On 11 July 2023, Microsoft announced that Microsoft Entra is expanding into Security Service Edge and that Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is becoming Microsoft Entra ID. With organizations needing to protect their growing digital estates against a backdrop of more complex security threats, this represents an important and exciting change for clients on their journey to build resilience. Included in the announcement is one more service, Entra ID Protection which uses machine learning to protect identity services.

Microsoft announced the Entra brand for their suite of Identity and security solutions in May 2022. Microsoft Entra is built on the foundation of Azure Active Directory, Microsoft's cloud-based directory service and IAM solution. Azure AD is used by millions of organisations around the world to manage user identities and access to resources.

The name change aligns it with the naming of other Azure identity and security services in the Entra Suite:

• Azure AD Verifiable Credentials => Entra Verified ID
• Microsoft Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) => Entra Permissions Management.
• Azure AD Customer Identity & Access Management (CIAM) => Entra External ID
• and features of Azure Active Directory (now Entra ID):
  • Azure AD Identity Governance => Entra Identity Governance
  • Azure AD Workload Identities => Entra Workload ID

Therefore, Microsoft Entra now encompasses the following:

• Entra ID
  • As announced today is the rebrand of Azure Active Directory
• Entra Permissions Management
  • The cloud infrastructure entitlement management service that enables organisations to discover, remediate, and monitor permission risks across multi-cloud infrastructure.
• Entra Verified ID
• Self-sovereign decentralised identity (DID) services that enables organisations to create, issue, and verify privacy-respecting decentralized identity credentials and users to own and control their digital identity.
• Entra External ID
• The unified identity platform for next generation customer identity & access management (CIAM).
• Entra Workload ID
• Identity management of accounts for workloads such as applications and automation services
• Entra Identity Governance
• Management of the lifecycle of identity including privileged access and certification of entitlements
• Entra ID Protection
  • Entra ID based machine learning to identify sign-in risks and unusual behaviours
• Entra Internet Access
• Secure access to all internet resources, SaaS, and Microsoft applications with an identity centric secure web gateway access management solution
• Entra Private Access
• Secure access to all company resources with an identity centric Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solution

Avanade has been working with Microsoft engineering team (Microsoft Entra Internet Access and Microsoft Entra Private Access) from early private previews and influencing the product features and providing the product feedback. The introduction of Microsoft Entra Internet Access and Microsoft Entra Private Access will provide a single place to safeguard and verify identities, manage permissions, and enforce intelligent access policies to protect digital estate. It will present an opportunity for clients to standardise and re-evaluate their zero-trust architecture and ZTNA solutions especially if they are adopting remote or hybrid working.

It is important to note, that Entra ID is a name change for Azure AD and that the underlying implementation including APIs, endpoints and URLs, libraries do not change. There will be no disruption to services and no action is needed.

As a leading Microsoft Security Services provider, we’re excited by the alignment of the foundational identity capabilities under the Entra branding.

Recently named as Microsoft's Global System Integrator Partner of the Year for the 18th time along with Accenture we bring extensive experience unique industry insights, unrivalled expertise and breadth of services for Microsoft Entra by our 65,000+ people for our clients and their customers every day.

If you need help with your organisation’s adoption of Azure and Cloud services with Microsoft Entra, or you have any questions, please contact us here.