Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] vs VMware Aria Automation comparison

Microsoft and Broadcom are both solutions in the Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) category. Additionally, 100% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Entra Permissions...

Read 2 Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] reviews

100% willing to recommend

VMware Aria Automation

Read 172 VMware Aria Automation reviews

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182 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Microsoft Entra Permissions...

VMware Aria Automation

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 25, 2025

VMware Aria Automation and Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] are competing in cloud automation and permissions management. VMware Aria Automation is stronger in pricing and support, while Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] is dominant in features.

Features: VMware Aria Automation shines with advanced automation capabilities, diverse integration options, and extensive customizability, concentrating on IT process optimization. Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] focuses on fine-grained permissions, compliance features, and security-focused governance arrangements, catering to organizations with heightened security needs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware Aria Automation provides a flexible deployment model suitable for hybrid setups, enhanced by robust customer service. Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] offers a simplified deployment with seamless integration into Microsoft’s ecosystem, leveraging Microsoft's support network for customer service. VMware is noted for versatility with hybrid deployment, and Microsoft benefits from its ecosystem integration.

Pricing and ROI: VMware Aria Automation initially costs less, promising quick ROI due to automation efficiencies, allowing businesses to streamline operations. Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] may have higher upfront expenses but compensates with strong security features to mitigate risks and lower compliance costs over time. VMware differs with cost-effectiveness through efficiency, while Microsoft targets long-term savings with security.

To learn more, read our detailed Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM)

February 2026

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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

Microsoft Entra Permissions...

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

VMware Aria Automation

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

172

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Management (3rd), Configuration Management (8th), Network Automation (6th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (19th), Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) (5th)

Featured Reviews

Sameer Bhat

Vice President at Goldman Sachs

Provides resource-based access and security, but time-bound access can be a problem

Entra ID is the core of the identity management that we have. This is the key product that we are using. I am currently also looking into Entra Private Access because we are planning to deploy about 50,000 desktops into Azure and use Azure Virtual Desktop. We would like to give access to the users from the desktop to on-premises applications. I learned that Entra Private Access is a good solution. That is not yet GA, but that is what we are looking for. Entra provides a single pane of glass for managing user access, but because our company also integrates with Nebula API, only administrators use Entra's pane. A normal person who wants to get onboarded can do self-service using Nebula. The features for whitelisting and other things are definitely there. That is what we use specifically. Application IDs, enterprise applications, and all those things are already there, so we have more efficiency. There is also security because we usually do not allow user identities to get direct access to Azure resources. Usually, we use the service principles from Entra ID, so this way, it increases security. Entra has helped to save time for our IT administrators. We tend to automate a lot of things. We can do automation using Graph APIs and save time. It is hard to quantify the time savings, but there has been a medium amount of time savings. Entra has helped to save our organization money. We care about security and risk more than money, but it also saves money. We are premium customers, and because we have a commit-to-consume contract with Microsoft of multi-million dollars, the money does not come into it because we have to consume those resources.

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VasilisGiannitsiotis

Senior IT at ITSolutions

Automation has streamlined complex financial workflows but still needs more intuitive orchestration

Something to improve in VMware Aria Automation would be related to VCF 9, as I do not know what it is trying to bring because they exposed it as the solution of everything. So VCF 9 will bring VCF Automation and VCF Operations, the new product line of VMware. I have not seen what this brings or what else it includes. Maybe in the area of vRealize Orchestrator, this would be beneficial because VRO can do everything. Perhaps a more user-friendly way to use that tool would be helpful because the possibilities there are endless. I am looking for more user-friendly navigation in VMware Aria Automation.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution integrates well with our infrastructure and other systems without any issues."

"Multifactor authentication is valuable."

"The most valuable feature of VMware Aria Automation is the versatile automation and deployments."

"The IT support for developers is nice as well because they are able to manage the environment themselves."

"vRA has enabled us to derive value from the cloud faster. It is five to six times faster than traditional solutions."

"Preparation of Hybris Commerce HY300 training laboratory environments and Hybris Expert Services demo infrastructure went from days of effort down to hours."

"SaltStack provides the capability necessary to truly streamline our SDLC and environment management."

"It has improved our organization by automating some of our processes."

"SaltStack is a one-stop-shop for your datacenter's management, monitoring and state control needs."

"It provides us with rapid deployment and reclamation of servers, has increased the infrastructure agility and application agility, improved time to market, and made it easier for IT to support developers."

More VMware Aria Automation pros

Cons

"We use a third-party API called Nebula API to integrate the account for authorization. The time-bound access area in Entra can be a problem. It can be improved in terms of the granularity of the permissions."

"The solution's pricing and support services need improvement."

"I think debugging can be improved. In case of errors, the devOps team finds it difficult to read the Python stack traces at times."

"It's a good product. It's very extensible. It is fairly complex to set up, and it's fairly closely tied to VMware's infrastructure, so there's a lack of portability to public clouds and a lack of ability to manage infrastructure as code natively."

"I would like to see a simpler way of provisioning it. As is, we can automate the provisioning of a VM, however, when it comes to the external IPs, that is outside of VMware. But that has to be automated as well. If there was a way for us to have the virtual machines connect to switches that are external to VMware, that would be great. That way, it would handle the entire workflow from creation and provisioning of a VM to the connectivity to the external IP addresses which allow our customers to have access to the VM. Currently, that IP configuration has to be done manually."

"Each new version seems to bring a new set of bugs to the table and upgrading is risky, especially for a tool at the core of the operations and infrastructure."

"In general, it took us a long time to get it off the ground. We had a lot of issues upfront and we determined that we just needed to scrap it."

"There is a lot of information to go over and it’s hard to keep it all straight."

"The stability on the 6.2 version is very bad. It crashes. VMware tech support knows the IIS component is a bit buggy."

"I would like to see more improvement in the way it integrates with other systems."

More VMware Aria Automation cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are a Fortune 500 company, so we always negotiate with Microsoft."

"The product cost is in the mid to high range."

"We do plan to see ROI with any new implementation of new technologies being implemented within our environment."

"It made the provisioning of the virtual machines easier and faster. We can react more quickly to customers' demands."

"This is an expensive product and the high price is starting to become an issue for us."

"The cost of the solution is reasonable for us. Although it is relatively high, we prioritize stability and integration over cost."

"From the customer perspective, the value was worth it."

"I would rate the pricing a ten out of ten, with ten being very expensive."

"A simplified version for small businesses would be good."

"vRealize automation really should be a front door to the whole VMware suite of products."

More VMware Aria Automation pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

21%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	33
Midsize Enterprise	24
Large Enterprise	130

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Entra Permissions Management?

The product cost is in the mid to high range. You need to have a good budget to implement it, so it is considered fairly expensive for our market. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten.

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What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra Permissions Management?

The solution's pricing and support services need improvement.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra Permissions Management?

Our clients primarily use the product from a security management perspective.

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What's the difference between VMware vRA (automation) and vROps (operations)?

vROP is a virtualization management solution from VMWare. It is efficient and easy to manage. You can find anything you need from the software interface. It provides complete visibility over applic...

See all answers

Is there any way to try VMware Aria Automation for free?

When it comes to VMware Aria Automation, you have three choices for free runs: Hands-on Lab (HOL) Advanced lab A free trial I cannot describe in detail the second and third options as my company ...

See all answers

Which sectors can benefit the most from VMware Aria Automation?

I was looking at VMware Aria Automation case studies recently and I got the impression that three main kinds of companies were using it most often: Social organizations Financial institutions and ...

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Compared 8% of the time

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Compared 10% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM)

February 2026

Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] report

Download Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware Aria Automation

February 2026

Download VMware Aria Automation product report

Also Known As

CloudKnox Permissions Management

VMware vRealize Automation, vRA, VMware DynamicOps Cloud Suite, SaltStack

Overview

Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] provides robust access control and identity management, enhancing security by optimizing permissions and reducing risk.

This advanced platform offers comprehensive capabilities designed to streamline identity management. It empowers organizations to manage permissions efficiently, enhancing security frameworks while addressing compliance needs. By focusing on visibility and control, it optimizes access to ensure the right resources are available to the right users, reducing excessive permission grants and potential security vulnerabilities.

What are the main features of Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL]?

Advanced Visibility: Gain insights into permissions to identify and address security risks.
Access Optimization: Align permissions with actual usage to prevent over-privileged access.
Compliance Integration: Streamline compliance processes with built-in reporting tools.

What benefits should you consider when evaluating Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL]?

Improved Security Posture: Reduces risk by eliminating excessive permissions.
Enhanced Compliance: Eases regulatory compliance with robust auditing features.
Operational Efficiency: Saves time and resources by automating permission management.

In specific industries like finance and healthcare, Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] plays a crucial role in maintaining data integrity and regulatory compliance. Its implementation allows organizations to seamlessly integrate permission management into existing security infrastructures, providing tailored solutions that address sector-specific requirements and challenges.

Microsoft

VMware Aria Automation is a cloud management tool that allows companies to simplify their cloud experience through a modern automation platform. The solution is designed to deliver self-service clouds, multi-cloud automation with governance, and DevOps-based security and infrastructure management. It helps organizations improve IT agility, efficiency, and productivity through its various features.

VMware Aria Automation has multiple use cases that include the following:

Self-service multi-cloud: VMware Aria Automation can be used to deliver consistent self-service consumption. Another use case in this area is for delivering infrastructure across VMware Clouds as well as public clouds.
Multi-cloud governance: The solution can be used to manage cost, performance, networking, configuration, and security at scale for multi-cloud environments. VMware Aria Automation offers all this with an everything-as-code approach.
DevOps for infrastructure: Through VMware Aria Automation, companies can enable a powerful infrastructure as code platform with support for iterative development and infrastructure pipelining.
Kubernetes automation: Users can utilize VMware Aria Automation to automate the management of Kubernetes clusters and namespaces with support for vSphere with Tanzu.
Security operations: VMware Aria Automation facilitates event-driven automation to deliver full-service IT system compliance enforcement and vulnerability remediation.

VMware Aria Automation Features

VMware Aria Automation has various features that allow users to easily perform operations. Some of the solution's capacities include:

VMware Cloud agnostic template: This feature allows organizations to use a single cloud template to deploy with Infrastructure as a Code. Deployment options include VMware Cloud as well as major public cloud platforms such as Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and more.
Extensibility and customization: This VMware Aria Automation feature allows users to get full extensibility and customization. This can be achieved through Aria Automation Orchestrator, Action-Based Extensibility (ABX), and built-in integrations with common third-party tools.
Self-service multi-cloud: This feature enables users to request and provision infrastructure resources. It can be done across clouds using a unified and consistent Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) consumption layer, idempotent REST API, and self-service catalog.
Centralized policies and governance: VMware Aria Automation offers a feature for users to manage multiple clouds with templatized cloud and policy definition, automated remediation, and cloud environment visibility.
Configuration management: Through this feature of the product, day 1 and 2 control can be achieved for virtualized and cloud environments. This can be done with intuitive configuration automation, compliance enforcement, and vulnerability remediation.
Infrastructure pipelining: Through this feature, organizations can access user-friendly release automation pipelines. They can be specifically tailored for CI/CD in infrastructure use cases.

VMware Aria Automation Benefits

VMware Aria Automation offers its users various benefits. Some of the biggest advantages that the solution brings to companies that utilize it include:

VMware Aria Automation provides faster time to market for companies through offloading manual tasks with advanced workflows and agile templating.
The solution offers high levels of security and control.
This product is suitable for beginners, as it offers a self-service consumption experience for users.
VMware Aria Automation accelerates innovation through Infrastructure as Code and DevOps principles.
The product provides users with flexibility, as it is compatible with the most popular public cloud solutions.
The solution offers fast deployment because of all natively integrated functions.

Reviews from Real Users

Awais J., CTO/CEO at a tech services company, likes VMware Aria Automation because it saves a lot of time, provides more visibility, and has extensive automation capabilities.

An IT consultant at a government rates VMware Aria Automation highly because the product gives you flexibility to analyze and consume resources.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Rent-a-Center, Amway, Vistra Energy, Liberty Mutual

Buyer's Guide

Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM)

February 2026

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