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IBM Security Identity Governance and Intelligence vs Microsoft Entra ID comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

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

IBM Security Identity Gover...
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
30th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (14th)
Microsoft Entra ID
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
273
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Authentication Systems (1st), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Identity Management (IM) category, the mindshare of IBM Security Identity Governance and Intelligence is 1.2%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 8.8%, down from 13.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity Management (IM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Entra ID8.8%
IBM Security Identity Governance and Intelligence1.2%
Other90.0%
Identity Management (IM)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1830612 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head, Cybersecurity at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We use the solution to ensure organizations conform to industry base certifications and best practices
We use the product to ensure organizations conform to industry base certifications and best practices and do not contradict their security policies within the base points they specify in the system, which are used to match everything against their governance use cases I think the product's most…
Stafin Jacob - PeerSpot reviewer
Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance Practice Lead at Invoke
Identity has become our central gatekeeper and has provided secure single sign-on for all users
Microsoft Entra ID can improve by focusing more on new passwordless methods and becoming a primary adopter. One feature we would like to see is the ability to have security questions for password resets. I know the current capability is phasing out, so we do not have an alternative method yet. Customers who already use security questions require a smoother transition for that capability to be available. My experience with the deployment has had some challenges, particularly around the Microsoft MFA campaigns. The hardest part is moving users from a different MFA provider to the Microsoft MFA provider, as it ultimately depends on user activity. In large enterprises with numerous users across various geographies, this transition takes time. If there are ways to exert more control around that process, it would improve the situation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution has a very good dashboard and the documentation is also very good, and life cycle management and governance are also good features in this solution."
"We use the product to ensure organizations conform to industry base certifications and best practices and do not contradict their security policies within the base points they specify in the system, which are used to match everything against their governance use cases."
"I would rate the price eight out of 10, with 10 as the best value for money."
"Lifecycle management, governance and documentation."
"Microsoft Entra ID's valuable features include integration capabilities, a simplified Active Directory approach, scalability, conditional access, and privileged identity management."
"This solution is less time-consuming. We don't have to hire as many resources to give permissions to a particular user or group for any application."
"I rate Microsoft Entra ID ten out of ten."
"Entra's conditional access policies allow us to fine-tune how we allow people into the environments and secure them."
"What I like most about Microsoft Entra ID is how it's the continuation of what was started with Active Directory to the cloud."
"The most valuable feature is Identity and Access Management. As an IT administrator, this feature allows me to manage access for users and groups."
"The two-factor authentication provides an additional layer of security for our organizational data, so Microsoft Authenticator plays a crucial role in making our confidential data more secure."
"Microsoft Entra ID has also massively improved secure access to apps or resources compared to our previous setup."
 

Cons

"The solution is a bit pricey for some regions."
"Self service center is not always easy to understand."
"I think improvements could be made in the self service center, making it easier for the user to understand."
"The solution is also a bit pricey for the Nigeria region."
"The technical support has room for improvement."
"I want to see more features to improve security, such as integrated user behavior analysis."
"The management interface has some areas that need improvement."
"Regarding the stability and reliability of Microsoft Entra ID, we have some issues regarding a team. We have experienced downtime, crashes, or performance issues."
"The frequent changes in branding cause confusion among customers who struggle to keep track of product names and functions."
"The technical support has its downsides and upsides. While they are fast, it can take time to get the right person because there are many steps to reach the appropriate team member at Microsoft support, which can be somewhat annoying."
"I want better integration between Azure AD and the on-prem environment because there are currently limitations that can hamper employee experience. We use a feature called password writeback, that can be challenging to implement in a hybrid environment. Employees can change their passwords using a self-service password reset (SSPR) feature, which reflects from the cloud to the on-prem identity, but not the other way around. Currently, there is no way to reflect passwords from on-prem identities to the cloud."
"In my opinion, Microsoft sometimes releases products too early without providing enough documentation."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the price eight out of 10, with 10 as the best value for money."
"Its price is per user. It is also based on the type of user that you're synchronizing up there."
"The cost is billed on a per-user licensing basis."
"Most features of Entra ID are part of Microsoft's ecosystem and included in Microsoft 365 bundles, which means there are no additional costs associated with pricing and licensing."
"I feel Microsoft is very costly compared to other products. That is also what management is thinking. But when we consider security and support, Microsoft is better than any other product."
"Azure AD has four licensing options- Free, Office 365 apps, Premium P1, and Premium P2. The free option has a limited number of identities and features, and the Office 365 version comes included in several Office 365 subscriptions. With the P1 and P2 licenses, we get all the freeware features plus additional security features, but these come at a higher price. The base price for P1 and P2 is $6 and $9 per user per month, respectively."
"It is in line. Because we are so early, we have not had to come back on a cycle where we are having to negotiate again."
"As a nonprofit, we have A5 licenses for nonprofits in education, so we at least have some reduced costs."
"The price of the solution's license is good."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Government
14%
Insurance Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business88
Midsize Enterprise39
Large Enterprise159
 

Questions from the Community

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How does Duo Security compare with Microsoft Authenticator?
We switched to Duo Security for identity verification. We’d been using a competitor but got the chance to evaluate Duo for 30 days, and we could not be happier. Duo Security is easy to configure a...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?
My experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Microsoft Entra ID is that it is decent.
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory?
I think Microsoft Entra ID could be improved by assigning permissions to nested groups in the next release.
 

Also Known As

IGI, IBM Security Identity Manager, ISIM
Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

E.ON Global Commodities
Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security Identity Governance and Intelligence vs. Microsoft Entra ID and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.