In this article, we'll dive into Microsoft's identity governance platform, Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory). Learn what Microsoft Entra ID is and how it helps your organization manage access, ensure compliance, and reduce risks. We discuss the possibilities and limitations of Entra ID identity governance. This way, you can judge for yourself whether this solution is enough for the (security) needs of your organization.
What is Microsoft Entra ID?
We've heard that question a lot since Microsoft renamed its familiar Azure AD into Entra ID. In short, this is Microsoft's cloud identity and access management solution. You use Entra ID to manage user identities, authentication (login, multi-factor authentication), and authorization to apps and cloud services within Microsoft 365 and Azure.
Good to know: Microsoft Entra ID Governance is the name of the additional package within Entra ID that focuses on automated assignment of rights and control of access. Microsoft is positioning Entra ID Governance as an identity and governance platform that improves productivity, strengthens security, and helps meet compliance requirements. It ensures that the right people automatically have the right access to the right resources at the right time. Think of new employees who receive the necessary accounts immediately, and leavers whose access is revoked in time. Entra ID Governance tackles questions such as: Who can go where? What do they do with that access? Do we have control measures? And can we demonstrate to auditors that everything is under control?
In doing so, Microsoft Entra ID Governance focuses on three main areas:
- Identity lifecycle: automatically manage the user account lifecycle (onboarding, changing roles, offboarding).
- Access lifecycle: continuous management of access rights (granting, adjusting, revoking, periodic checks).
- Secure privileged access: controlling highly authorized accounts and admin rights (just-in-time assignment, monitoring).
So we can say that Entra ID Governance offers many of the features you would expect from a full-fledged IGA solution, built into the Microsoft ecosystem.
Identity Governance with Microsoft Entra ID: Key Features
What concrete functions does Microsoft Entra ID Governance offer to help your identity governance lifecycle management to support? We list the most important solutions:
Automatic lifecycle (JML process)
Connect Entra ID to your HR system for automatic provisioning. On day one, new employees immediately receive the right accounts and access rights based on their role. If someone leaves employment, their access and accounts will be removed or blocked immediately. This automated joiner mover leaver process forms the core of identity governance lifecycle management, so that there is no orphaned accounts wander around and no one holds rights longer than necessary.
Access requests and recertification
With Entra ID, users can request access to certain applications or data themselves via a standardized process (Entitlement Management). Once approved, rights are granted automatically, including an expiration date if set. In addition, Entra ID automates periodic access reviews (access recertification): administrators or owners must periodically confirm which users still need their access. This is how you prevent permission sprawl and you demonstrably remain 'in control' towards audits and standards such as ISO27001/DORA.
Conditional Access and Session Management
Via Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access set up “granular” (detailed) access policies. For example, you enforce that sensitive apps are only accessible under certain conditions, such as a compliant device, location, or the use of Microsoft phishing resistant MFA (phishing-resistant MFA). You can also tightly manage session settings with Microsoft Entra ID session lifetime, such as adjusting the maximum length of a session. With Conditional Access, you therefore decide who gets access where, when and for how long, entirely in accordance with your security policy.
Admin Account Security (PIM)
Entra ID offers Privileged Identity Management (PIM) to securely manage high-level rights. You don't want global admins or other authorized accounts to have all rights permanently. With Privileged Identity Management, you can leave admin roles sleeping and pass on-demand activate for a limited time. This reduces the chance that a malicious party will misuse stolen admin credentials. Admins only get their extra rights when necessary and everything is logged for future audits.
All of these features are part of Microsoft's platform and seamlessly integrate with the rest of the Microsoft stack. For example, hundreds of integrations are possible via standard protocols (SCIM, SAML, etc.), so that Entra ID can also issue and revoke rights outside Office 365. For example, many IAM processes that are normally manual or fragmented are centrally bundled and automated within your Azure/Microsoft environment.
Did you know that? According to the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report 2025, stolen credentials remain the most popular entry point for attackers. In 88% of attacks on web applications, stolen credentials were misused. This underlines how important strong identity governance and MFA are to protect your organization.
What are the limits of Entra ID Governance?
Microsoft Entra ID Governance covers the basics of identity governance for many scenarios, especially if your organization primarily uses Microsoft 365, Azure and cloud apps. However, it is not an all-rounder for larger organizations, and it also has a number of shortcomings:
Limited support for on-premises and hybrid IT
Microsoft Entra ID was built primarily for cloud environments. For organizations that work partly or mostly on-premises, with local Active Directory, legacy ERP systems, or OT infrastructures, Entra ID offers limited support. Many governance features only work within Azure AD. Think of access packages, entitlement management and access reviews: they won't work on your local systems without complex customization or separate scripts.
That's the problem, especially in sectors where migration to the cloud is slow or simply not possible due to compliance, security or technical dependencies. In such hybrid environments, a governance gap arises: rights in the cloud are tightly regulated, but not transparent locally. Provisioning stops, orphaned accounts persist, and recertification remains a manual effort.
A platform like RSA Governance & Lifecycle fills exactly those gaps. It connects both your cloud environment and on-prem systems into one central IGA platform, with end-to-end visibility and audit-ready reporting on all accesses, no matter where they are managed.
Segregation of Duties (SoD)
Entra ID supports basic controls such as Role-based- and Conditional- Access, and you can use access reviews to detect conflicting rights. Nevertheless, the SoD-enforcement less comprehensive than in specialized IGA tools. For example, a dedicated IGA platform can detect and block complex conflicting roles across multiple systems. In Entra ID, you often have to define this yourself or solve it outside the platform. For organizations that have to comply with strict SOD requirements, such as financial institutions under DORA, this is an important point.
Reporting and Audit
Entra ID provides a number of standard reports for sign-ins, access reviews, and change logs. Think of clear lists of who logged in when, who has access to which application, and when certain rights have been granted or revoked. For many basic insights, these reports are sufficient.
But as soon as you head towards an audit, for example ISO27001, DORA or an internal risk assessment, these standard reports often prove insufficient. Auditors expect at a very detailed level: who got access to something, on what basis, who approved it, was it reconfirmed, and (when) was it revoked? And that for all systems, not just Azure AD.
A full-fledged IGA solution does solve this: it records every assignment, change, and recertification including context (reason, approval, duration, review date) and exports it into reports that directly match what auditors want to see. This includes quarterly SoD reviews, access recertification across multiple systems and proof that offboarding took place correctly and in a timely manner.
Conclusion
In short, if you are fully Microsoft-oriented, Microsoft Entra ID Governance is a very good starting point for getting your identity governance in order. You automate much of identity governance lifecycle management and reduce the risk of human error or forgotten accounts. If your IT landscape is broader or if you have specific requirements, it pays to look for additional solutions. Consider specialized identity governance platforms, such as RSA's Identity & Governance solution, which offers even more customization, SOD controls and deeper integrations. In addition to Entra ID, this solution can be used for a fully comprehensive IGA approach.
With Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft has taken a big step to identity governance to be made accessible within your own cloud environment. This allows many organizations to automate their access management and reduce risks without purchasing a separate platform. At the same time, it remains important to take a critical look at whether Entra ID covers all needs. Every organization is unique, and larger enterprises or critical sectors in particular with strict regulation sometimes need more than the standard.
Wondering if your organization benefits from an IGA solution on top of Microsoft Entra ID?
