Microsoft Entra ID is a directory service that enables you to sign in and access both Microsoft cloud applications and cloud applications that you develop. Microsoft Entra ID can also help you maintain your on-premises Active Directory deployment.
For on-premises environments, Active Directory running on Windows Server provides an identity and access management service that’s managed by your organization. Microsoft Entra ID is Microsoft’s cloud-based identity and access management service. With Microsoft Entra ID, you control the identity accounts, but Microsoft ensures that the service is available globally. If you’ve worked with Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID will be familiar to you.
When you secure identities on-premises with Active Directory, Microsoft doesn’t monitor sign-in attempts. When you connect Active Directory with Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft can help protect you by detecting suspicious sign-in attempts at no extra cost. For example, Microsoft Entra ID can detect sign-in attempts from unexpected locations or unknown devices.
Who uses Microsoft Entra ID?
Microsoft Entra ID is for:
- IT administrators. Administrators can use Microsoft Entra ID to control access to applications and resources based on their business requirements.
- App developers. Developers can use Microsoft Entra ID to provide a standards-based approach for adding functionality to applications that they build, such as adding SSO functionality to an app or enabling an app to work with a user’s existing credentials.
- Users. Users can manage their identities and take maintenance actions like self-service password reset.
- Online service subscribers. Microsoft 365, Microsoft Office 365, Azure, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online subscribers are already using Microsoft Entra ID to authenticate into their account.
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