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Microsoft Azure VS Microsoft Azure Active Directory

Compare Microsoft Azure VS Microsoft Azure Active Directory and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Microsoft Azure logo Microsoft Azure

Windows Azure and SQL Azure enable you to build, host and scale applications in Microsoft datacenters.

Microsoft Azure Active Directory logo Microsoft Azure Active Directory

Azure Active Directory is a comprehensive identity and access management cloud solution that provides a robust set of capabilities to manage users and groups and help secure access to applications including Microsoft online services like Office 365 …
  • Microsoft Azure Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-10
  • Microsoft Azure Active Directory Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-06

Microsoft Azure features and specs

  • Scalability
    Azure offers a highly scalable environment where you can easily adjust compute resources to match your needs.
  • Global Reach
    Azure has multiple data centers around the globe, providing extensive global coverage for applications and services.
  • Integration with Microsoft Products
    Azure integrates seamlessly with existing Microsoft software like Office 365, Active Directory, and Windows Server.
  • Compliance
    Azure adheres to a broad set of international standards and compliance certifications, including GDPR, ISO, and many others.
  • Service Offerings
    Azure provides a wide variety of services, from virtual machines to databases and AI-powered functionalities.
  • Hybrid Solutions
    Azure supports hybrid cloud configurations, allowing businesses to run some resources on-premises and some in the cloud.
  • Security
    Azure employs advanced security protocols and has multiple layers of security, including data encryption and secure access controls.

Possible disadvantages of Microsoft Azure

  • Cost Management
    The pricing structure can be complex and may lead to unexpected costs if not carefully managed.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may find Azure challenging to learn due to its extensive range of services and configurations.
  • Service Limits
    Some Azure services have limitations and quotas, which can hinder performance or scalability if reached.
  • Support Costs
    While Azure offers robust support, advanced support plans can be expensive.
  • Complexity in Hybrid Setup
    Setting up and managing a hybrid environment can be technically challenging and may require specialized skills.
  • Downtime Risks
    Although rare, Azure is not immune to outages and downtime, which can impact service availability.
  • Data Migration
    Migrating data and services into Azure can be complicated and may require significant planning and resources.

Microsoft Azure Active Directory features and specs

  • Scalability
    Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) can easily scale to accommodate both small businesses and large enterprises with millions of users, making it suitable for a range of organizational needs.
  • Integrations
    Azure AD integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft services such as Office 365, Dynamics 365, and Windows 10, as well as many third-party applications, simplifying user management across platforms.
  • Security Features
    Azure AD provides robust security features like Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Conditional Access, and Identity Protection, enhancing the security posture of an organization.
  • Single Sign-On (SSO)
    Azure AD offers Single Sign-On capabilities, allowing users to log in once and gain access to multiple applications without needing to authenticate again.
  • Self-Service Password Reset
    Users can reset their own passwords, reducing the helpdesk workload and improving productivity and user satisfaction.
  • Monitoring and Reporting
    Azure AD includes comprehensive monitoring and reporting tools that help administrators keep track of user activities and potential security threats.
  • Support for Open Standards
    Azure AD supports open standards such as OAuth2, SAML, and OpenID Connect, allowing for flexible integrations with a variety of applications and services.

Possible disadvantages of Microsoft Azure Active Directory

  • Complexity
    Implementing and managing Azure AD can be complex, particularly for organizations without dedicated IT staff or prior experience with Microsoft's cloud ecosystem.
  • Cost
    While it offers a range of features, the cost of Azure AD can add up, particularly for premium features and large-scale implementations, making it potentially expensive for some organizations.
  • Learning Curve
    Administrators new to Azure AD may face a steep learning curve and require training to effectively use and manage the service.
  • Dependency on Internet Connectivity
    As a cloud-based service, Azure AD depends on stable internet connectivity. Any internet outage can disrupt access to applications and services.
  • Limited On-premises Integration
    While hybrid models are supported, integrating Azure AD with on-premises Active Directory can present challenges and may require additional setup and maintenance.
  • Feature Overlap
    Organizations using multiple Microsoft services might find some overlap in features, which can complicate administration and lead to redundant functionalities.
  • Customization Constraints
    Though Azure AD offers many out-of-the-box features, customizing beyond the provided options can be difficult and sometimes limited.

Microsoft Azure videos

Building your first Azure Blockchain Workbench application

More videos:

  • Review - How does Microsoft Azure work?
  • Review - Microsoft Azure Overview
  • Review - Introduction to Azure Blockchain Workbench
  • Review - Bots and Azure Blockchain Workbench
  • Tutorial - What Is Azure? | Microsoft Azure Tutorial For Beginners | Microsoft Azure Training | Simplilearn

Microsoft Azure Active Directory videos

What is Azure Active Directory B2C? | Azure Active Directory

More videos:

  • Review - Advanced use cases with Azure Active Directory B2C | Azure Active Directory

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Azure Active Directory)
Cloud Computing
100 100%
0% 0
Identity And Access Management
Cloud Infrastructure
100 100%
0% 0
Identity Provider
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Azure Active Directory

Microsoft Azure Reviews

Top 15 MuleSoft Competitors and Alternatives
The Azure API Management platform has over a million APIs for modernizing legacy apps to adopting API-first strategies from on-premises to multi-cloud. Thousands of the world’s largest enterprises use the solution to build, secure, and scale API initiatives.
20 Best Free Website Hosting (July 2023)
New users can usually receive a free site credit at the largest cloud services like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform to get started. However, when these free credits expire, cloud products can be quite expensive and out of the price range of many projects.
AWS vs Azure Which is best for your career?
This course provides the key knowledge required to prepare for Exam AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure. You will learn how to develop and deploy cloud applications on Azure using various Azure services.
Top 10 Best Container Software in 2022
Tool Cost/Plan Details: There is no upfront cost. Azure does not charge for cluster management. It charges only for what you use. It has Pricing for nodes model. Based on your container needs, you can get the price estimator through Container Services calculator.
Top 50 Cheapest Cloud Services Providers | Affordable Cloud Hosting
With direct competitors like AWS, Microsoft Azure has been one of the most preferred and also cheapest cloud services providers. The plan that Azure submit depends on the services a business seeks to access. Azure cloud platform includes over 200 products and cloud services to assist businesses in bringing new solutions to life—to solve today’s challenges and create the...

Microsoft Azure Active Directory Reviews

The Top 10 Single Sign-On Solutions For Business
Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is one of the most widely used Single Sign-On applications, enabling users to log into multiple accounts with their Office 365 user details. The platform is a cloud based identity and access management service, which allows employees to sign-in to Office 365, the Azure portal (Azure being Microsoft’s cloud application services) and...
10 Best Auth0 Alternatives and Similar Platforms
Administrators may also deploy the tool to map the user experience and manage authentication. Through APIs, Azure Active Directory may connect to a variety of third-party services, including Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce, and more.
Best Identity Management Software
Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is a cloud-based identity and IAM solution that can manage users, printers and GPOs. Azure AD is used for employees and Azure AD B2B for guest users and external partners. AD B2C controls how you sign up, sign in and manage your profile when you use your applications.
The 6 Best Identity Access Management Tools
Microsoft Azure Active Directory – From the makers of the most used operating system platform, which means it can easily be implemented on most networks and integrates well with existing access control systems.
20 Identity Management Solutions You Should Know
With a single sign on, Microsoft Azure’s Active Directory allows users to access more than 2,800 SaaS apps, from Salesforce to Canvas — provided they’re cleared to access them, of course. Azure AD also lets IT personnel customize access to sensitive materials and outline conditional access protocols. (For example: “This user should have access to this app only while...
Source: builtin.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Microsoft Azure should be more popular than Microsoft Azure Active Directory. It has been mentiond 66 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Microsoft Azure mentions (66)

  • How to Develop a Voice Chatbot
    Microsoft Azure offers a Bot Framework with built-in support for voice interactions via the Speech SDK. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Setting Up a Windows 11 Virtual Machine with Azure on a MacOs
    The first step in creating a virtual machine is getting a Microsoft account. Once you have a Microsoft account click this link to create an Azure free trial account. Click on the "Try Azure for free" button. This takes you to the page below. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • How To Create Windows 11 Virtual Machine in Azure
    Before you start, ensure you have an active Azure subscription, if you don't have one, Click here to create a free account. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • The 2024 Web Hosting Report
    A VM is the original “hosting” product of the cloud era. Over the last 20 years, VM providers have come and gone, as have enterprise virtualization solutions such as VMware. Today you can do this somewhere like OVHcloud, Hetzner or DigitalOcean, which took over the “server” market from the early 2000’s. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft's Azure also offer VMs, at a less... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Deploying flask app to Kubernetes using Minikube
    Before deploying the application with Kubernetes, you need to containerize the application using docker. This article shows how to deploy a Flask application on Ubuntu 22.04 using Minikube; a Kubernetes tool for local deployment for testing and free offering. Alternatively, you can deploy your container apps using Cloud providers such as GCP(Google Cloud), Azure(Microsoft) or AWS(Amazon). - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

Microsoft Azure Active Directory mentions (15)

  • AWS Users, Roles, and Identity Center Demystified
    Human users using Roles can leverage IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS SSO) which offers a pretty good experience, whether we're federating from Active Directory (a popular choice for enterprises) or managing users within Identity Center (fine for individuals or small team). We get an easy console sign-in experience and similarly frictionless command line access. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • Stack Exchange Moderators Are Going On Strike
    The question is tagged Azure-Active-Directory, which is an IAM/IDP product. That provides plenty of context. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • How to choose the right API Gateway
    Because the configuration is a highly critical feature, we need to authenticate via an API key or by means of other auth methods. For example, most API Gateway providers such as Apache APISIX enabled token-based access to Admin API and they highly advise generating your own token and regularly changing it. Or Azure API Management relies on Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), which includes optional features such as... - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Case Study: Connecting Azure AD SSO with AWS
    I will not explain too much about Azure AD. I'll recommend reading the documentation and the home page of the Azure AD. In short, Azure AD (Azure Active Directory) is a cloud-based identity and access management service. You can use the identity provided by Azure AD for connecting various applications or services, including AWS. If you want to learn more about Azure AD, please visit the documentation. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Around 83.4% of Fortune 500 have Azure Active Directory
    It is a directory with a lot of functionality. There's actually a number of products under the Azure AD name, including: * Azure AD, their employee/workforce solution. It's a directory, authentication and authorization system. Think Okta or AWS SSO. I imagine this is mostly what the survey was tracking. * Azure AD B2C, their CIAM solution. Think Auth0, Cognito or FusionAuth (disclosure, I'm a FusionAuth employee).... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Azure Active Directory, you can also consider the following products

Amazon AWS - Amazon Web Services offers reliable, scalable, and inexpensive cloud computing services. Free to join, pay only for what you use.

Okta - Enterprise-grade identity management for all your apps, users & devices

DigitalOcean - Simplifying cloud hosting. Deploy an SSD cloud server in 55 seconds.

Auth0 - Auth0 is a program for people to get authentication and authorization services for their own business use.

Linode - We make it simple to develop, deploy, and scale cloud infrastructure at the best price-to-performance ratio in the market.

OneLogin - On-demand SSO, directory integration, user provisioning and more