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Microsoft Entra Permissions Management vs Microsoft Identity Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Permissions...
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (29th), Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) (4th)
Microsoft Identity Manager
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Microsoft Entra Permissions Management and Microsoft Identity Manager aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Microsoft Entra Permissions Management is designed for Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) and holds a mindshare of 8.6%, down 29.9% compared to last year.
Microsoft Identity Manager, on the other hand, focuses on Identity Management (IM), holds 4.2% mindshare, down 6.7% since last year.
Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM)
Identity Management (IM)
 

Featured Reviews

Sameer Bhat - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides resource-based access and security, but time-bound access can be a problem
Entra ID is the core of the identity management that we have. This is the key product that we are using. I am currently also looking into Entra Private Access because we are planning to deploy about 50,000 desktops into Azure and use Azure Virtual Desktop. We would like to give access to the users from the desktop to on-premises applications. I learned that Entra Private Access is a good solution. That is not yet GA, but that is what we are looking for. Entra provides a single pane of glass for managing user access, but because our company also integrates with Nebula API, only administrators use Entra's pane. A normal person who wants to get onboarded can do self-service using Nebula. The features for whitelisting and other things are definitely there. That is what we use specifically. Application IDs, enterprise applications, and all those things are already there, so we have more efficiency. There is also security because we usually do not allow user identities to get direct access to Azure resources. Usually, we use the service principles from Entra ID, so this way, it increases security. Entra has helped to save time for our IT administrators. We tend to automate a lot of things. We can do automation using Graph APIs and save time. It is hard to quantify the time savings, but there has been a medium amount of time savings. Entra has helped to save our organization money. We care about security and risk more than money, but it also saves money. We are premium customers, and because we have a commit-to-consume contract with Microsoft of multi-million dollars, the money does not come into it because we have to consume those resources.
MANUEL VALDIVIA - PeerSpot reviewer
Priced in a low range but needs to improve the support services offered to users
If we don't use Microsoft Identity Manager for data masking, we can use some other tools, like IBM InfoSphere. The scope of Microsoft Identity Manager is limited to the identity part of our applications. Microsoft Identity Manager is an old technology, and Microsoft will discontinue it soon. Microsoft Identity Manager is very complex compared with other platforms. For example, I know Microsoft Azure is working on Azure Identity. In the future, Microsoft Identity Manager will migrate to Azure Identity because Azure Identity is a software asset and is less complex. The solution's technical support is bad, making it an area where improvements are required.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Multifactor authentication is valuable."
"The solution integrates well with our infrastructure and other systems without any issues."
"Microsoft Identity Manager's documentation is good, and its end-user portal is user-friendly."
"The product’s most valuable feature is stability."
"Its interface and the fact that it's integrated with everything in the Microsoft ecosystem are the most valuable features."
"The product allows us to track the logins easily."
"What makes this solution attractive is the licensing model. Microsoft Identity Manager is included in premium versions of Azure AD and in enterprise agreements such as E3. This makes the solution very attractive to many of our clients who are subscribed to those products."
"The most valuable and most interesting feature is the conditional access."
"The self-service password reset feature is a very important aspect because it reduces the workload of other employees, and it's a very interesting and often-used feature."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the fact that I can use it to track who is sending which email, who is accessing which documents or which files, etc. These tools help me improve security within the enterprise environment."
 

Cons

"The solution's pricing and support services need improvement."
"We use a third-party API called Nebula API to integrate the account for authorization. The time-bound access area in Entra can be a problem. It can be improved in terms of the granularity of the permissions."
"The governance reporting of the solution can be improved, as it can be difficult to get good, intelligible reports. Microsoft could implement an API of some sort to allow report customization or some form of SQL model, to further customize modules and improve the reporting. That would be a major improvement to the product."
"The product's setup phase was difficult."
"MIM's reliability could be improved."
"All actions require logging in to the server."
"They have to improve the User Entity and Behavioral Analysis."
"It requires a lot of improvements. Microsoft is killing this product and migrating some of the features to Azure AD. The last version of this solution was 2016. If it is going to stay and integrate with Azure AD, its integration needs to be worked on in terms of connectors, etc. It doesn't seem that they are improving it alone. Microsoft wants to integrate it with Azure AD, but the integration is still not complete."
"Integration with third parties and enhanced policy management could be improved. The current policy management features are limited, and custom, flexible policies would be ideal."
"The security could be slightly improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are a Fortune 500 company, so we always negotiate with Microsoft."
"The product cost is in the mid to high range."
"Microsoft Identity Manager comes with the premium or community license. If the customer doesn't have a premium license, the reseller who sells the licenses of Microsoft to the enterprise can extend the license for the client."
"My rating for the pricing of Microsoft Identity Manager is average, neither too expensive nor too cheap."
"The solution is expensive."
"The tool's price is low for my company."
"MIM is free with a Microsoft Azure license."
"When comparing the cost, Microsoft Identity Manager is the best solution because it is free if you have an Azure P2 license."
"The solution is included in the Microsoft E3 license and premium subscriptions of Azure AD."
"The prices can always be improved. I'd rate it a 4 out of 10 in terms of pricing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Entra Permissions Management?
The product cost is in the mid to high range. You need to have a good budget to implement it, so it is considered fairly expensive for our market. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra Permissions Management?
The solution's pricing and support services need improvement.
What do you like most about Microsoft Identity Manager?
The product’s simplicity and integration are valuable.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Identity Manager?
Integration with third parties and enhanced policy management could be improved. The current policy management features are limited, and custom, flexible policies would be ideal. Additionally, broa...
 

Also Known As

CloudKnox Permissions Management
MIM, Forefront Identity Manager, FIM, MS Identity Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Whole Foods Market
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