Our primary use case is to simplify directory deployment and centralize source of management. Within our own consulting business, we choose to use Azure AD.
Principle consultant at Active Data Consulting Services Pty Ltd
The centralized management feature is very valuable. We do not have to deploy lots of machines to run things as a service.
Pros and Cons
- "The centralized management feature is very valuable."
- "We do not have to deploy lots of machines all over the place to run things as a service, which is how we like to deploy things, just as a service."
- "https://www.itcentralstation.com/product_reviews/microsoft-bi-review-52460-by-amanda-zhou"
- "The centralized management feature is very valuable."
- "A nice feature that is not currently present, would be if they had some visualization tools."
- "A nice feature that is not currently present, would be if they had some visualization tools."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The centralized management feature is very valuable. Being able to delete stuff in one place, from any location is really great for us. In addition, we do not have to deploy lots of machines all over the place to run things as a service, which is how we like to deploy things, just as a service. So, this makes it easier to deploy, easy to set up, and work with. It is easy to use, and makes quality of life issues a reality for us.
What needs improvement?
It would be nice if it had some visualization tools. A bit of visualization would be really nice to show your Azure directory structure. It would be very good because you might have sub-domains and odds-and-ends going on. So, a bit of visualization would be really good. Being able to plug it directly into the video to produce models would be a really nice feature.
For how long have I used the solution?
Less than one year.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Entra ID
April 2026
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Entra ID. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is really good. We have not had an issue with it at all. It is always there for us. As a part of what Microsoft seems to be doing, it is taking away from what dedicated machines that you have to fiddle and tinker with to run services on, and turning them into services you can just access.
How are customer service and support?
My experience with tech support has been really good. I have had a couple of issues where I have logged the ticket with Microsoft, and I had someone on the phone with me regarding the ticket within a half an hour. It was a real technician who really knew what he was talking about. I was very impressed.
We had a problem related to Office 365 and Skype, and not being able to generate a Skype session when everything else seemed to be working. The tech support helped us fix the situation. They have a good depth of knowledge and it is not just people reading off a script. They are real users, with real experience.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment and setup was pretty straightforward. It is pretty easy. It is not that hard to get going, and the thing is that it is quick to integrate well with your Windows.
What was our ROI?
If you have an existing environment that consists of on-prem AD based environment, then you will want to go with Azure AD. You need to talk to your service provider, or your in-house IT team. Get them involved to help. We did so, and then we just set up a whole new domain and got rid of the old one, and set up the new one on Azure AD. Microsoft will help walk you through the process.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It looks like they're just making everything as a service and it is pay per user, and that just works for me. It's really good. Gets the cost down and lets you scale if you need it.
What other advice do I have?
It is easy to use, straightforward, and in my language. It does exactly what is says, and does not pretend to be anything else.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Analyst - IT Development at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
It is a very straightforward implementation. It helps us with maintaining enterprise identities.
Pros and Cons
- "It is a very straightforward implementation."
- "It helps us with maintaining enterprise identities."
- "We find the Integration accessory integration the most valuable feature; you can have your application integrated with an actual directory, you don't need to do much code, you can use interfaces and it's a direct integration, so there is no need to worry about the requirements of your application."
- "The licensing cost is a bit prohibitive."
- "The licensing cost is a bit prohibitive."
What is our primary use case?
It's a very good solution. You can manage your entity's enterprise identity using Azure Active Directory, and again, you can do several administrative activities. You can also use your Power Shares sorting and interfacing the endpoint.
How has it helped my organization?
It helps us with maintaining enterprise identities and integrating enterprise in those applications are some of the assignments.
We do have an expanded feature. We have captured video, so that other people can get their hands on getting used to it. That is, they can get used to the platform and implement it from the beginning.
What is most valuable?
We find the Integration accessory integration the most valuable feature. You can have your application integrated with an actual directory. You don't need to do much code, you can use interfaces and it's a direct integration. So, no need to worry about the requirements of your application.
What needs improvement?
The licensing cost is a bit prohibitive.
For how long have I used the solution?
Less than one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have not encountered any issues of stability with the product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It scales as far as it depends on the contract. So, it is useful, with plenty of management capabilities. It is pretty flexible, scaling, you can scale in or out as per your requirements.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have not contacted tech support.
How was the initial setup?
It is a very straightforward implementation, and you pay as you go. It depends on your number of users, number of applications integrated, and how you prepare your topologies (the arrangements of the network). So, it is pretty much flexible. You can custom tailor it as per your business and target , business implementation and requirement.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have some prior experience with Oracle Unified Directory, as well. It is a less compliant directory service.
In comparison, Azure Active Directory is mostly used with tighter integration. In most of the cases, enterprises are using Office 365 for the communication site online. If you have a requirement like integration with Office 365, then Azure Active Directory is a perfect solution. If you want to integrate other applications or workstations, you can use any compliant directory that works.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Entra ID
April 2026
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Entra ID. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Director General
The most important feature is the factor identification.
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the factor identification. I find that it is natural integration, and it is just a natural step. I do not need to do anything else."
- "The most valuable feature is the factor identification; I find that it is a natural integration and it is just a natural step, and I do not need to do anything else."
- "I think there is room for improvement with actually discussing, and advertising Microsoft as a an authenticator. Many people just get confused and use Google, and I think if Microsoft would make more of an effort to penetrate the market, that would be key."
- "I think there is room for improvement with actually discussing, and advertising Microsoft as an authenticator. Many people just get confused and use Google, and I think if Microsoft would make more of an effort to penetrate the market, that would be key."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use this solution for tracking authentication.
How has it helped my organization?
The quantum we are using is probably the authentication The security-based factor of authentication.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the factor identification. I find that it is natural integration, and it is just a natural step. I do not need to do anything else.
What needs improvement?
I think there is room for improvement with actually discussing, and advertising Microsoft as a an authenticator. Many people just get confused and use Google. It's weird because it's exactly the same way that it works. But it's there, it's definite region to start the people is more used to use their the Google authenticator instead of the Microsoft authentication. I think if Microsoft would make more of an effort to penetrate the market, that would be key.
In addition, it would be nice to have a biometric authentication like voice ID, or any of your medical ID. This would be a nice additional feature for Azure to have.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We experienced the aset surge that happened a month or so ago. There was a storm that broke one of the data centers in south-central. The functionality of active directive for Microsoft support was in shortage. It took a day to return back to functional use.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable for our needs.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have not needed to request technical support. All of the Microsoft guides are really good and are very helpful.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I know more about Microsoft than any other technology, that's why I didn't look for any other competitors.
How was the initial setup?
It was a very straightforward initial setup. To be honest, we are a pretty small company so for us it's one portal and everything is there. It's not that complicated.
What other advice do I have?
I like it, I love it and it works fine.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Domain Admin at a government with 1,001-5,000 employees
Enhanced user and multifactor authentication experience with a straightforward setup
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the ability to authenticate users using Microsoft Entra ID."
- "I would like to see some additional attributes for user objects in Microsoft Entra, especially for tasks such as users and account validation, including guest users and guest accounts."
What is our primary use case?
We are using Microsoft Entra ID for Microsoft services and cloud services such as email and Teams.
How has it helped my organization?
We have seen benefits like user authentication and multifactor authentication, which are advantageous for us.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the ability to authenticate users using Microsoft Entra ID.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see some additional attributes for user objects in Microsoft Entra, especially for tasks such as users and account validation, including guest users and guest accounts.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for approximately three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We experienced some performance issues with the solution.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support experiences can vary. Sometimes the support is good, and sometimes it requires escalation of the problem. Usually, we have a good experience. I would rate their technical support seven out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not have any similar solutions before Microsoft Entra ID.
How was the initial setup?
Starting to work with it was straightforward, and the deployment process was okay.
What about the implementation team?
I am not aware of the details regarding the implementation strategy as I need to ask our security engineers.
What other advice do I have?
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Entra ID Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2026
Product Categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) Authentication Systems Identity Management (IM) Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) Access Management Microsoft Security SuitePopular Comparisons
Microsoft Intune
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Cloudflare One
Microsoft Defender for Office 365
Microsoft Sentinel
SailPoint Identity Security Cloud
Okta Platform
Microsoft Defender XDR
Microsoft Purview Data Governance
Azure Key Vault
Workspace ONE UEM
Omada Identity
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention
Ping Identity Platform
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Entra ID Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- What do you think of the integration of Azure AD Services, Defender for Endpoint, and Intune as comprehensive security solutions?
- What are the biggest differences between Google Cloud Identity and Microsoft Azure Active Directory?
- How does Duo Security compare with Microsoft Authenticator?
- How does Microsoft Authenticator compare with Forinet FortiToken?
- When evaluating Single Sign-On, what aspect do you think is the most important to look for?
- CA SiteMinder vs IBM Tivoli Access Manager
- What single sign-on platform do you recommend?
- How much time does SSO save?
- Why is SSO needed?
- Why is Single Sign-On (SSO) important for companies?








