Many companies will eventually need to decide whether they should keep customer and other highly confidential information on their on-premise servers or in the cloud. When the time comes to make this type of decision it can seem overwhelming. Fortunately, this is where Azure Active Directory (AD), an identity management tool comes in to play.

With all the advancements in the public cloud, Azure has been able to scale based on company growth. Microsoft built Azure Active Directory to make this happen.

What is the purpose of Azure Active Directory?

Azure AD provides the ability for companies to achieve internal and external growth through identity management. As organizations need to fulfill duties like adding and tracking admin credentials as well as managing more and more customers, Azure AD becomes helpful. Implementing the right identity management initiatives is important in order to properly control the security and efficiency of data in the company. When the right people are assigned the right permissions in their roles, it is easier to secure applications and meet compliance requirements.

Many customers appreciate the fact that Azure AD can be connected in a few different ways. Besides offering single sign-on (SSO) across Microsoft 365 services it allows access to applications many companies use regularly such as CRM programs (Salesforce, HubSpot), OneDrive, DropBox, and Google applications. It can also be integrated with on-premise servers so organizations can manage cloud-based applications from their on-premise environment. There is also the option of using Azure AD to support multi-factor authentication.

AD for on-prem or hybrid workplaces

If scalability is what you are looking for, AD can provide it. As an identity management tool that is completely cloud-based, it is flexible in terms of adjusting to internal and external company growth. While Azure can work in both an on-prem or hybrid environment, it is important to understand which is a best fit for your organization. If you’re looking to focus on security policies and controls and aren’t worried about scalability, an on-premise AD would be a better option. If you have a hybrid workplace setting, you can use AD to sync your on-prem AD over to Azure, while using SSO.

With all the identity management features of AD, it is necessary for growing companies to implement and activate Azure into their businesses. Azure Active Directory can help businesses meet their goals as it can scale to accommodate any type of growth that occurs. It also gives companies peace of mind knowing that all their data is secured, they are compliant, and cutting down on security costs.

If you’re curious to learn more about how Azure can benefit your company, contact the Stringfellow team.