In 2023, Microsoft announced that it was renaming Active Azure Directory to Entra ID, ostensibly to simplify their product naming after previously announcing Microsoft Entra the year before as the product family that encompassed all of Microsoft’s identity and network access solutions.
Currently, Entra includes identity and access management (IAM) solutions such as Entra ID, Entra ID Governance and Entra External ID, new identity categories such as Entra verified ID, Entra Permissions Management, and Entra Workload ID, as well as network access products like Entra Internet Access and Entra Private Access.
WHAT IS ENTRA ID?
Entra ID is Microsoft’s cloud-based IAM service. Although it shares common technology with Active Directory Domain Services, Microsoft’s on-premises LDAP service and Entra Domain Services, which provides Azure-based managed domain services, Entra ID is designed to provide services meeting a different need.
Entra ID has been optimized for the cloud and forms the backbone of all Microsoft’s cloud applications and services. At the time of writing (April 2024), there are three editions of Entra ID:
- Entra ID free
- Entra ID P1
- Entra ID P2
Each of these editions provide different features, as outlined in this Microsoft documentation. The free edition a subscription of a commercial online service like Azure, Intune or Dynamics 365. The premium editions are available for purchase individually and are also available bundled with Enterprise Mobility and Security (EMS) and certain Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise licenses.
WHY ENTRA ID?
Technologies and protocols used inside the corporate network to provide single sign-on (SSO) and identity coherency are not very good at spanning the internet. Thus, on-premises credentials often cannot be used for cloud authentication. This can lead to the use of disparate username/password combinations for cloud applications.
On the other hand, Entra ID uses cloud native authentication protocols which enable organizations to provide secure access to multiple cloud and on-premises services with a single set of login credentials.
WHO SHOULD USE ENTRA ID?
Entra ID can be used by organizations to control access to their apps and app resources (both on-premises and cloud) based on business requirements. For example, businesses can use Entra ID to require multi-factor authentication (MFA) when users access important organisational resources.
App developers can also use Entra ID as a standards-based approach for adding SSO to their app, allowing it to work with a user’s pre-existing credentials. Entra also provides APIs which help app developers build personalised app experiences using existing organisational data.
Finally, Entra ID is the identity foundation for Microsoft 365, Office 365, Azure or Dynamics CRM Online subscribers. If you already have a subscription to one or more of these services, you are already using Entra ID.
In summary, Entra ID provides a modern, standards-based IAM which can be used not only for Microsoft cloud subscriptions, but also for a plethora of third-party cloud and on-premises applications and services.
For an entertaining look into the world of Identity and Security, grab a Late Night Brew with my colleagues Buk and Edmund. Feel free to reach out to us to start a conversation on how you can elevate your identity and access management approach.
