing identity; I don't need to worry too much about how to set up the groups, I just need to get access and assign it to the correct place, centralizing everything and making it more transparent for me while leveraging these groups and users in my applications represents the best difference."
"Customer service and support are perfect, especially when I'm dealing with my local third-party Microsoft vendor, who always supports me at any time."
"It is easy to manage. I can manage systems with policies and automate our systems. Any professional system can be easily integrated with Azure Active Directory. It is widely used with Windows versions."
"The features of Microsoft Entra ID that eliminate the need to remember provisioning and passwords provide a seamless, frictionless experience."
"The implementation of Microsoft Entra ID has definitely made app access easier and more seamless for working with Azure registered apps by allowing them to be integrated within the system and setting up SSOs and secure authentication through Entra."
"Many of its features are valuable, including: facilitating application authentication, privileged access management, processes for attestation, and access reviews."
"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."
"The most valuable features of SAP Identity Management are business roles and automated user provisioning."
"The most valuable feature is the user experience for managing information."
"NW IDM is extremely flexible, and with a small amount of effort you can integrate the basic provisioning for most of the commonly used modern systems."
"Rather than implement a basic SSO, this solution assisted us with setting up two-factor authentication."
"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 found most valuable in SAP Identity Management is process automation."
"The most valuable feature is the user experience for managing information."
 

Cons

"Microsoft has so many different requirements and priorities that sometimes they don't invest all their energy into the products that you have expectations to investigate."
"Microsoft Authenticator is as easy as Google Authenticator, but it is not open to all types of applications. Google Authenticator is integrated with other third-party platforms and applications, whereas Microsoft Authenticator is not."
"The synchronization between my AD and Azure AD needs improvement."
"We have a custom solution now running to tie all those Azure ADs together. We use the B2B functionality for that."
"I would rate it an eight out of ten. The price plays a factor in the rating."
"The solution has certain limitations. For example, it has very little governance functionality."
"The security policy of Azure Active Directory should be based on a matrix so that we can easily visualize which users have access to what."
"Microsoft plans to move away from SMS authentication for Multi-Factor Authentication and only implement application-based authenticator, which will be challenging for retail outlets reliant on Microsoft Active Directory."
"It needs to have the SSO for the HANA modules that SAP is releasing."
"I find SAP Identity Management complicated to use. Maintaining it is also complex."
"I believe they could make a lot of improvements on SAP IDM. There is also a lack of startup connectors to different systems, and they could have better cloud integration connectors for SAP IDM."
"It needs to have the SSO for the HANA modules that SAP is releasing."
"SAP Identity Management can improve risk analysis and authority checks."
"The pricing could be better."
"The current functionality allows you only to change one user at a time. There is no option to maintain the business roles from the UI using standard validation or imports, so you have to build your business roles one by one."
"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

"It's pretty good. We're using the native features. It's bundled with our Office 365 licenses. We aren't paying anything extra for Azure Active Directory. It's pretty good for us because it's complementary to Office 365. We're only paying for Office 365."
"Be sure: You know your userbase, e.g., how many users you have. You choose the right license and model that suit your business requirements."
"Licensing fees are paid monthly."
"It is not too expensive."
"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'm not sure about the specific costs or how they're calculated, but essentially, the costs go up based on the level of security that is required by the organization."
"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."
"Pricing could always be better. You pay the premium for Microsoft. Sometimes, it is worth it, and at other times, you wish to have more licensing options, especially for smaller companies."
"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.