If your organization has taken the cloud route already, chances are that you’re going to require an active directory service that provides access to all the applications that are running on the cloud, while also allotting identities to all the members of the teams who have access to the data; be it operational or administrative. For enterprises looking to run Microsoft Azure, there is an efficient directory system, by the name of Azure Active Directory.
Creating a strategic directory management plan for your organization is the logical initial step in both cloud and Azure integration. And, since this will be the first time that the organization will be running Azure, it pays to train both managers and IT management teams on Azure Active Directory, among other Azure-related features and elements. To that end, in this article, we will discuss how delivering MS Azure training will equip your teams and managers with invaluable Azure management knowledge, just in time for the integration and implementation step.
Azure Active Directory Fundamentals
In essence, Azure Active Directory is a multi-tenant directory formation and management system that is fully managed itself, and that offers both identities to all users, while also providing varying levels of access to team members. Naturally, managers who are to be given administrative capabilities. Bringing several operational capabilities on to the same platform, Azure AD mixes application access management, core directory services, as well as identity provision and protection.
The platform is based on high standards and offers a rich, feature-rich experience; enabling developers to provide access control to the applications they develop and deploy. This is based on centralized, uniform policy and similar rules across the board, as predetermined by the managing authorities for the project.
Following are some of the advantages that Azure Active Directory provides to the three most prominent users of the directory service.
Benefits for IT administrators: Since the identity management services provided by Azure AD are superior, both in terms of malicious access-prevention, as well as internal erroneous access which could lead to data leakages. It also provides SSO (Sing Sign On) access to all the enterprise apps based in the cloud, leading to the provision of seamless access anywhere, cloud-based application security, identity lifecycle automation and enhanced collaboration for the employees, resulting in compliance and security.
In case the enterprise already has a Windows Server Active Directory, the Azure AD can be integrated with it with no more than four clicks, which allows the organization to utilize the on-premises identities for cloud-based access management.
For Application Developers: The identity management solution by Azure AD lets developers focus primarily on the actual development of the applications, without having to worry about additional responsibilities, due to the intelligent identity automation features.
For Azure, Dynamic CRM Online or Office 365 Customers: These parties will already be using Azure Active Directory, by default. As part of the Azure Active Directory suite, each tenant for any of the aforementioned services is automatically a tenant for Azure AD. This provides immediate permission to begin employee access-management to the integrated cloud applications.
Azure AD Tenant
An Azure Active Directory tenant is actually a singular instance of the Azure AD, dedicated to a single enterprise or organization. This is particularly for enterprise Azure AD users that receive said tenant when signing up with Azure. Interestingly, each instance of the directory is distinct, and completely separate from the rest of the directories in existence. It functions exactly like an office building, and houses the assets of the enterprise which has received it.
Identity information and customer data is completely isolated within the Azure AD directory. This prevents users and administrators from one Azure AD from gaining access to the assets that are stored in another active directory, thereby providing an extra layer of security.
How to Get Azure AD Directories
As mentioned earlier, with each new subscription of Azure, there comes a dedicated Azure AD directory. This is also true for subscriptions to other Microsoft services. The assets can be migrated to the Azure Active Directory from the existing active directories.
Training the IT teams on the integral concepts of Azure Active Directory management in will allow them to control the access management privileges, while also allowing network administrators to set the amount of access they want to provide to the remaining members of the organization.
Overall, Azure Active Directories are considerably secure, and make for valuable access and identity management systems.