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Microsoft Entra ID pros and cons

Vendor: Microsoft
4.3 out of 5
Badge Ranked 1
2,158 followers
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Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Microsoft Entra ID offers seamless multi-factor authentication, bolstering security and access control.
Conditional access policies in Microsoft Entra ID allow for fine-tuning user access and enhancing security parameters.
Integrating Microsoft Entra ID with other cloud platforms aids in effortless identity management and access provision.
The scalability of Microsoft Entra ID ensures a robust solution for managing extensive user identities and permissions.
Azure application proxy and single sign-on features in Microsoft Entra ID simplify accessibility across various applications.

CONS

Microsoft Entra ID struggles with integration and permissions management, which can complicate user collaboration across different environments.
Support and documentation need enhancement, with complex troubleshooting and slow ticket responses reported.
Pricing and licensing models are confusing, especially with frequent rebranding affecting understanding and engagement.
Configuration and setup processes are challenging, especially for non-IT personnel, needing simplification and better intuitive guidance.
Multi-environment ID integration continues to be problematic, particularly for organizations dealing with multiple forests and systems.
 

Microsoft Entra ID Pros review quotes

DG
May 30, 2021
Being able to use Azure AD means that you can use some of the Azure AD security features like Advanced Password Protection. As well as querying your normal password requirements like lengths and complexity, Azure AD has a feature in which you can put specific words. It can be words to do with your company, words to do with your company location, or words that a lot of your employees would otherwise use. You can disallow them. It's very good at making more obvious passwords, ones they're not allowed to use anymore. That's a good feature.
LD
Sep 16, 2021
The most important things of Azure Active Directory are the security and the facility to manage all the services and users. It is very easy to manage users and assign roles, permissions, and access. At the same time, it is a very secure environment. Microsoft takes security very seriously. They take care of all the security and all the factors to prevent any kind of data or information compromise.
MV
Apr 7, 2021
It has been very instrumental towards a lot of services we run, especially on the single sign-on side. For example, we have 160 countries that all run their own IT but we still are able to provide users with a single sign-on experience towards global applications. So, they have a certain set of accounts that they get from their local IT department, then they use exactly the same account and credentials to sign into global services. For the user, it has been quite instrumental in that space. It is about efficiency, but also about users not having to remember multiple accounts and passwords since it is all single sign-on. Therefore, the single sign-on experience for us has been the most instrumental for the end user experience.
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Entra ID. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
TA
Apr 9, 2021
Using [Azure AD's] passwordless technology, you're not even using a password anymore. You're basically just creating a logon request without actually sending or typing or storing the password. This is awesome for any user, regardless of whether you're a factory worker or a CFO. It's secure and super-simple.
Arun Govind - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 8, 2023
The most valuable feature of Microsoft Entra ID is its security options, where we can provide highly effective security for user accounts during authentication.
reviewer2315787 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 28, 2023
It is great for mom-and-pop shops or small businesses that are truly coming into the enterprise ecosystem and that have not come from a legacy environment.
Antonio_Russo - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 9, 2023
The visibility and control for permission management are excellent.
reviewer2315535 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 28, 2023
Coming from a traditional on-premises Active Directory infrastructure, it is purely a SaaS platform. It is global. It is evergreen. It is always evolving. It is core to the Microsoft Ecosystem.
JS
May 11, 2021
This product is easy to use.
Rinaldo Viaguladas - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 10, 2023
The most significant aspect is the security measures inherent in Microsoft Entra ID, including features such as conditional access policies.
 

Microsoft Entra ID Cons review quotes

DG
May 30, 2021
The conditional access rules are a little limiting. There's greater scope for the variety of rules and conditions you could put in that rules around a more factual authentication for other users. If you have an Azure AD setup, you can then connect to other people's Azure AD, but you don't have a huge amount of control in terms of what you can do. Greater control over guest users and guest access would be better. It's pretty good as it is but that could be improved.
LD
Sep 16, 2021
For example, there were some authentication features that, for security purposes, had certain limitations. Those limitations still exist, but the portal now has options so that the customers can make custom features to manage their identity.
MV
Apr 7, 2021
We have a custom solution now running to tie all those Azure ADs together. We use the B2B functionality for that. Improvements are already on the roadmap for Azure AD in that area. I think they will make it easier to work together between two different tenants in Azure AD, because normally one tenant is a security boundary. For example, company one has a tenant and company two has a tenant, and then you can do B2B collaboration between those, but it is still quite limited. For our use case, it is enough currently. However, if we want to extend the collaboration even further, then we need an easier way to collaborate between two tenants, but I think that is already on the roadmap of Azure AD anyway.
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Entra ID. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
TA
Apr 9, 2021
The Azure AD Application Proxy, which helps you publish applications in a secure way, has room for improvement. We are moving from another solution into the Application Proxy and it's quite detailed. Depending on the role you're signing in as, you can end up at different websites, which wasn't an issue with our old solution.
Arun Govind - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 8, 2023
Microsoft needs to make improvements in this regard and extend its services to other operating systems as well, especially when considering their widespread usage.
reviewer2315787 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 28, 2023
Entra ID is not battle-tested or stable enough to support a business of our size. There are some design issues specifically around support for legacy services.
Antonio_Russo - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 9, 2023
It would be good to have more clarity around licensing.
reviewer2315535 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 28, 2023
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.
JS
May 11, 2021
When you start to deal with legacy applications, provisioning is not as intuitive.
Rinaldo Viaguladas - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 10, 2023
Customers want to know exactly where they are spending their money, allowing them to assess and potentially save money in those specific areas.