Microsoft Entra ID vs Symantec Siteminder comparison

Microsoft and Broadcom are both solutions in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category. Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7, while Broadcom is ranked #12 with an average rating of 6.6. Microsoft holds a 27.2% mindshare in SSO, compared to Broadcom’s 2.6% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Entra ID

Read 234 Microsoft Entra ID reviews

8,667 Views
6,558 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Symantec Siteminder

Read 75 Symantec Siteminder reviews

1,148 Views
837 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Microsoft Entra ID

Symantec Siteminder

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 2024

Symantec Siteminder and Microsoft Entra ID provide distinct solutions for identity and access management. Microsoft Entra ID seems to have the upper hand due to advanced capabilities and perceived value.

Features: Symantec Siteminder is known for its comprehensive security policies, integration flexibility, and robust support features. Microsoft Entra ID is recognized for seamless cloud integration, multifactor authentication, and advanced user management features.

Room for Improvement: Symantec Siteminder faces challenges in user experience, complexity in configuration, and could simplify configurations. Microsoft Entra ID has occasional difficulty in initial setup, desires more detailed documentation, and could enhance user onboarding experiences.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Symantec Siteminder has a complex deployment process but a comprehensive support team. Microsoft Entra ID's deployment is relatively straightforward, although customer service experiences vary, with some users wishing for faster response times.

Pricing and ROI: Symantec Siteminder is perceived as more expensive but delivers high ROI with secure and reliable services. Microsoft Entra ID is considered more cost-effective and is valued for extensive features and integration capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Entra ID vs. Symantec Siteminder Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Entra ID vs. Symantec Siteminder

April 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Entra ID

Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)

1st

Ranking in Access Management

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

234

Ranking in other categories

Authentication Systems (1st), Identity Management (IM) (1st), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)

Symantec Siteminder

Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)

12th

Ranking in Access Management

11th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Web Access Management (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 27.2%, up from 25.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Siteminder is 2.6%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Featured Reviews

Bahram Piri

Chief Executive Officer & Founder at IDmelon Technologies

Security focus and seamless implementation increase platform productivity

Microsoft Entra ID can be improved in many ways, and there's a big wish list.If we're focusing on security, something that I definitely expect is improvement in the UI and UX for frontline workers. This is important, especially for non-tech savvy individuals. It is something Microsoft Entra ID could do to improve for a wider audience. It's important to focus on the frontline workers since they are non-tech savvy individuals. They are not like those back-office engineering C-level employees who are constantly dealing with computers, and we need to build a specific user experience and user interface for them to handle this stuff. That's something I expect Microsoft to focus on more for Microsoft Entra ID.

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Muzi Lubisi

Senior technical Consultant at CA Africa

Improved user experience with seamless integration and easy installation

The feature that I mostly valued is the ease of installation on different systems, especially on Windows. Additionally, it is very beneficial for deploying single sign-on sessions between different windows on a web browser, provided I am connected to the right identity provider. That seamless integration significantly improves user experience and efficiency.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Microsoft Entra ID significantly improved secure access to applications and resources in our environment, primarily through the widespread use of single-sign-on."

"Microsoft Entra ID, integrated with Microsoft Teams, has enhanced the security of access to applications and resources within our environment."

"The feature that I have found most valuable is its authentication security. That is Azure Active Directory's purpose - making cloud services' security and integration easier."

"The ability to offer employees access to any platform, including private PCs and tablets, has been a game-changer."

"The features around permissions are excellent."

"I like Entra's ability to integrate the Active Directory with third-party solutions. It's straightforward. I like the ability to define third-party systems and make the AD the primary identity provider."

"Microsoft Entra ID has simplified central management, including administration and an overview of all logins and user profiles."

"We can centralize and manage everything much more effectively with this tool."

More Microsoft Entra ID pros

"A valuable feature of Siteminder is the way it handles bulk traffic. The features it has, in terms of routing the traffic and load balancing, are good."

"The solution is easy to use for our managers."

"IWA is an out-of-the-box feature. The SAML-based federation is standard for all tools. However, CA Single Sign-On has made the federation configuration way too simple and handy to set up and use."

"SAML is the best thing we're using right now because there is no need for creating an external account."

"Right now, federation that comes out-of-the-box with single sign-on is the most valuable feature that we have, and also scalability."

"The most valuable feature is that it meets the requirements of the customer. You have a lot of features in the product. Every product has them, but the question is, are these products going to meet the requirement of the customer?"

"I liked the debugging part. There are only two files (trace file and log file) that you need to look into while performing debugging, and the logs give you the exact info on where and what needs to be fixed."

"It is reliable."

More Symantec Siteminder pros

Cons

"The workflow management for registering new applications and users could be improved."

"The robustness of the conditional access feature of the zero trust strategy to verify users is adequate but not comprehensive."

"Microsoft support has some room for improvement. I avoid contacting them because it can be time-consuming."

"Microsoft's technical support has shortcomings where improvements are required."

"My problem with Azure AD is that it's designed for medium to large systems, and we're not that large."

"Be aware that it may not work perfectly globally yet. There are still glitches with the solution in Africa."

"I rate Microsoft support four out of 10. Tier 1 and Tier 2 support could be better. It's not timely or professional."

"Microsoft often changes settings, and many features are scattered."

More Microsoft Entra ID cons

"The maintenance cost has increased significantly, and we are concerned about this."

"In future releases, I would like to see maybe more capabilities with some more modern authentication."

"The support team could work on their response time and overall competence."

"CA has reporting at the moment. With the reporting, every particular segmented product has a reporting engine. I would like to see centralized reporting for all of them together."

"Some of the new protocols, like OAuth 2.0, could be improved."

"While I have some integration with a few major providers, support for more would be advantageous."

"We're currently unable to find information about if the solution can do a full implementation with SQL. Some better and more accessible documentation for new users or those curious about the product would be helpful."

"We would like to the OAuth be more stable, more issues being fixed rather than not."

More Symantec Siteminder cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing fees are paid monthly."

"We are always looking for better pricing."

"It is bundled with other services and the pricing is quite reasonable."

"The licensing model is straightforward. I don't think there are any issues with the E3 license or E5 license."

"The price is affordable, and we pay around $100 per month."

"The pricing is good; it's not cheap but very reasonable."

"Azure Active Directory is more expensive than Google, but the capabilities they provide are superior."

"The licensing model makes it difficult to understand the real cost of the solution, especially because it changes all the time."

More Microsoft Entra ID pricing and cost advice

"The price is quite comparable to the other enterprise-level solutions in that market."

"Symantec Siteminder is expensive; they could definitely do better on the price."

"Siteminder is a little costly. You pay for licensing, and they offer packages, so if you have less users, then you have to buy different products at different prices. If you have more of a user base, then the package is different. They also include other features—for example, if you have a database and you're using Siteminder, then it's good to use a Semantic-specific database, but if you are using less, then you have to purchase the database separately. Whereas if you are going for a bigger license, then it comes within the package. It depends on which plan you are using."

"I recommend conducting a PoC on every available product before choose one."

"CA solutions are generally expensive but for the customer the ROI is big."

"The solution's pricing is competitive."

"The licensing is fair for this solution."

"The pricing is reasonable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

29%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

35%

Insurance Company

12%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

How does Duo Security compare with Microsoft Authenticator?

We switched to Duo Security for identity verification. We’d been using a competitor but got the chance to evaluate Duo for 30 days, and we could not be happier. Duo Security is easy to configure a...

See all answers

What do you like most about Azure Active Directory?

It is very simple. The Active Directory functions are very easy for us. Its integration with anything is very easy. We can easily do third-party multifactor authentication.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?

Regarding pricing, for the services we receive, it seems within the market range and about average.

See all answers

What do you like most about Symantec Siteminder?

It's agent-based. It's convenient to deploy and integrate.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Siteminder?

My experience with pricing is that it is all good.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Symantec Siteminder?

Symantec Siteminder needs to have adaptive authentication and multi-factor authentication as integrated features. Currently, multi-factor authentication is available as a separate solution, and it ...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 10% of the time

Okta Workforce Identity vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 8% of the time

Auth0 vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 6% of the time

Amazon Cognito vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Entra ID Competitors

Ping Identity Platform vs Symantec Siteminder

Compared 45% of the time

ForgeRock vs Symantec Siteminder

Compared 32% of the time

Okta Workforce Identity vs Symantec Siteminder

Compared 9% of the time

More Symantec Siteminder Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Entra ID

April 2025

Download Microsoft Entra ID product report

Buyer's Guide

Symantec Siteminder

April 2025

Download Symantec Siteminder product report

Also Known As

Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator

SiteMinder, CA SSO, Layer7 SiteMinder

Interactive Demo

Microsoft

Demo not available

Broadcom

Overview

Microsoft Entra ID is used for extending on-premises Active Directory to the cloud, managing application access, enabling multi-factor authentication, and single sign-on. It facilitates policy enforcement and secure access, ensuring centralized identity management across cloud and on-premises resources.

Organizations utilize Microsoft Entra ID for robust user and group management, identity synchronization, and conditional access. Its seamless integration with third-party apps, scalability, and support for remote work make it a preferred choice. The admin center streamlines identity and access tasks, enhancing efficiency and security with features like privileged identity management and audit logs.

What are the key features of Microsoft Entra ID?

Single Sign-On: Simplifies user access to multiple applications with one login.
Multifactor Authentication: Enhances security by requiring additional verification.
Conditional Access: Establishes policies that determine how users' access cloud apps.
Integration: Easily integrates with various third-party applications.
User Identity Protection: Safeguards user identities from threats.
Privileged Identity Management: Manages elevated access to sensitive resources.
Audit Logs: Provides thorough activity logs for oversight and compliance.

What benefits should users look for in Microsoft Entra ID reviews?

Enhanced Security: Offers strong multifactor authentication and identity protection.
Administrative Efficiency: Simplifies identity and access management tasks.
Scalability: Supports growing user bases and remote work environments.
Integration Capabilities: Compatible with numerous third-party applications.
User-Friendly Interface: Makes managing user identities straightforward.

Microsoft Entra ID implementation varies across industries. Tech firms leverage it for secure, scalable access management, while healthcare organizations utilize its identity protection features to safeguard patient data. Educational institutions adopt Entra ID for streamlined user management and policy enforcement, ensuring secure access for students and staff across on-premises and cloud resources.

Microsoft

Symantec® SiteMinder is designed to secure the modern enterprise through a unified access management platform that applies the appropriate authentication mechanism to positively identify users; provides single sign-on and identity federation for seamless access to any application; enforces granular security policies to stop unauthorized access to sensitive resources; and monitors and manages the entire user session to prevent session hijacking. Finally, Symantec SiteMinder is battle-tested and has been deployed in the largest IT environments in the world.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.

British Telecom, CoreBlox, DBS, HMS, Itera ASA and Simeo

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Entra ID vs. Symantec Siteminder

April 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Entra ID vs. Symantec Siteminder

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra ID vs. Symantec Siteminder and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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