So it happened, Microsoft decided to make our lives easier again and updated the name of another service. What does that mean? Well, it means that your documentation is now out of date, and so is Microsoft’s. The season for asking what this new MS product is, is considered open!
Say goodbye to Azure Active Directory and hello to Entra ID!
The name Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) has been dropped by Microsoft in favor of the new super name Microsoft Entra ID!
But it’s been there before?
Well, the name Microsoft Entra is actually nothing new as Microsoft previously had a family of Entra products that like Azure AD were focused on digital identity. In addition, Microsoft Entra previously included Azure AD….
So what was the old Entra?
Certainly not something that was part of the Microsoft 365 license except Azure AD Entra ID :winking_face:
Generally, these are enterprise solutions used for:
- permissions and identity management of various clouds (Azure, AWS and GCP) - Entra Permissions Management or if you prefer CloudKnox because Microsoft bought this solution and from here came Entra 🥲
- increase monitoring coverage and activity of Service Principal identities such as alerts on expiring identities or additional security options for Conditional Access - Entra Workload ID,
- As well as a VPN-less VPN solution to Microsoft services, also known as Quick Access - Microsoft Entra Private Access.
These are interesting services, but they cost 💲 As with most MS products some of the functionality is based on another product e.g. Entra Workload ID and Microsoft Entra Private Access extend the functionality of Conditional Access. It is hard to describe in a few words, and it will certainly be even harder to find information on the Internet after the name change…
All right, but let’s get back to the point.
What Entra ID do I have and did I get something new?
You get absolutely nothing, except the additional task of updating your documentation and replacing “Azure AD” with “Entra/Entra ID”. A name change is just a name change with no additional benefits.
Your Azure AD Premium P1/P2 plan is now Microsoft Entra ID P1/P2, and almost everything else that had “something” in the Azure AD name is now called Entra “something”. For example described by me Azure AD Password Protection is now Microsoft Entra Password Protection, and Azure AD Connect Sync is now Microsoft Entra Connect Sync.
On the other hand, the most confusing service with local AD, namely Azure AD Domain Services has temporarily remained without a name change, but it is rumored that the new name will be announced soon…
When will the change take effect?
In fact, it has already started, but officially the starting point is July 11, 2023. The SKUs of the plans will change on October 1, and the whole thing optimistically by the end of 2023, but realistically we will always stay with the name Azure AD on the Internet 🙂
Conclusion
It’s time to update your documentation and your habits when working with Azure AD. If you work as a consultant or in technical support, I wish you a lot of patience with your customers/users who will ask for the nth time: “and what is all this Entra anyway? “ or “oh, and do I have it in the Microsoft 365 Business Basic plan? “.
I hope my article has clarified this new Entra a bit for you.
