Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
reviewer2066160 - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Information Officer at a construction company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
Gives us security and centralized database when integrating together all Active Directories of our branches
Pros and Cons
  • "Active Directory itself is the best feature it has. It also gives us a single pane of glass for managing user access."

    What is our primary use case?

    It gives us security when integrating all the Active Directories of all our branches together, giving us a centralized database and authentication.

    How has it helped my organization?

    It has helped save time for our IT administrators. It's seamless for the users because they simply log into the stations, but it's affecting the response time and efficiency of the IT team.

    What is most valuable?

    Active Directory itself is the best feature it has. It also gives us a single pane of glass for managing user access.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with Azure Active Directory for almost a year.

    Buyer's Guide
    Microsoft Entra ID
    January 2025
    Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Entra ID. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
    831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    So far, it has been a stable solution.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is scalable.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We did not have a previous solution.

    What was our ROI?

    I am working right now on whether we have seen ROI from the solution.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We are always looking for better pricing. Our agreement is on a monthly basis.

    What other advice do I have?

    We're planning to use conditional access to access controls, but we have not done so in the meantime.

    The solution doesn't require much maintenance; we're talking about two or three people.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Private Cloud
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer2040363 - PeerSpot reviewer
    IT Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Secure, user-friendly, simple to install, and reliable
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable feature of this solution is that is easy to use."
    • "I believe it can also be integrated into other Microsoft products, as well as more integrations with other solutions."

    What is our primary use case?

    When we access the API, we use Microsoft Authenticator. Something with potential will be saved, and if the company has some use cases to connect to some database, I will use it as well, or something along those lines.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Normally, because a third party requires it.

    It provides you with security. It provides the third party with some level of security.

    But vendors like myself do not appreciate it.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature of this solution is that is easy to use.

    It is also automated.

    What needs improvement?

    I believe it can also be integrated into other Microsoft products, as well as more integrations with other solutions.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with Microsoft Authenticator for two years.

    I am working with the most recent version.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Microsoft Authenticator is quite stable.

    I would rate the stability of Microsoft Authenticator a ten out of ten.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Microsoft Authenticator is a scalable solution. 

    I would rate the scalability of Microsoft Authenticator an eight out of ten.

    As far as I know, we have more than 30 users in our organization. Some are senior professionals and some are developers.

    How are customer service and support?

    I have never dealt with technical support.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I use UiPath as well as Automation Anywhere.

    I started with Authenticator and then moved on to the Namespace version or class that I can import from Microsoft.

    How was the initial setup?

    I would rate the initial setup a ten out of ten.

    It was easy.

    It only took a few hours to deploy.

    It's an out-of-the-box deployment, but I am not the one who manages it.

    What about the implementation team?

    One person was involved in the deployment.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would recommend this solution to others who are interested in using it. It is easy to use and it fits its purpose.

    Because it is scalable and reliable, I would rate Microsoft Authenticator an eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Microsoft Azure
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Microsoft Entra ID
    January 2025
    Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Entra ID. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
    831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Ajay Kuamr - PeerSpot reviewer
    Network and Computer Systems Administrator at Bahwan
    Real User
    Top 10
    It's compatible with a lot of vendors, and we have multiple products integrated with it
    Pros and Cons
    • "The best thing about Active Directory is its compatibility. It works with lots of third-party vendors. We're using multiple products, and they're all integrated with our Active Directory."
    • "Active Directory could always be more secure. Right now, we've got two-factor authentications. All services based on Active Directory have a username and password. If somebody hacked our username, they could easily get all the data from our side. So I want two-factor authentication and a stronger password policy from Active Directory. The domain controllers should be more secure as well."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use Active Directory to manage our main database and control students and staff access with rules and passwords. Usernames, emails, etc., are all integrated with Active Directory. Office 365 is also integrated with our Active Directory.

    What is most valuable?

    The best thing about Active Directory is its compatibility. It works with lots of third-party vendors. We're using multiple products, and they're all integrated with our Active Directory.

    What needs improvement?

    Active Directory could always be more secure. Right now, we've got two-factor authentications. All services based on Active Directory have a username and password. If somebody hacked our username, they could easily get all the data from our side. So I want two-factor authentication and a stronger password policy from Active Directory. The domain controllers should be more secure as well.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We've been using Microsoft Active Directory for more than 10 years. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Active Directory is a stable, scalable product.

    How are customer service and support?

    Microsoft technical support is very good. They call us back and resolve the problem.

    How was the initial setup?

    The setup is effortless because we've been using this solution for a while. We are familiar with the setup now, so it's easier.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We get a discount because we're working in the education sector. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate Active Directory eight out of 10. I think this is a good product. Most enterprises are using this. We don't currently have any plans to switch, but we're planning to migrate more into the cloud. However, cloud service is still costly, so we are working on the premiums. I would recommend Active Directory for any large-scale company, organization, or university. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Private Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Microsoft Azure
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
    PeerSpot user
    Vice President - Network and Infrastructure at NJA LLC
    Real User
    Great access control aspect of authentication, has an easy single-sign-on and is quite stable
    Pros and Cons
    • "The single sign-on is very convenient for us."
    • "It would be ideal if the solution moved to a passwordless type of environment. It's the future of authentification. It's also more secure and convenient."

    What is our primary use case?

    We just use the solution for the authentication and the provision access control, among other tasks.

    What is most valuable?

    The access control aspect of the authentication is the solution's most valuable aspect.

    The single sign-on is very convenient for us.

    What needs improvement?

    It would be ideal if the solution moved to a passwordless type of environment. It's the future of authentification. It's also more secure and convenient.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using the solution for about a year.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution is quite stable. I haven't heard any bad things about it. It doesn't crash or freeze. I can't say that I've seen bugs or glitches. It seems to be very reliable so far.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    I believe the solution is scalable, although I have not tried to scale it myself personally.

    We have many people on the system, including doctors, nurses, practitioners, assistants, etc. It might be around 100 people, give or take.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    I've never dealt with technical support for any reason. I wouldn't be able to evaluate their services or discuss their level of responsiveness.

    How was the initial setup?

    I didn't handle any aspect of the implementation, as I'm not technical in any way. I wouldn't be able to specify if it was complex or straightforward or how the deployment went.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I don't have any insights into the licensing costs. I'm not a part of the accounting or payment process.

    What other advice do I have?

    Our organizations has a few partnerships with Microsoft.

    I don't know which version of the solution we're using. It's most likely the latest, due to the fact that it's a cloud deployment.

    The only advice I have for other organizations considering the solution is this: just make sure that you have the right requirements. It's never a carbon copy. Every environment has different needs and requirements.

    I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
    PeerSpot user
    PeerSpot user
    Senior Technical Consultant at The Instillery
    Real User
    Configuring the domain and setting it up in the Azure portal is as easy as three clicks. Tech support is awesome but can have its pitfalls
    Pros and Cons
    • "When logging on to Azure AD it's pretty quick."
    • "Configuring the domain and setting it up in the Azure portal is just three clicks to be honest."
    • "At first, it was a bit challenging to come up with a workaround that would get authentication to work."

    What is our primary use case?

    The primary use case is actually one interesting one because this customer we're deploying, They don't have Active Directory on-premise, and they need to use some applications that are on-prem, so in order to get authentication to work with those applications we had to come up with a workaround. So it was challenging to come up with that workaround and solution, but it worked quite well.

    Azure Ad provides great flexibility even when nothing on-prem can provide user authentication. For cases like this, Microsoft and Citrix worked together to develop a solution that not only work with Azure AD but with other Directory tools to provide authentication via SAML or OAuth.

    How has it helped my organization?

    When logging on to Azure AD it's pretty quick.  This is because it is managed by Microsoft and there isn't too much administrative overhead for our System Administrators in setting up a bunch of complicated policies to allow the users to log on. Basically we lock down the machine with policies but, the user authentication is much faster and simpler. This is something that the users have noticed.

    What is most valuable?


    Apart from MFA and the SSO capabilities, I would say one of the amazing
    things is that you don't have a limit in the objects that you can create
    in Active Directory in Azure. Azure AD Premium doesn't have a limit in
    terms of User/Computer objects you can create,
    meaning that you can have a massive AD domain and it won't matter
    because Azure AD can handle that. You can have 100.000 users in your
    domain and keep growing if you want to. Azure AD can grow as required
    and since it is PaaS you don't need to worry about provision
    more hardware to keep performance up.

    What needs improvement?

    The natural evolution of things because obviously Azure Active Directory has a way to authenticate against on-prem normally you would need to have a Domain Controller on-premise and have either SSO or or Federation Services to be able to engage those two components and be able to allow authentication. But, having everything on the cloud as this customer didn't want anything on-prem only their network devices and some security devices and the limited applications, apart from that, they don't have anything to authenticate users on-prem. Having everything in the cloud and Active Directory, Azure AD is not able to provide Kerberos or Kerberos authentication if you're running only Azure AD it is a limitation. I think it's the next evolution of things. That's what the future is going to look like. There will barely be a be a need for any stuff on-prem. Everything will be on the cloud.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    Less than one year.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    We find it stable. It definitely has less issues than when you have Acive Directory on-prem. In terms of your connection from Azure Active Directory to your on-prem network is, you're using say, ExpressRoute or a point to point VPN, you don't notice any authentication problems or the computer lost the relationship with the domain, stuff like that. It's something that I haven't seen since I started working with Azure AD, so in terms of the stability and being reliable and not cause too many errors when you're working with it its something that I notice, if I compare with Active Directory on-premise and Azure AD.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We have a medium organization of about 4,000 users. There have been no issues with scalability. We're located here in Asia-Pacific we're using one of the data centers in Sydney, and in terms of scaling up the solution, the initial deployment and the initial design that we did has been enough. We also foresee in three or four years how the growth expectation in terms of users in, especially for one customer in particular.  We don't predict too much growth in terms of users. They're not going to grow from one year to the other in 10,000, 15,000 users but, the design can cope with that amount of users in terms of Active Directory.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Most of the time that I have dealt with tech support, it's very good.  They're very knowledgeable. The specialists are spot-on they definitely understand the problem from the beginning even though they don't know anything about the environment, but when you explain it to them and what the problem is they can give you pointers on what to do, and how to fix it and articles to read on how to fix it so they're very good. I would give it five out of five stars. However, I've seen times when we had to wait a long time to get answers if the call is not a high priority one, but most of the time when you're having an urgent incident they understand the critical of the issue and act accordingly.

    How was the initial setup?

    Configuring the domain and setting it up in the Azure portal is just three clicks to be honest. You just need to configure your domain name, you need to configure your subscription to Azure and after that you can just start creating users or different groups that you want users on and depending on your security criteria or how many users. But, the process of actually setting up the tenancy is it's not that hard. I would say it's the work that comes after that requires time and some planning, you know. One must determine how many users you will have and how many domain controllers you need overall. I would say it's not very complicated but it's the planning and fine-tuning that comes afterwards that needs time.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I am not familiar with the pricing of the solution.

    What other advice do I have?

    I don't know if it's something that's going to be addressed in the future, or not, but having Azure AD the boundary of action for Active Directory as a region when you define the domain so you can't extend the domain to another region because it's a limitation that Azure AD has that doesn't allow you to extend the domain to another region for say geolocation purposes or disaster recovery.  If you have your Azure AD on the Sydney data center, you're not going to be able to extend that to say, Singapore. But, it is not highly unlikely, but it's a very rare occasion that you lose a region or a whole data center. It can happen, obviously, but it's very unusual. So the chances of that happens are very low. When we did the design for this customer that was one of the limitations that we mentioned, and they were happy with it because you know Microsoft is a respectable company and obviously they would do the best to keep their data centers running all the time. And, to keep the cloud infrastructure for their customers online all the time. So they accepted the limitation or the risk and  we went ahead and did it. But that's definitely something that I notice as a limitation to me.

    In my opinion, you have a good look at your current infrastructure and make a decision on what is fit for the cloud, and what is not, because there are certain applications, or certain systems, that it will take longer time to migrate to the cloud. Normally, this is a good approach and is actually the Microsoft approach, as they recommend you to go hybrid first. First, you do a very good assessment and then you migrate your on-prem AD to Azure AD and the systems that support your operation will follow in time, if remediations are required, but it is a journey to work better and more efficiently.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer1225143 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Integration Manager at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Affordable, easy to set up, and offers very good technical support
    Pros and Cons
    • "Technical support has been great."
    • "The synchronization between my AD and Azure AD needs improvement."

    What is our primary use case?

    We primarily use the product for the authentication for all of Office 365. It is also my single sign-on solution.

    What is most valuable?

    The solution is stable.

    It's a very easy product to set up.

    The product can scale well.

    Technical support has been great.

    It's an affordable solution.

    What needs improvement?

    The synchronization with my AD is not the best. The synchronization between my AD and Azure AD needs improvement. For example, for reports, et cetera, due to the fact that now I have two different ADs - one for local AD and another for Azure AD, the types of fields in the local AD do not sync with Azure AD. It's completely different.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using the solution for four or five years at this point. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The product is stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. The performance is good. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability is great. You can expand it as needed. We have about 2,000 users on the product right now. 

    How are customer service and support?

    We've used technical support in the past. They have always been excellent. We're quite happy with its capabilities. 

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    Previously, I used Okta. I switched to Azure AD due to the fact that it's part of Office 365. It does not have a cost. It's not exactly free; it's part of the Microsoft bundle.

    How was the initial setup?

    We found the implementation process to be quite straightforward and simple. It's not overly complex or difficult. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    It's pretty inexpensive to use the product, as it comes with the general Mircosoft bundle. Its costs are baked into using Microsoft in general. It makes it pretty affordable. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I'm an end-user of the product.

    We're always on the latest version of the product. Being on the cloud ensures we are always up-to-date on versions. 

    I'd rate the product at an eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Microsoft Azure
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Senior System & Security Administrator at a legal firm with 51-200 employees
    Real User
    Good performance and easy to install with good connectivity to our on-premise Active Directory
    Pros and Cons
    • "The scalability of the product is decent."
    • "The synchronization with the local Active Directory and synchronization with all of the users on the local and cloud could be better."

    What is our primary use case?

    The solution is primarily used for handling user permission and containing with the Online Exchange. It's for handling user passwords, user permissions, all of the privileges, and for using Azure Active Directory for the Online Exchange.

    What is most valuable?

    We're satisfied with the product in general.

    The most valuable aspect of the solution is the connectivity with our on-premise Active Directory.

    We've found the performance to be very good.

    The stability is good.

    The scalability of the product is decent.

    The installation process is straightforward.

    What needs improvement?

    The synchronization with the local Active Directory and synchronization with all of the users on the local and cloud could be better. Every user on the cloud and the on-premise local users should have a connection, have the same privilege, the same features. We should be able to change passwords from the local and have it synchronized with the cloud users.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've used the solution for four years. It's been a while. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The stability is good. The solution offers good performance. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We've found the scalability of the product to be very good. There aren't any issues with expanding as needed.

    In my organization, we have about 25 users. I deployed it for another organization as my company is a service consultant. Therefore, I do this installation for other users and other companies. There are about 60 users in one and another has 100 users. Another company has only 20 users there. The amount of users each organization has varies. 

    We do plan to grow our team and possibly use the solution more. 

    How are customer service and support?

    I have contacted technical support from Microsoft many times, including when the mailing system is down or when I have a problem with Active Directory or Azure. I contact the help desk for Microsoft, and they reply to me in about one hour and help me to solve any issue. It takes about three or four hours and at that point usually, everything is resolved.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was very straightforward and simple. It was not overly complex or difficult. We didn't have any problems with the process.

    The deployment for the local setup takes some time. For the cloud, it's very straightforward, and it takes no time at all. It takes about two hours to totally install the hybrid, the connection, and go on with the application.

    We have about five people who can handle deployment and maintenance duties. That includes me and five engineers.

    What about the implementation team?

    I can handle the implementation myself. I do not need the help of an integrator or consultant.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We have many customers that purchase licensing agreements with Azure. Typically they are charged per user.

    What other advice do I have?

    We're a partner.

    I would recommend the solution to others. If they just read a bit about it and connect with Microsoft, they'll likely get some good advice as to how to use it. 

    I'd rate it at a nine out of ten. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
    PeerSpot user
    Sr. System Engineer at PT Smartfren Telecom Tbk
    Real User
    Helpful support, useful policy management, and priced well
    Pros and Cons
    • "Azure Active Directory has useful policy assigning and management."
    • "I had some issues with the Azure Active Directory on Windows XP. However, it worked well on Windows 7."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use Azure Active Directory to make the computers have policies that we inspect. This allows us to deploy software and block the CMD from the user. Additionally, we deploy the desktop systems with password policies.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Azure Active Directory has helped the organization maintain the user policies of their computer systems.

    What is most valuable?

    Azure Active Directory has useful policy assigning and management.

    What needs improvement?

    I had some issues with the Azure Active Directory on Windows XP. However, it worked well on Windows 7.

    The password policy that we had in place caused some system lockups.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have used Azure Active Directory within the last 12 months.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution is stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Azure Active Directory is easy to scale. You can add new employees, by adding their device to the domain assisting.

    We have approximately 300 people using this solution in my organization.

    My organization plans to continue to use Azure Active Directory.

    How are customer service and support?

    The technical support has been helpful.

    How was the initial setup?

    The installation was simple. I did the flash OS installation, created the role of the Active Directory, and deployed the GPO. The full process of implementation takes approximately one hour and setting the Active Directory domain takes approximately 30 minutes.

    What about the implementation team?

    I did the implementation of Azure Active Directory.

    What was our ROI?

    The company I work for has more than 10 branches, we no longer have to go to the branch outside the city to have the application installed on the user's devices. When you have Active Directory, you only need to connect it to the device and then the information will automatically populate. The process was more automated.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The price of the solution's license is good.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate Azure Active Directory an eight of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Microsoft Entra ID Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: January 2025
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Microsoft Entra ID Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.