Microsoft Entra External ID

Score9.9 out of 10

52 Reviews and Ratings

What is Microsoft Entra External ID?

Microsoft Entra External ID (formerly Azure Active Directory B2C, or alternately, Azure Active Directory External Identities) provides business-to-customer identity as a service. Customers can use their preferred social, enterprise, or local account identities to get single sign-on access to applications and APIs.

Categories & Use Cases

Verified User

Analyst in Information Technology (501-1000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

In ou organization, we iser Microsoft Entra External ID for pur third party vendors who operate from different countries. Instead of giving full access to our sensitive data. We used Microsoft Entra External ID so that limited access could be given but at the same time enough access is given to operate properly. Data security is th major business problem which Microsoft Entra External ID helps with. It makes our sensitive data safe and secure.

Pros

One of the things that Microsoft Entra External ID does really well is creating user logins, accounts and profile. It is very easy to create them, manage them and delete them. It is fast and reliant.
Limit access or authorization feature. We can allow different levels of authorization and access. So that not all the employees would have access to all the data. Only some relaible employees would have access and power to change anything.
Mutli factor authentication feature is also a really good feature to secure data. Even overseas vendors need MFS to login which gives double protection to our data.

Cons

The non technical users might get a little frustarted when it comes to passwors resets and MFA for Microsoft Entra External ID. They find it difficult to navigate through it and make the changes. Specially someone who is not a texh savvy.

Return on Investment

The positive impact is that, if our company would have used local employees rather than third party vendors, it could have been very expensive. Using third party vendors with the peace of mind that the data is secure. Its a win-win situation if the financial aspect is considered.
Negative impact was the implentation and setup. It was very time taking. The IT team had to work on it for so long as it was very complex. It really took some time to train employees onto using Microsoft Entra External ID.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Amazon Cognito

Cj Rosenstiel

IT Apps Programmer Sr in Information Technology at Progressive (5001-10,000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Azure Active Directory B2C allows users to sign into parts of our systems using multifactor authentication while still accessing the parts that do not need the added protection. The predefined user flows help create user experiences and access quickly, while the custom policies are for a more robust scenario. Both are unique and tailored to our needs.

Pros

User flows
MFA
User interface

Cons

Custom policies options
integrating

Most Important Features

One stop shop
Easy access
multiple options

Return on Investment

Stronger security
Conditional Access

Alternatives Considered

PingOne from Ping Identity and OneLogin by One Identity

Other Software Used

Microsoft 365, Google Analytics

Lars Kemmann View profile

Principal Architect in Engineering at Netrix LLC (501-1000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Azure Active Directory B2C is our go-to platform for customer identity and access management (CIAM) needs, both for our internally-developed applications and products as well as for our clients' customer-facing applications. Despite the name, Azure Active Directory B2C excels at both business-to-consumer and business-to-business ("B2B") functionality; I often explain to people that "B2C" should be read as "business-to-customer." We have used Azure Active Directory B2C for everything from prototype apps and small business scenarios to very large enterprises with millions of user accounts.

Pros

Customer identity
User experience customization
Integration and configuration
Security
Availability/reliability

Cons

Troubleshooting diagnostic logs effectively requires VS Code
Group and role management requires additional effort
The programming model (XML) could use some developer experience love

Most Important Features

Configurability
Integration with Azure
Value
Security
Reliability

Return on Investment

Time to market for our products significantly reduced
Optimized our total cost of ownership for providing subscription SaaS solutions
Streamlined maintainability of solutions

Alternatives Considered

AuthX, The Okta Identity Cloud and AWS Identity & Access Management

Other Software Used

Azure API Management, Azure App Service, Azure Blob Storage, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

Verified User

Analyst in Information Technology (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Azure Active Directory B2C helps provide seamless access to all the services and apps to the people either working on-site or working remotely and helps them stay productive. With the graphical overview of monthly activity, the Azure Active Directory B2C also makes it simple to manage all sign-ins. It is very reliable and secure.

Pros

Simple to use
Secure
Manage sign-ins

Cons

Customization

Most Important Features

Security

Return on Investment

Better customer experience
Increased customer base

Other Software Used

Amazon CloudSearch, AWS Cloud9, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)

Verified User

Technician in Information Technology (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Azure AD B2C solution for one of our clients who need to authenticate end users to their mobile application and support their backbone as IT admins. It helped us to address and facilitate identity verification by gathering user data. Moreover, the progressive profiling feature helped their customers to complete their first transaction quickly and efficiently.

Pros

Single sign-on access with a user-provided identity.
Progressive profiling.
Authenticate individual customers.

Cons

Confusing pricing.
Complexity.
Interface

Most Important Features

Seamless and easy integration with other Microsoft platforms.
Being a cloud based solution.
Strong authentication for clients using their preferred identity provider.

Return on Investment

Having monthly active users billing was cost-effective.
Helped with the IT support that was already managing the Azure platform of the company; this helped to manage the costs better and optimize them.

Other Software Used

Azure AD Security Governance, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Azure Active Directory