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Microsoft Entra ID vs Symantec Siteminder comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Entra ID support is knowledgeable but inconsistent, with quicker responses for premier users and delays for others.
No sentiment score available
Symantec Siteminder's customer support is mixed, with effective solutions but inconsistent service and delays for complex issues.
The actual support when you get to that level is a ten out of ten.
I would rate Microsoft technical support as a seven out of ten.
The downsizing of Broadcom's support team is affecting our ability to get satisfactory support.
 

Room For Improvement

Sentiment score
5.4
Microsoft Entra ID requires improvements in marketing, licensing, documentation, integration, interface, security, stability, and training resources.
Sentiment score
3.6
Symantec Siteminder needs UI improvements, modern tech integration, enhanced support, scalability, better customization, and reduced maintenance costs.
There is a need for better transformation support from on-premises Active Directory policies to the cloud, as Entra ID doesn't cover this sufficiently yet.
The frequent changes in branding cause confusion among customers who struggle to keep track of product names and functions.
We also need to consider the customization or development required for web authentication when using Active Directory.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Entra ID offers scalable, flexible identity management, accommodating various organization sizes with reliable performance and user-friendly expansion.
Sentiment score
6.2
Symantec Siteminder excels in scalability, efficiently supporting large user bases and multiple data centers, demonstrating robust performance.
 

Setup Cost

Sentiment score
7.0
Microsoft Entra ID offers flexible, tiered pricing with discounts for nonprofits, included in Microsoft service packages, but opinions on cost vary.
No sentiment score available
Symantec Siteminder offers competitive pricing with scalable user-based licenses, though additional features and maintenance can increase costs.
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.
The maintenance fee has increased, raising concerns about the overall cost to customers.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Microsoft Entra ID is praised for its reliability and performance, with improved stability and strong uptime despite occasional regional variation.
No sentiment score available
Symantec Siteminder is stable, with high uptime, manageable issues, and good performance; regular maintenance enhances reliability.
The stability of the solution is very high at 99.999%.
The stability of the solution is good with a rating of eight out of ten.
Broadcom has decreased their supporting group members.
 

Valuable Features

Sentiment score
8.4
Microsoft Entra ID enhances security and simplifies management with features like single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, and role-based access.
Sentiment score
8.7
Symantec Siteminder offers flexible security, role-based access, single sign-on, easy integration, and reliable identity management and scalability.
We can secure the applications that we are building and make sure that if the application were to be compromised, there is no full access to a customer's environment causing issues and other security concerns.
The main valuable feature is the integration into a single console, which includes authentication service and endpoint security.
We can apply multi-factor authentication to our infrastructure, which helps cover web application authentication.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Entra ID
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
1st
Ranking in Access Management
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
197
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (1st), Identity Management (IM) (1st), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (4th)
Symantec Siteminder
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
11th
Ranking in Access Management
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
Web Access Management (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 28.1%, down from 30.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Siteminder is 2.3%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Siva Chalamarla - PeerSpot reviewer
Good access control and SSO but needs modernization
The access control and the SSO are the two most valuable features. Siteminder allows users to authenticate once and gain access to multiple applications without needing to reauthenticate for each application separately. For example, if you access one application in one tab, you do not need to provide it again if you are trying to access the same application. The portal has different applications built into it. It's similar to Google. If you open Google and try to access the maps in that Google, you do not need to authenticate in maps. You just need to authenticate in the starting phase. Only a particular group of people have access. Our guys will give an error called access denied or unauthorized access. It depends on the application. It is pretty easy to learn.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
31%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
34%
Insurance Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 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?
Initially, customers can get good prices for a three-year package, but renewal prices tend to increase significantly. If a customer looks for an alternative solution after three years, we often fin...
What do you like most about Symantec Siteminder?
It's agent-based. It's convenient to deploy and integrate.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Siteminder?
After Broadcom's acquisition of Symantec, the pricing model for Symantec SiteMinder (now CA Single Sign-On) shifted significantly. The traditional perpetual licensing model transitioned to a subscr...
What needs improvement with Symantec Siteminder?
The support team could work on their response time and overall competence.
 

Also Known As

Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
Single Sign-On, SiteMinder, CA SSO, Layer7 SiteMinder
 

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.
British Telecom, CoreBlox, DBS, HMS, Itera ASA and Simeo
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra ID vs. Symantec Siteminder and other solutions. Updated: November 2024.
816,636 professionals have used our research since 2012.