Microsoft Entra ID vs Symantec Siteminder comparison

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Entra ID and Symantec Siteminder based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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To learn more, read our detailed Access Management Report (Updated: March 2024).
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Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"https://www.itcentralstation.com/product_reviews/microsoft-bi-review-52460-by-amanda-zhou""The tool's most valuable feature is auto logs. It helps with user activity and monitoring. It also assists us with GLBA policies and procedures. Microsoft Entra ID gives a 360 view of what the user has access to, what applications are available to them, when they are logging in and out, etc. It makes knowing what is happening to our tenants incredibly powerful.""The most valuable feature of this solution is that is easy to use.""Privilege identity management is the most valuable feature.""The most valuable feature is the ability to set up conditional access, where you can enforce users to connect using multifactor authentication.""The security features, multi-factor authentication, and service management features are valuable.""The boards for task tracking are a valuable feature.""I like Azure AD's conditional access policies. Microsoft Entra provides a single pane of glass for managing user access, improving the overall user experience."

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"Authentication & Authorization are important because all the sites need authentication for security purposes. That has been handled pretty well all these years with SSO.""It has considerably reduced the amount of time that new users would take to join into the organization. Previously, it was a lengthy, manual process because it's a very secure environment, where they need to verify the user before they can actually grant him a user-ID and password. Integrating with the built-in custom application, and exposing CA Single Sign On to the internet, we were able to get the employees onboard. The time that we gained was: previously it would generally take from four to eight weeks for each employee, we brought it to one to two days.""The most valuable feature is the Federation part of Single Sign On, which is customizable and is easily integrated with any customer application or any third party application.""It's quite scalable.""It is very scalable. We have a very large customer base: 75 million customers.""SAML is the best thing we're using right now because there is no need for creating an external account.""Federation is valuable, for sure, because we have a lot of third-party vendors that we need to integrate with, and this is a turnkey solution in some ways.""Right now, federation that comes out-of-the-box with single sign-on is the most valuable feature that we have, and also scalability."

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Cons
"Better deployment management and visibility functionality would be helpful.""I would like it to be easier to integrate third-party applications.""There is no documentation about how Microsoft will scale Azure AD for customers. It only mentions that it will scale out if you have a lot of requests but does not mention how in detail.""A nice feature that is not currently present, would be if they had some visualization tools.""I hope, in the roadmap, Microsoft eventually offers the same features as Okta. It will take some more time to mature.""I would like to see Microsoft communicate how they intend to manage legacy applications. Right now, you still have to deploy a hosted domain server (which comes at an extra cost) if you have a legacy application that cannot sync properly with the enterprise applications and the modern applications.""I want to be able to identify the audiences effectively and manage them.""When it comes to identity and access life cycle management for applications that are run on-premises, as well as access governance, if those kinds of capabilities could be built into Azure Active Directory, that would be good."

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"The support could be faster.""The Federation part of CA Single Sign On, it's a bit complex to implement because it involves the SSL certificates, exchange of certificates, and lot of technical details. The documentation misses some important parts of this, so that's the reason it took some time for us to go live.""The initial setup was complex, painful. But that is to be expected of any new setup. When you're a big bank like us, any kind of migration to a new product is hard. I expect it to be painful, and it was painful. But it's not something that you can avoid.""All the problems that we reported actually have never been resolved. We could not capture enough information for CA to be able to debug the problem.""The main thing is we do not have the traceability and good monitoring that CA can provide us to capture problems when they occur.""As we are moving in to the mobility space, this is where we really see SiteMinder and their other product really come together to provide a solution base to a different area where the IoT is coming, the different business communications are happening. All of those things require authentication and we really want to see this product grow into that role.""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.""We would like to the OAuth be more stable, more issues being fixed rather than not."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The licensing cost is a bit prohibitive."
  • "The licensing is really not clear unless you are a premium client."
  • "Licensing is easy."
  • "It is a really nice tool and we have a license for the more complex model."
  • "It is not too expensive."
  • "It's really affordable."
  • "I do not have experience with pricing."
  • "Licensing fees are paid on a monthly basis and the cost depends on the number of users."
  • More Microsoft Entra ID Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The price is quite comparable to the other enterprise-level solutions in that market."
  • "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."
  • "Symantec Siteminder is expensive; they could definitely do better on the price."
  • "The licensing is fair for this solution."
  • "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."
  • More Symantec Siteminder Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer: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 and… more »
    Top Answer: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.
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    Ranking
    1st
    out of 36 in Access Management
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    12,609
    Comparisons
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    Average Words per Review
    865
    Rating
    8.7
    16th
    out of 36 in Access Management
    Views
    1,865
    Comparisons
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    Also Known As
    Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
    Single Sign-On, SiteMinder, CA SSO, Layer7 SiteMinder
    Learn More
    Interactive Demo
    Overview

    Microsoft Entra ID, previously known as Azure AD (Active Directory), is Microsoft's cloud-based identity and access management (IAM) solution. Designed to help organizations of all sizes manage user identities and create an intelligent security perimeter around their cloud and on-premise resources. Microsoft Entra ID or Azure AD is integral to the Microsoft 365 and Azure ecosystems. It provides a robust set of capabilities to manage users and groups and secure access to applications in a centralized, streamlined manner.

    Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) is a login system, morphing into a sophisticated identity and access management (IAM) solution for the modern, hybrid workplace. Imagine a single vault for all your digital keys – that's the essence of Entra ID's identity management. It acts as a central repository for user identities, encompassing usernames, passwords, and even additional attributes like department or employee role.

    These capabilities enabled simplified administration using a unified platform for adding, modifying, and deleting user accounts. Users no longer need to remember login credentials for a plethora of applications. Entra ID streamlines access by using the same identity across various cloud services and on-premises resources (if integrated). Centralized identity management allows for stricter enforcement of security policies and password complexity requirements across the organization.

    Authentication sits at the heart of the solution, ensuring only authorized users gain access to sensitive resources. It employs a multi-pronged approach:

    • Password Authentication: The traditional method of username and password is still supported, but Entra ID encourages stronger authentication methods.
    • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Adding an extra layer of security, MFA requires users to verify their identity beyond just a password – through a code sent to their phone, fingerprint recognition, or a security key.
    • Single Sign-On (SSO): This user-friendly feature eliminates the need to enter credentials repeatedly. Users sign in once to Entra ID and gain seamless access to all authorized applications, boosting productivity.
    • Conditional Access Policies: Providing granular control over how and when users can access resources. Based on conditions like user role, location, device state, and the application being accessed, Conditional Access policies help ensure that only the right people under the right conditions can access sensitive resources.
    • Seamless Integration: Seamless integration with thousands of SaaS applications, Microsoft 365, and on-premises applications via Application Proxy or third-party identity bridges.
    • Advanced Security Reports and Alerts: Sophisticated security monitoring, reporting tools, and automated alerts. These features enable to identify potential security issues, such as atypical behavior or attempted identity attacks, allowing for swift remediation actions.

    For organizations with on-premises infrastructure, Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) offers hybrid identity options. This allows for a smooth integration between on-premises Active Directory and Entra ID, providing a consistent identity for users across both environments. It enables organizations to leverage their existing investments in on-premises infrastructure while taking advantage of cloud scalability and flexibility.

    In conclusion, Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) is a comprehensive IAM solution that addresses the complex challenges of managing and securing identities in a cloud-centric world. Its blend of ease of use, security, and integration capabilities makes it an essential component of modern IT infrastructure, supporting both operational efficiency and strategic business objectives.

    Additional links:

        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.

        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
        Top Industries
        REVIEWERS
        Computer Software Company14%
        Financial Services Firm14%
        Educational Organization5%
        Non Profit5%
        VISITORS READING REVIEWS
        Educational Organization25%
        Computer Software Company12%
        Financial Services Firm9%
        Government6%
        REVIEWERS
        Financial Services Firm39%
        Insurance Company7%
        Retailer7%
        Healthcare Company7%
        VISITORS READING REVIEWS
        Financial Services Firm33%
        Insurance Company11%
        Computer Software Company9%
        Manufacturing Company7%
        Company Size
        REVIEWERS
        Small Business33%
        Midsize Enterprise14%
        Large Enterprise53%
        VISITORS READING REVIEWS
        Small Business18%
        Midsize Enterprise34%
        Large Enterprise48%
        REVIEWERS
        Small Business8%
        Midsize Enterprise4%
        Large Enterprise88%
        VISITORS READING REVIEWS
        Small Business12%
        Midsize Enterprise6%
        Large Enterprise82%
        Buyer's Guide
        Access Management
        March 2024
        Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Auth0, Okta and others in Access Management. Updated: March 2024.
        765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

        Microsoft Entra ID is ranked 1st in Access Management with 190 reviews while Symantec Siteminder is ranked 16th in Access Management. Microsoft Entra ID is rated 8.6, while Symantec Siteminder is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Microsoft Entra ID writes "Allows users to authenticate from home and has excellent integrations in a simple, stable solution". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Symantec Siteminder writes "Easy to implement and customize and very stable". Microsoft Entra ID is most compared with Microsoft Intune, Google Cloud Identity, Yubico YubiKey, Cisco Duo and CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, whereas Symantec Siteminder is most compared with PingFederate, ForgeRock, Okta Workforce Identity, PingID and PingAccess.

        See our list of best Access Management vendors and best Single Sign-On (SSO) vendors.

        We monitor all Access Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.