Our primary use case for the solution is ID provisioning. We use it to manage the entire life cycle of an employee from their entrance to exit from the organization, which includes credential management and passport management.
General Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Features an attractive licensing model, but customization and reporting require improvement
Pros and Cons
- "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 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."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
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.
What needs improvement?
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.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
As long as the right infrastructure is provided the solution is scalable.
I think any organization can use it.
How are customer service and support?
From my view, Microsoft doesn't invest much in this product and it can take a while to resolve any issues.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The setup is not difficult, although in my experience sometimes I ran into situations where I had to deal with a number of bugs. With five being difficult and one being easy, I would rate this solution a two point five in terms of setup, configuration, and implementation difficulty. The solution requires patching or tweaking right away, and configuration requires some level of experience.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is included in the Microsoft E3 license and premium subscriptions of Azure AD.
What other advice do I have?
In my view, this solution is more appropriate for organizations that have legacy applications, separate identity stores, as well as an active directory.
I rate this solution a six out of ten.
I'm currently evaluating SailPoint and I'm very interested in it. I expect they have a long-term vision for identity and access governance that Microsoft doesn't have. I expect richer support and an easier approach to implementation compared to MIM.
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 / Integrator
Vice President, IT Infrastructure & Information Security at KAMCO
An all-encompassing solution that is stable and continuously improving
Pros and Cons
- "The features that we find most valuable are security, mobility, and Single Sign-On."
- "They have to improve the User Entity and Behavioral Analysis."
What is our primary use case?
We work with Microsoft Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, and Microsoft Services as an identity and access management system. This solution provides privileged identity management single sign-on, so we're focusing on that.
What is most valuable?
This is an all-encompassing product. The features that we find most valuable are security, mobility, and Single Sign-On.
What needs improvement?
They have to improve the User Entity and Behavioral Analysis. They have all of these features, scattered around in different components. For example, if a user logs into a computer, from that point the behavior is not completely monitored. Windows Defender is monitoring the action, but if you go into the website, the solution is not capable of understanding it. Therefore, in the case of a user browsing a malicious website, there is no way to identify it.
There should be a way to create a profile for each and every employee. For example, if an employee is searching websites for a job then the organization should be able to identify that and recognize that he's going to leave the company soon. Or, if the user is trying to access a confidential document then that identity should be tagged as a malicious user. You should be able to create metrics or risk levels for a particular user.
Generally, the security features need to be improved so that they do not have to rely on other solutions. Importantly, browser behavior should be integrated. Properties such as what department an employee is in, and what resources they access, as well as the relevant correlations, should all be determined and stored.
For how long have I used the solution?
Two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is a stable product that is continuously improving.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable to any extent, so it is not an issue for this solution.
There are approximately three hundred users, which are employees. Six of them are administrators, and perhaps another ten of them are privileged users who have access to various components of the system.
How are customer service and technical support?
I would rate the technical support a seven out of ten.
There are different service levels. For example, an enterprise customer will probably have a special service level agreement, but for SMBs, the level is different. So in that, not all customers are treated equally.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple because a lot of the configuration comes from the on-premises Active Directory. It connects to various other components. If your device has to be enrolled then it is a bit complex, and you need expertise on that.
What about the implementation team?
Our implementation was handled by a Microsoft partner.
What other advice do I have?
I strongly recommend this solution. It encompasses the cloud, on-premises applications, mobility, and on-premises users. The modern enterprise encrypted license is one of the best solutions to go for because of the mobility and security for the workforce, as well as for the company.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Identity Manager
January 2025
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Business Development Manager - Identity Management and Security at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Easy to implement and stable, but needs better integration with Azure AD and better support
Pros and Cons
- "It is one of the easiest products to implement, which is one of the main advantages. The integration is easy. Unlike other products, it is not complicated to integrate."
- "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."
What is our primary use case?
We are currently using this solution, and we are also a partner. We have implemented it in different sectors for different use cases. For example, we have implemented it in the financial sector to synchronize and automate lifecycle management. We have also done deployments to only provide self-service for resetting passwords. We also have many deployments related to lifecycle management in schools and the education sector.
What is most valuable?
It is one of the easiest products to implement, which is one of the main advantages. The integration is easy. Unlike other products, it is not complicated to integrate.
What needs improvement?
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.
Their support is bad, and it should be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution since 2006, but it had a different name at that time.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is not scalable. Once you have more than 100K users, it is not scalable. It can't scale and perform at that level.
How are customer service and support?
Their support is bad. I would rate them one out of five.
How was the initial setup?
Its setup is straightforward.
What other advice do I have?
It is easy to implement and integrate, but I would advise keeping it in the scope of only synchronization and not governance. That's because it lacks governance features.
I would rate it a seven out of 10.
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.
Protects our company documents and integrates with our SharePoint Global Portal
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is that it provides protection for our company documents."
- "This product was only launched two or three years ago and it is still in the process of becoming stable."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for this solution is to secure the identity of our customer. It is required for compliance and for making our systems very secure.
How has it helped my organization?
This solution helps in that it adds to our security.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is that it provides protection for our company documents.
This product integrates with our SharePoint Global Portal.
What needs improvement?
This product was only launched two or three years ago, and it is still in the process of becoming stable.
We have to make use of the current feature set before looking for new features.
For how long have I used the solution?
Very recent implementation.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This product was launched two to three years back and it is becoming stable.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support for this solution is ok.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We began using this product because we moved to the cloud. Earlier, we were using on-premise systems and at that time, this kind of security was not needed as much.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
We used a consultant for the deployment of this solution and our experience was ok.
What was our ROI?
We are not looking specifically for ROI with this product. Rather, it is used for compliance.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this product to a colleague at another company.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Specialist at a energy/utilities company with 51-200 employees
A solution with good tracking functionality and security in an enterprise-level environment
Pros and Cons
- "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."
What is most valuable?
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.
What needs improvement?
Support needs improvement. It is very easy to get somebody to help with the implementation of the Microsoft product itself, but when it comes to support it's a challenge as an IT team. You have to tell people, "Well we need to get back to Microsoft" and that can take forever.
Sometimes the waiting process really gets you stuck. If you have deployed a feature in your environment and you're using it and you cannot get the necessary support to be able to get back aspects of it, then it's as if Microsoft has whet our appetite, but then we can't use it any more. It's frustrating for everyone.
I want to be able to have access to somebody from Microsoft to be able to help me when I have challenges.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for two years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have a lot of end users and a few admins. Right now, we have about 180 users on the solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
On a scale of one to ten, I'd put technical support at seven. There's a lot of room for improvement. What really has helped us is the reviews that are put out by other admins who have been able to resolve the same problems. You can find an identical problem and see its resolution. If you are able to access those reviews, it helps you to navigate and try to solve your problems. That's what helps a lot of the time, as opposed to speaking with an actual person from technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The difficulty of the initial setup is always different. It depends on which application you deploy. Some are complex, some are straightforward. If you're deploying Microsoft XG, it's quite straight forward. If you're deploying something like MGM it's a little more confusing, and you always need somebody to help you to be able to do that. SharePoint is also a little bit confusing to handle.
Likewise Identity Manager looks a little more confusing in terms of its implementation process. There are other products from Microsoft that are more straightforward to implement or deploy, however.
What other advice do I have?
Over the years Microsoft has improved a lot. We don't have problems like we used to have in previous versions. There's still more room for improvement, however. They have begun listening to their customers, and they are bringing out features that customers are asking for and if I can get that from an OEM it gives me the assurance that everyone is being taken care of.
I would recommend the solution, however if a person is considering implementing it, they need to have a plan. Otherwise, they might start off and only after realize that there are options that weren't implemented well. It's good to always have a plan of what you want to implement something new. Review it and let your team query it, so you know exactly what you are deploying.
I would rate the solution eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Security Architect at ModusBox
End-to-end user visibility with impactful policy management
Pros and Cons
- "The features of Microsoft Identity Manager that have been most impactful in improving security and compliance include the granular policies, report, and the ability to gain end-to-end visibility for each user."
- "I would recommend Microsoft Identity Manager to others anytime."
- "I haven't explored it deeply enough to identify any areas for enhancement."
What is our primary use case?
My primary use case is to manage identities and enforce policies and workflows to manage user profiles and provision them securely, as well as streamline that process.
What is most valuable?
The features of Microsoft Identity Manager that have been most impactful in improving security and compliance include the granular policies, report, and the ability to gain end-to-end visibility for each user. This includes individuals and their devices. It allows for an intimate understanding of users from an identity perspective.
What needs improvement?
Currently, there is no specific area that needs improvement as I am very happy with the program. I haven't explored it deeply enough to identify any areas for enhancement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have approximately two years of experience with Microsoft Identity Manager.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I believe the solution has high stability as it is a critical service, and we have never encountered any problems.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability of the solution as ten out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
I rate the technical support nine out of ten. Issues naturally arise, however, it is not a complaint.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before Microsoft Identity Manager, I used the on-premise Akidiva Directory from Microsoft. It has been a successful product for us.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was manageable. We have a partner who supports us, and they did not struggle with the setup. It is relatively straightforward to operate with a learning curve to understand its workings. Following the guides and available material helps ease the process.
What about the implementation team?
Our deployment was done by a third-party partner.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing area may need improvement. Microsoft's licenses are bundled, allowing access to multiple services, which is beneficial.
What other advice do I have?
Based on my experience, I would recommend Microsoft Identity Manager to others anytime.
I would rate the overall solution ten 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?
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Jan 31, 2025
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