
## Why Azure AD SSO is Important for Modern Enterprises? {#why-is-azure-ad-important}

The workforce of modern enterprises often faces the challenge of managing multiple applications and systems, each requiring separate login credentials. This exposes their employees to more frustration, less productivity, and higher security risks. To address these challenges, [Single Sign-On (SSO)](https://www.miniorange.com/products/single-sign-on-sso) using existing Azure AD emerges as a critical solution for modern-day organizations.

### What is Azure AD Single Sign On (SSO)? {#what-is-azure-ad-sso}

Azure AD is a popular directory used by most enterprises to store their data, applications, user information, etc. **Azure AD Single Sign-On (SSO)** is a cloud-based authentication service provided by Microsoft, which allows users to securely access multiple applications and resources within the Active Directory using a single set of login credentials. 

With Azure AD SSO, your employees authenticate themselves once and gain seamless access to various applications they require, without the need to provide credentials again for each individual application. This saves time and increases productivity. With fewer passwords to manage, this mode of authentication increases safety and significantly lowers password theft threats.

Azure AD SSO leverages industry-standard protocols such as Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) or OpenID Connect to establish trust between the identity provider (Azure AD) and the applications. When a user attempts to access an application, Azure handles the authentication process behind the scenes in the backend, validating the user's identity and providing the necessary access tokens to the application.

### 3 Reasons Why Enterprises Should Implement Azure AD SSO {#3-reasons-to-implement-azure-ad-sso}

**1.Simply the User Experience:** The seamless login process provided by Azure AD SSO eliminates the need for users to remember and enter multiple login credentials, saving time and increasing productivity.

**2.Enable Centralized Identity Management:** When Azure AD SSO is implemented, Azure AD serves as a centralized identity management hub, streamlining the user provisioning, de-provisioning, and access control, improving operational efficiency.

**3.Say Bye to Password Management:** Password-related problems are eliminated when users can log in to multiple apps with a single set of credentials via Single Sign-On. Hence, there is no need to manage multiple passwords for different apps.

### How to Enable SSO For Apps Not Supporting SAML Protocol? {#sso-for-apps-that-dont-support-saml}  
With [Azure AD SSO integration](https://www.miniorange.com/iam/login-with-external-idp/configure-azure-ad-sso#step2), SSO can be enabled for applications that support SAML & Open ID protocols, but many organizations use applications that do not support any SSO Protocol or use something else for delegated authentication. For such unique use cases, miniOrange’s Proprietary Azure AD SSO solution is the perfect solution. 

### Easy SSO Deployment with miniOrange {#easy-sso-deployment-with-miniorange}

[miniOrange solution](https://www.miniorange.com/products/identity-broker-service) works like a third-party provider, where it keeps the Azure AD as IDP and enables SSO for all applications. In case the app does not support SAML, but supports other standard protocols, then to enable SSO, miniOrange can act as a middleman to facilitate communication between Azure AD and your application by converting SAML responses to app-specific protocol responses that the app can easily understand. If the application doesn't support any known protocols, then **miniOrange provides custom solutions** (like Connectors, etc.) to enable SSO. miniOrange also provides APIs that developers can easily integrate with the respective applications for authentication or authorization.

### User & Group Sync between Azure AD and any Databases/IDPs {#user-and-group-sync}

With [miniOrange User & Group Sync](https://www.miniorange.com/azure-ad-provisioning) admins can effectively synchronize user and group data stored in Azure AD with any external directories, IDPs, and applications. This eliminates the need for manual user and group creation and enables the syncing of custom attributes across different places. The sync can be scheduled or executed manually, significantly reducing administrative time and minimizing errors. Its seamless integration is invaluable for efficient user management. miniOrange can create, read, and update user accounts for new or existing users, remove accounts for deactivated users, and synchronize attributes across **multiple databases, IDPs, directories, and the applications** that the user needs access to.

### 5 Reasons Why Organizations Should Implement Azure AD SSO Via miniOrange  {#5-reasons-to-choose-miniorange-azure-ad-sso}   

1. **Multi-Platform Support:** The miniOrange solution for Azure AD SSO offers broad support for a wide range of platforms, applications, and protocols, allowing organizations to enable SSO across various systems, both cloud-based and on-premises. Also, there is a range of **pre-built integrations and connectors** for popular enterprise applications, simplifying the SSO implementation process.
2. **Ease of Use and Configuration:** For configuration processes to SSO, you can leverage miniOrange’s user-friendly interfaces to make the process streamlined. Get comprehensive administration consoles with intuitive workflows, making it easier for administrators to set up and manage SSO for the entire organization.
3. **Identity Management Features:** miniOrange offers advanced [identity management capabilities](https://www.miniorange.com/iam/workforce-identity) beyond SSO. These include features such as user provisioning and de-provisioning, [Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA),](https://www.miniorange.com/products/multi-factor-authentication-mfa) password management, directory integration, and detailed access controls. These additional features can enhance security and streamline user management processes.
4. **Flexibility and Customization:** While Azure AD offers SSO capabilities, miniOrange generally provides more flexibility and customization options by offering **extensive API support, developer tools, and customization capabilities,** allowing organizations to tailor their SSO implementation to specific business requirements and integrate with custom applications.
5. **Third-Party Integration Ecosystem:** miniOrange has well-established ecosystems with a wide range of third-party integrations. These integrations enable organizations to connect their SSO implementation with other tools and services, such as **HR systems, CRMs, collaboration platforms, and security solutions,** enhancing the overall identity and access management capabilities of the organization.


If you want to try out the miniOrange solution and see how it works for your organization, then you can opt for the **30-day full-feature free trial with POC.** To know more, click on this link: https://www.miniorange.com/iam/login-with-external-idp/configure-azure-ad-sso 



### FAQ {#faq}

**1. What is Azure AD SAML SSO?**  
SAML is an XML-based standard for exchanging authentication and authorization data between identity providers (such as Azure AD) and service providers (applications). Azure AD SAML SSO (Security Assertion Markup Language Single Sign-On) is a specific implementation of Azure AD SSO that utilizes the SAML protocol for secure authentication. Azure AD SAML SSO is the best option for businesses that use on-premise applications mostly and want to implement a streamlined authentication method to increase productivity among their employees & strengthen overall data security.

**2. Is Azure AD SSO different from Azure AD Seamless SSO?**

Azure AD SSO focuses on providing Single Sign-On capabilities with centralized user management and enhanced security, which is best suited for on-premise environments. Protocols like SAML and OpenID Connect are utilized to establish trust between the identity provider (Azure AD) and the applications. Whereas, Azure AD Seamless SSO takes it a step further by offering a more streamlined and transparent authentication experience, especially for organizations with a hybrid environment. Users are automatically signed in to applications when they are on their corporate network and connected to their domain-joined devices.
 














Learn how Enterpises can implement SSO with Azure AD Integration by leveraging the miniOrange solution.

Azure Active Directory SSO for Enterpises | Azure AD Integration

With the news that Microsoft has discontinued selling ‘Azure MFA server’ from 2018, [Microsoft Azure MFA](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/authentication/concept-mfa-howitworks) customers are looking to migrate to another MFA providing vendor.  

Migrations are most successful when handled with the best methods and planned approach. It is also important to understand that Migration can be challenging sometimes and needs the understanding to resolve issues.  

miniOrange is taking all these issues like MFA methods & **providing support to all organizations for easy and free migration from the Azure MFA server as its infrastructure is built for both On-premise and Cloud solutions**. miniOrange Identity platform ensures the organizations benefit from the use of its solution by ensuring their Azure AD tokens can coexist with their miniOrange Identity Platform deployment until all users are fully migrated.  

Issues such as Multi-Tenant Support or Third Party Support are faced by Azure MFA users are also acknowledged by miniOrange by providing Multiple domain support to users and enabling Integration with third-party Identity Providers. miniOrange provides a modern identity platform for such migrations in order to solve these problems of authentication.  

&nbsp;  

#### **Current situation of Microsoft Azure MFA Server**
Microsoft Azure server was previously used for users to store in AD but it is discontinued. It cannot be considered for any new implementation as

- Microsoft no longer invests in this methodology.
- There is a lack of integration with SSPR and Azure MFA Cloud.
- There is no solution to seamlessly migrate MFA Server to MFA Cloud-based solution using a tool or software.  

**For further details check [here](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/authentication/multi-factor-authentication-faq) about Azure MFA current situation.**

### Key advantages of using miniOrange Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) {#key-advantages-of-using-miniorange-multi-factor-authentication-mfa}

- miniOrange provides a solution to the migration path for Azure MFA customers providing a smooth workflow process and a good user interface. Authentication is the most crucial and identity security solution to avoid much brute force, phishing attacks, credentials stuffing and secure access to the data for all the workspaces and customer authorizations.
- Replacing Azure MFA server with [miniOrange Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)](https://www.miniorange.com/blog/what-is-multi-factor-authentication-mfa/) helps you in authenticating users by verifying two or more verification factors and ensuring the right set of authentication to your sensitive information and protect user identities on both cloud and on-premise which is not provided by Azure MFA server in on-premise.
- With the increase of security risks across global organizations, miniOrange updated the features with [15+ authentication methods](https://www.miniorange.com/iam/content-library/admin-docs/configure-mfa-methods-for-admins) that include SoftToken, Push, QR Code using Google, Microsoft, and [miniOrange authenticator app](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.miniorange.android.authenticator&hl=en_IN&gl=US) and Hardware Tokens like- Yubikey, Display with various popular integrations with [OpenVPN](https://www.miniorange.com/two-factor-authentication-for-open-vpn), [Fortinet](https://www.miniorange.com/two-factor-authentication-for-fortinet), [Windows](https://www.miniorange.com/two-factor-authentication-(2fa)-for-windows-login-and-rdp), [Sharepoint](https://www.miniorange.com/two-factor-authentication-(2fa)-for-sharepoint), [Office 365](https://www.miniorange.com/two-factor-authentication-(2fa)-for-office-365), and many more.
- In this era of telecommunication, MFA allows employees to safely access data from any device or location without putting sensitive data at risk. Having a second form of identification greatly decreases the chance of a hacker gaining access to corporate devices or other sensitive information.  


### How to Migrate from Microsoft Azure MFA Server to miniOrange Identity Platform? {#how-to-migrate-from-microsoft-azure-mfa-server-to-miniorange-identity-platform}

miniOrange supports seamless integration of MFA for AD users. Here miniOrange Identity Provider (On-Premise or the Cloud version) will connect to your Enterprise Active Directory and make a Manual import of all the users from the AD to the miniOrange. Once that is done, users will be easily able to reconfigure their MFA methods. Here the AD user will use his AD credentials and the configured MFA method in miniOrange to log into the applications that he requires.  

For all the users that are created after the initial import, we support an On the Fly user creation and synchronization capabilities that allow users and their data to be in sync with Active Directory.

![Microsoft Azure MFA Server](/blog/assets/2023/microsoft-azure-mfa-server.webp)

### Microsoft Azure MFA VS miniOrange {#microsoft-azure-mfa-vs-miniorange}

| Features | Microsoft Azure MFA | miniOrange |
| -------- | ------------------- | ---------- |
| Infrastructure | Cloud Solution | Cloud as well as On-Premise solution |
| Support | Support available at a premium cost | Reliable and Efficient support available at low costs |
| Update/Upgrades | EOL Announced for MFA server | Continuous Update/Upgrades will be available for both Cloud as well as On-Premise |
| Price | Comparatively Costly | Cost-Effective |
| Licensing | Relatively complex licensing | Flexible and simple licensing model. |
| MFA Methods | Supports only 8 MFA methods | 15+ MFA methods |
| Offline MFA | Offline mode not available for MFA | Provides full MFA security even in Offline mode |
| MFA Integrations with Windows VPN/RDP clients | Requires NPS to be installed | NPS is not required |
| Multi-Tenant Support for Radius Authentication | Supports single tenant as NPS is required to be deployed | Supports multiple domains |
| Third-Party IdP Support | Adding an external IDP is complex, involves Platform changes and setting up policies | Integration with third-party Identity Providers |
| User Directory Integration | Azure Active Directory is limited and doesn’t support any other | Users can authenticate via any user directory like AD/LDAP, any external database like HRMS system, AWS Cognito |

### Conclusion {#conclusion}
Understanding the challenges of migration and dealing with problems of Authentication is important keeping in mind about the trouble-free experience for users. The Azure MFA server has discontinued its service but the identity providers are ready to resolve those authentication gaps. miniOrange Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) services ensure that the right set of eyes have access to your sensitive information sitting on the cloud or on-premise.  

Moving behind username and passwords, miniOrange provides multiple types of authentications based on clients, devices, and locations, and a set of updated factors to verify any user.  

&nbsp;  

&nbsp;  


#### **Further Reading**  
- [What is Multi-Factor Authentication – MFA?](https://www.miniorange.com/blog/what-is-multi-factor-authentication-mfa/)  
- [Adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)](https://www.miniorange.com/adaptive-multi-factor-authentication-mfa) 
- [What is Single Sign-On SSO?](https://www.miniorange.com/products/single-sign-on-sso)  
- [Identity Broker Service](https://www.miniorange.com/products/identity-broker-service)

miniOrange provides free and easy support to migrate from Microsoft Azure Multi-Factor Authentication MFA Cloud and On-Premise Server.

Migrating from Microsoft Azure Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Server


Microsoft in their breach investigation report stated that **[“Over 75% of network intrusions originated from exploited weak or stolen credentials”](https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2020/01/22/microsoft-security-shocker-as-250-million-customer-records-exposed-online/?sh=aeb7edc4d1b3)**. So, how can organizations / individual users who are using Office 365 apps as a daily routine can protect themselves against threats from cyber-attackers? What if sensitive data is suddenly lost? To sum up these questions you’ll be thinking that your Microsoft Office 365 account is secured with Username – Password based login. But do you think this security measure is enough to secure your sensitive data around Microsoft 365 Apps? Indeed No.

You would possibly not be aware of the fact that attackers nowadays do not believe in “Hacking” to carry out data breaches. They use the e-mail address, passwords present on the dark web and easily log in by exploiting weak, stolen, or compromised credentials and gain access to the company’s most crucial network infrastructure and sensitive data. Here companies need to secure their data using something more than just Username and Password authentication.

**Wondering what should be the simplest choice to do so?**

**Microsoft 365 MFA** becomes one of the savior solutions to beat this example and provide secure access to your organizational users and protect your mission-critical apps and company data. 

So before proceeding with an [MFA](https://blog.miniorange.com/what-is-multi-factor-authentication-mfa/) solution for the Microsoft 365 platform you ought to be clear about few basic aspects —

- What is **Office 365 MFA**?
- Need of MFA in a Microsoft Office 365 account
- How does **MFA for Microsoft 365 Work**?
- Set Up Multi-Factor Authentication in Microsoft Office 365
- **Why miniOrange MFA over Microsoft Azure MFA**?

### What is Microsoft Office 365 MFA ? {#what-is-microsoft-office-365-mfa}

**Multi-factor authentication (MFA) for office 365** is an authentication method during which users/employees are required to enter two or more sets of credentials to safely login into their accounts. Contrary to using just the username and password, MFA demands additional verification within the sort of (OTP, Phone call, Push Notifications, Authenticator code, Yubikey, etc). Users/ Employees will get access to their Office 365 account and its related data only after passing multi-factor authentication methods prompted during the authentication process. Here you need to convince the Office 365 account and respective system that you are the legitimate user of the Microsoft Office 365 account and have the right to get the info-data services that you’re privileged to. minOrange supports 15+ Multi-Factor Authentication methods to provide security to safely login to Office 365 such as **OTP over SMS, Email, Push notification, Google authenticator, Microsoft authenticator, Yubikey, Authentication Phone, etc**.

### Why do we need Multi-factor Authentication in a Microsoft Office 365 account? {#why-do-we-need-multi-factor-authentication-in-a-microsoft-office-365-account}

Office 365 allows many organizations to make their first venture into the cloud, and it’s here that they have to place in addition to the routine username and password for authentication purposes. Because in today’s fast-paced modern world, relying solely on the username-password authentication system puts them at risk considering the intensity of cyber attackers to breach and obtain sensitive data of a private account. No matter how complex your password is, it just takes one simple phishing email or database breach and your password is out in the World.

Companies also need to ensure that their employees, customers, and partners across the web, who are all in the systems, are monitored continuously. The internal policies,  accessed data (from private or public cloud services), from any device or location about the company’s resources, needs necessary [data security](https://www.cloudcodes.com/blog/enterprise-data-security-sanctioned-unsanctioned-apps.html) measures

Other than that while moving to Office 365, your sensitive documents like budgets, finance, and roadmaps are all exposed, and you now trust the cloud for security. The information, which was securely behind **the corporate firewalls like documents, files, spreadsheets, and PowerPoint, have all moved beyond your control to the cloud**. Though Microsoft Office 365 offers the two-step authentication feature, it’s not enough for organizations with an outsized volume of customer data and when the info is usually on the move to and from the cloud. Then it becomes imperative that the organizations take the service of the providers who would offer data security tools for IAM solutions.

Office 365 MFA helps you to add another needed level of authentication to a routine account login. With this, the users will need to meet at least two or three types of credential checks before they can gain access to the required company data. These all factors sum up the queries on why you need to have an **MFA** as your daily asset to your **Office 365 account**.

### How does MFA for Microsoft Office 365 Work? {#how-does-mfa-for-microsoft-office-365-work}

Microsoft Office 365 MFA – Multi-Factor Authentication works in a way like,  firstly the user attempts to gain access to his Microsoft 365 account, the System asks the user to enter his username-password. On successful authentication of the first factor, the user is prompted for another factor of authentication. This second factor depends on the choices provided by the miniOrange and the option that the user feels is the best for him. This could be an OTP over Email, OTP over SMS, Microsoft Authenticator, or a Hardware Token. Once authenticated with the 2nd factor, the user gains access to his Microsoft 365 account.

![Multifactor Authentication Methods](/blog/assets/2023/multifactor-authentication-methods.webp)

The Office 365 Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) process is as follows:

1. The user navigates to the Office 365 login page. 
2. Users enter a dedicated username and password for their Office 365 account. This is often called the primary factor of authentication. When a user submits the login credentials it’s checked whether the user exists within the database.
3. If the login credentials match with the user, the second factor of authentication is shown to the user. E.g Pop up asking for OTP sent over SMS /Email
4. When the user enters the second factor like OTP or Push notification, it’s checked against the database system if the second factor is correct.
5. After successfully completing the second factor, the user is granted access to the Office 365  system.
6. In the same manner, if you’ve got more MFA methods lined up, it’ll invite authentication for all of them and final permission is going to be granted.

When it involves **MFA methods**, miniOrange provides organizations with a wealth of choices. But organizations should realize that there’s no “one-fits-all” approach. Instead, they ought to select the best alternative aligned with their use cases and represent a rock bottom friction experience for users to assure broad adoption.

### Set up Multi-Factor Authentication to your Office 365 account {#set-up-multi-factor-authentication-to-your-office-365-account}

- Create an account and set up branding
- Add your OnPremise AD as a User Store. Enable sync and send attribute ObjectGUID
- Create Office 365  SAML App
- Go to metadata and download and run federate domain script
- MFA for Office 365 will be enabled for your end-users.

To get a detailed Office 365 MFA setup guide **[Click Here](https://www.miniorange.com/two-factor-authentication-(2fa)-for-office-365)** and if you have any doubts regarding setup drop mail idpsupport@xecurify.com

### Why miniOrange MFA over Microsoft Office 365 Azure MFA? {#why-miniOrange-mfa-over-microsoft-office-365-azure-mfa}

When talk is around Office 365 MFA, then Azure MFA directly comes into the frame being an inbound MFA solution. Given below is a comparison between Microsoft Azure MFA and miniOrange MFA services.

| Features                  | Microsoft Azure MFA service           | miniOrange MFA service                                                                                                                             |
|--------------------|-------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Authentication methods                     | Azure MFA supports limited MFA methods: OTP over SMS, OTP over phone, Microsoft Authenticator, and Hardware token that too in Enterprise plans. | miniOrange supports 15+ Office 365 MFA methods in the form of OTP over SMS/Email/call, Out of Band SMS/Email, Push Notifications, QR Code, Security Questions, Yubikey hardware along with third-party MFA provider applications like Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Authy etc. |
| MFA for on-premises applications           | Microsoft Office 365 MFA supports only the Cloud Platform.           | miniOrange supports both On-Premise and Cloud platforms extending Office 365 MFA capabilities.                                                 |
| Adaptive Authentication                   | Microsoft Azure MFA has conditional access support in premium plans. MFA is prompted only when required, based on time, location, and device of the user. | Along with Conditional support, miniOrange Microsoft 365 Multi-Factor Authentication also supports a feature that allows setting device limits and keeping track of any unusual activity. |
| Admin control over verification methods     | With Azure MFA services, admin privileges get restricted unless they pay for one of the premium plans for Microsoft Azure MFA. | miniOrange allows admins to change the MFA method for a particular user or a user group. Admin can easily enable/enforce MFA methods according to different users. |
| Remember MFA for trusted devices / IPs     | This function is available in one of the most expensive Azure AD Premium P1 or P2 plans. | miniOrange MFA solution has provision to remember trusted devices/IP’s in a regular integrated plan. |
| User self-enrollment & self-management     | Users can enroll themselves & manage their account                      | Users can enroll themselves & manage their account                                   |
| Offline MFA                               | There is no such provision for Offline MFA                           | Provides full Microsoft MFA security even in Offline mode.                          |
| User Directory Integration                 | In Azure MFA, Azure AD is limited and doesn’t support any other directories | With miniOrange MFA Users can authenticate via any user directory like AD/LDAP, any external database like HRMS system, AWS Cognito, etc. |
| User Provisioning                         | Considering Office 365 basic MFA capabilities, once you enable MFA it automatically gets applied to all users. It is an ‘all or nothing setup. | You can create groups and enable/disable MFA methods accordingly for different sets of groups. Create, Manage, & Delete information about users on multiple systems at once |
| Cost-Effectiveness                        | Most of the Office 365 MFA features discussed above are restricted to the premium plans of Azure MFA where you need to pay highly for different sets of features. | Here there is no such basic-premium plan policy. miniOrange follows an “All-in-one Plan” which includes all of the functionalities at bare minimum cost. |
| Customization Support                      | The Azure Office 365 MFA solution builds on a single solution that is used by overall customers. No such option for customization and pricing adjustments. | With miniOrange you can customize the MFA solution which suits your organization’s needs and requirements. |
| Advanced Blocking                         | Block users through parameters like IP, Country etc                     | With miniOrange you can register IP’s, devices and countries and directly block or deny access to the resources based on users and user groups. |
| Active Support                            | The Microsoft MFA support team mostly operates on weekdays only.     | miniOrange Provide 24*7 dedicated support for every query with quick response.           |

### Conclusion {#conclusion}

Being in a vast high-tech digital world, it’s an important need for organizations to adopt top-notch security for their daily-used official application suite like Microsoft Office 365. Though it becomes difficult for organizations to spend time on advanced security aspects with the regular work module, it’s necessary to adopt the MFA solution considering cyber-attacks and phishing activities going over the Digital world. So opting for a better security-as-a-service provider which gives top-notch security services in a confidential manner, with the simplest technical support at a budgeted price becomes one of the main tasks for the Organizations. Accordingly,  miniOrange MFA services here fit in best considering features, experience in the domain, service, and cost. You can schedule a free demo and trial to ascertain how Office 365 MFA works and how you can implement it in your organization in the best way possible.

### Further Reading {#further-reading}

- [What is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)?](https://blog.miniorange.com/what-is-multi-factor-authentication-mfa/)
- [What are different Multi-Factor Authentication methods supported?](https://www.miniorange.com/iam/content-library/admin-docs/configure-mfa-methods-for-admins)

Microsoft Office 365 MFA solution enables users to add an extra level of protection to login into their Office 365 account.

Office 365 Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)


### What is Azure Active Directory? {#what-is-azure-active-directory}

Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is Microsoft’s cloud service that provides identity and access management (IAM). It is part of the Office 365 system, it is compatible with an on-premise active directory, and is useful to provide authentication to multiple cloud-based services via various cloud protocols such as SAML, OAuth2, and WS Security. It provides the ability to manage user identities and access rights. Azure AD combines core directory services, access management, and identity protection into a single solution.

Azure AD allows your users to sign in and access the resources which are in external resources such as Office 365 and thousands of other Software as a service (SaaS) applications. It also allows your users to gain access to internal resources such as applications on your company network and intranet. Azure AD uses Representational State Transfer (REST) APIs to connect with other web-based applications. In this directory, the admin has the capability to create groups and add accounts to those groups. Group access to resources can then be assigned to them. Mobile devices and Windows desktops can connect to Azure AD using Microsoft Intune.

### How does Azure Active Directory work? {#how-does-azure-active-directory-work}

The Azure Active Directory Authentication takes place in the following steps:

- The user navigates to the application and requests access.
- An authentication request is sent to the miniOrange Broker Service.
miniOrange Broker identifies the Azure AD and sends authentication requests to Azure AD.
- Azure Active Directory authenticates the user and generates the SAML token, LDAP authentication Response is sent to the broker.
- miniOrange broker posts the SAML response to the Service provider (Application) via the user’s browser.
- The service provider (Application) verifies the SAML response and access is granted to the user.

![Azure Active Directory Authentication Flow](/blog/assets/2023/azure-active-directory-authentication-flow.webp)

### Windows Active Directory vs Azure Active Directory {#windows-active-directory-vs-azure-active-directory}

Windows Active Directory, launched by Microsoft in 2000, is the predecessor to the Azure Active Directory, which has become the standard for enterprise identity management since its launch. Unlike Azure Active Directory, the Windows Active Directory uses Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) to connect with other web-based applications. It also does not manage mobile devices. Group Policies (GPOs) are usually used to govern desktops and servers connected to Windows Active Directory. Finally, Kerberos and NTLM protocols are used to validate user credentials.

Because of the limitations of Windows Active Directory in cloud contexts, Microsoft created Azure Active Directory. Users may use Azure AD to manage all of their cloud apps and servers, including Office 365, SharePoint Online, and Exchange Online.

The key distinction between the two platforms is that Azure AD uses Representational State Transfer (REST) API interfaces to provide web-based applications. As previously indicated, it accomplishes this through the use of unique protocols and code bases. You will instantly become an Azure AD Tenant after you register with one of Microsoft’s cloud apps. This means you can manage all users, permissions, passwords, and more from a single location.

### Benefits of azure active directory {#benefits-of-azure-active-directory}

**Simple Integration:**
Because Azure AD supports a wide range of identity providers, users may log in using their Microsoft, Google, Facebook, or GitHub accounts. Azure AD may also be integrated with a variety of apps, including Salesforce, Office 365, and others.

**Strong Azure AD Security:**
Microsoft, as you might assume, takes security very seriously. Multi-factor authentication, conditional access, and Privileged Identity Management (PIM) are just a few of the security features available in Azure AD.

**High Availability:**
Microsoft promises a 99.9% availability guarantee. Azure AD is highly available thanks to a distributed architecture that spans 28 data centers throughout the globe. All data is written to the Active Primary partition first, then duplicated to the Passive Primary, and finally read from the Secondary Replica partitions.

**Collaboration:**
By granting access to the internal project site or material, Azure AD aids collaboration outside the business, such as with partners. Azure AD B2B (business-to-business) and Azure AD B2C (business-to-consumer) are the two major external collaboration functions. You may invite business colleagues to your application or service using the B2B functionality, and they can sign in using their current Azure identity. The B2C functionality is similar, except your clients may sign in to your app or service using their preferred identity provider (Facebook, Google, GitHub, etc.). MFA and Conditional Access rules can be used to control access to resources in both circumstances.

**Single sign-on:**
This allows onboarding new workers, terminating access for outgoing employees, and implementing access to new cloud services easier and faster, allowing users to get up and running faster. Single sign-on also promotes commitment to security and identification rules.

**Multi-Factor Authentication:**
This adds an extra degree of protection to accounts by requiring another form of verification. Microsoft Authenticator app, OATH Hardware token, OATH Software token, SMS, Voice call, and other MFA verification methods are available in Azure AD.

### Limitations of Azure Active Directory Authentication {#limitations-of-azure-active-directory-authentication}

- **Limited MFA methods**: Azure Active Directory Authentication supports limited Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) methods.
- **No Group policy**:  It has few policy tools like conditional access, but it is more focused on granting access.
- **No support for NTLM or Kerberos**: Azure AD Authentication supports only modern authentication protocols like OAuth, SAML & OpenID Connect.
- **Limited OAuth support**: It does not have support for all OAuth grants.
- No support to extend or customize existing protocols with custom apps.
- Limited support for Device, location, and time-based access policies.

###  Azure Active Directory Authentication Components {#azure-active-directory-authentication-components}

- **Service Provider** - Service providers are responsible for communications between the user, an identity provider that maintains a user directory. In this case, Azure Active Directory is an identity provider and the application could be a Service provider.
- **Identity Provider** - Here Azure AD is an identity provider. So  As an Identity Provider, it authenticates the user and provides an authentication token (that is, information that verifies the authenticity of the user) to the service provider.

Click [here](https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/security/business/identity-access/microsoft-entra-id) to learn more about Azure Active Directory.

### Azure Active Directory VS miniOrange IdP {#azure-active-directory-vs-miniorange-idp}

| Features                  | Azure Active Directory                                    | miniOrange IdP                                      |
|---------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| Multi-Protocol support    | Supports only a few modern authentication protocols (OAuth, SAML & OpenID Connect) | Fully supports all protocols for Authentication.  |
| Multi-Factor Authentication | Supports limited Multi-Factor Authentication methods.  | Supports 15+ Multi-Factor Authentication methods.  |
| Pricing Plans             | A fixed annual subscription. (No quote-based pricing plan). | A flexible monthly & quote-based pricing plan for all size organizations. |
| Security                  | Doesn’t support.                                       | It supports fraud prevention, social login, and cloud security. |
| Adaptive Authentication   | Doesn’t support.                                       | It supports Adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication.    |


### Further Reading {#further-reading}

- [Directory Services](https://www.miniorange.com/products/directory-services)
- [Single Sign-On SSO](https://blog.miniorange.com/what-is-single-sign-on-sso/)
- [Login Using Azure AD](https://www.miniorange.com/iam/login-with-external-idp/configure-azure-ad-sso)


Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is cloud service that provides IAM & helps administrators handle multiple user logins.

Azure Active Directory SSO for Enterpises | Azure AD Integration

Migrating from Microsoft Azure Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Server

Office 365 Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

What is Azure Active Directory? | Microsoft Azure AD