No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Microsoft Entra ID vs Symantec VIP Access Manager 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Entra ID
Ranking in Authentication Systems
1st
Ranking in Access Management
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
276
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Identity Management (IM) (1st), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)
Symantec VIP Access Manager
Ranking in Authentication Systems
12th
Ranking in Access Management
18th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 6.6%, down from 16.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec VIP Access Manager is 2.2%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Entra ID6.6%
Symantec VIP Access Manager2.2%
Other91.2%
Authentication Systems
 

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.
reviewer2247477 - PeerSpot reviewer
Administrator at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Intuitive and simple to use solution
The initial setup was really easy. For each user, it would take around five minutes or even less. It's very efficient. You just need the email and the code from your phone, and that's it. For maintenance, the entire service desk team, including the team I was in, had access to this particular tool. I would say around 200 to 300 people.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The user functionality enables us to provide different levels of access, across many applications, for each user. We can customize the access level and set a security level in connection with that access. For instance, we can require MFA. That is a feature that helps enhance our security posture a lot."
"Scalability has been the biggest benefit."
"Multi-factor authentication is one of the most important features of my work. Verified ID is another feature that is becoming significant."
"Installation is straightforward. It only took a couple of hours to set everything up."
"I would definitely recommend using Azure AD."
"From a user experience, it's improved it drastically."
"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 perfectly stable."
"In this version 9.1, lots of changes are done for the dashboard, User Store etc."
"After the initial integration, the overall support calls dropped, and customer satisfaction for VPN increased."
"The two-factor authentication is most definitely valuable and moves us closer to being able to check off those important boxes for compliance."
"VIP is a strong, cloud-based authentication service that enables organizations to secure access to networks and applications to prevent unauthorized logins to company resources, even when passwords have been compromised or shared."
"It's a good tool. It's pretty straightforward."
"Integration with Citrix Access Gateway, Microsoft Office 365 and Single Sign-On (through Symantec Validation and ID Protection Access Manager) has increased the productivity of the employees for accessing resources."
"It is easy to use."
"The tool has been very stable, in my experience. Also, I haven't faced any issues or problems with integration or connectivity."
 

Cons

"I rate Microsoft support five out of 10. It's just okay."
"If Microsoft can give us a way to see where this product is running, from a backend perspective, then it would be great."
"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."
"I would appreciate it if they linked the Microsoft Entra ID platform with other 365 platforms, such as the governance of Power BI or the security for the App Center. That would be very useful since we have many platforms related to Microsoft 365. We need to have a link or different profiles for managing through Microsoft Entra ID, which is the main platform."
"Anytime that we have tried to allow Microsoft Entra ID to authenticate our users to come back on-premises, we have run into some issues, usually with latency or delay."
"The only issue with Azure AD is that it doesn't have control over the wifi network. You have to do something more to have a secure wifi network. To have it working, you need an active directory server on-premises to take care of the networks."
"There are various easy ways that I can provide local admin rights to a user in the on-premises version, but in the cloud version, it is a bit difficult and you have to create a bunch of policies to make it work."
"Better user sign-in logging is needed. We work with Okta, and the two of them do not always work well together. We can have more insight into some of the user information and how it interacts."
"I would like to see the solution meet the integration needs at our company...Improving the solution's integration feature would be beneficial."
"Geofencing needs improvement."
"At times, the relay server could not contact Symantec; it would fail open and allow access without a passcode."
"It gets out of sync with Active Directory or whatever it might be, whatever the authentication piece is on Active Directory, and they just reset it on the backend."
"The reporting on the VIP Manager is not correct."
"The gateway server is a RADIUS server, but it lacks the functionality of returning RADIUS attributes other than those that are required for the gateway to authenticate the users."
"If they had dashboards or a report for managers or executives, then it would allow them to see the status and have it make sense to them."
"Every time that I have a new phone or computer, it takes a little longer to deploy it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Make sure that you get the most out of your Office 365 licenses for Azure AD. If you have additional concerns for users who don't have an Office 365 license, consider Azure AD Premium P1 and P2. Be aware that you have to evaluate your license usage beforehand."
"Active Directory is bundled with a package of Microsoft services, so it doesn't cost much. I don't know about the individual license of Active Directory."
"The solution was fairly priced the last time I checked the costs."
"It is in line. Because we are so early, we have not had to come back on a cycle where we are having to negotiate again."
"The solution costs us 60,000 Rupees annually, just over $700, and there are no additional costs."
"Microsoft is so expensive. You know it is expensive when a Fortune 100 company like ours is complaining about the cost. That has been a big thing for me. When I really want to use an Azure service, it is very hard for me to justify the cost, especially with Microsoft support."
"The E5 plan we are using contains the premium plans for Azure Active Directory. We are not paying only for the Azure Active Directory Premium licenses. We have it already included within our E5 plan."
"The price is fair. It's not very expensive given what they offer."
"Licensing and pricing seems very fair."
"There is a one-time setup fee plus the licenses are provided as per the number of users. For SMS and voice calls, the costs are separate."
"There are additional costs for maintenance."
"I can say that the solution is worth the money."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Authentication Systems solutions are best for your needs.
886,932 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business89
Midsize Enterprise39
Large Enterprise160
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
 

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...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
Symantec VIP
 

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.
Maine Medical Center, Aria S.p.A
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra ID vs. Symantec VIP Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
886,932 professionals have used our research since 2012.