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Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] vs VMware Aria Automation comparison

Microsoft and VMware are both solutions in the Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) category. Microsoft is ranked #7 with an average rating of 7.0, while VMware is ranked #5 with an average rating of 7.8. Microsoft holds a 6.8% mindshare in CIEM, compared to VMware’s 4.6% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of VMware users who would recommend it.
Microsoft Entra Permissions...
Read 2 Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] reviews
  • 1,102 Views
  • 331 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
VMware Aria Automation
Read 171 VMware Aria Automation reviews
  • 8,330 Views
  • 83 Comparison Views
94% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 25, 2025

VMware Aria Automation and Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] are competing in cloud automation and permissions management. VMware Aria Automation is stronger in pricing and support, while Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] is dominant in features.

Features: VMware Aria Automation shines with advanced automation capabilities, diverse integration options, and extensive customizability, concentrating on IT process optimization. Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] focuses on fine-grained permissions, compliance features, and security-focused governance arrangements, catering to organizations with heightened security needs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware Aria Automation provides a flexible deployment model suitable for hybrid setups, enhanced by robust customer service. Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] offers a simplified deployment with seamless integration into Microsoft’s ecosystem, leveraging Microsoft's support network for customer service. VMware is noted for versatility with hybrid deployment, and Microsoft benefits from its ecosystem integration.

Pricing and ROI: VMware Aria Automation initially costs less, promising quick ROI due to automation efficiencies, allowing businesses to streamline operations. Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] may have higher upfront expenses but compensates with strong security features to mitigate risks and lower compliance costs over time. VMware differs with cost-effectiveness through efficiency, while Microsoft targets long-term savings with security.

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To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] vs. VMware Aria Automation Report (Updated: July 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] vs. VMware Aria Automation
July 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 Permissions...
Ranking in Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM)
7th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware Aria Automation
Ranking in Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM)
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
171
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Management (3rd), Configuration Management (7th), Network Automation (3rd), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (17th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] is 6.8%, down from 20.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Aria Automation is 4.6%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
VMware Aria Automation4.6%
Microsoft Entra Permissions Management6.8%
Other88.6%
Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

Sameer Bhat - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides resource-based access and security, but time-bound access can be a problem
Entra ID is the core of the identity management that we have. This is the key product that we are using. I am currently also looking into Entra Private Access because we are planning to deploy about 50,000 desktops into Azure and use Azure Virtual Desktop. We would like to give access to the users from the desktop to on-premises applications. I learned that Entra Private Access is a good solution. That is not yet GA, but that is what we are looking for. Entra provides a single pane of glass for managing user access, but because our company also integrates with Nebula API, only administrators use Entra's pane. A normal person who wants to get onboarded can do self-service using Nebula. The features for whitelisting and other things are definitely there. That is what we use specifically. Application IDs, enterprise applications, and all those things are already there, so we have more efficiency. There is also security because we usually do not allow user identities to get direct access to Azure resources. Usually, we use the service principles from Entra ID, so this way, it increases security. Entra has helped to save time for our IT administrators. We tend to automate a lot of things. We can do automation using Graph APIs and save time. It is hard to quantify the time savings, but there has been a medium amount of time savings. Entra has helped to save our organization money. We care about security and risk more than money, but it also saves money. We are premium customers, and because we have a commit-to-consume contract with Microsoft of multi-million dollars, the money does not come into it because we have to consume those resources.
Read full review
Le Quang Long - PeerSpot reviewer
Significantly streamlined operations with good automation that helps with simplifying workflows
It helps me build a big catalog and provide it to my end users. It helps us automate the workflow of creating many VMs and the TensorFlow key method. I do not meet many people to operate it live beforehand. It operates for both of my products, but as a product, it is complicated to integrate and automate with other products.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution integrates well with our infrastructure and other systems without any issues."
"Multifactor authentication is valuable."
"Today, if I want to provision one VM, it takes me five minutes. Earlier, it would take a minimum of 30 minutes to go and choose everything. Now, I can just do one click and it can provision my whole VM. We also integrated with our Alexa, so even through voice functionality, I can create a VM. One of the guys at VMware, along with our partner, deployed that in our environment. If I say, "Hey, Alexa, I need a VM with four gigs of RAM," it will go and start creating it."
"Aria Automation gives you the flexibility to deploy tenants with customized blueprints for permissions and policies. Version 7.8 consisted of multiple products, so you had to deploy a lot of virtual machines on one of the servers. Starting from 8.6, VMware consolidated all the components into one Linux appliance. This allows the option to use vRA or DevOps capabilities."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It's easy to deploy."
"The automation part is valuable, especially where vRA integrates with vRO, because it reduces the amount of effort we have to make."
"Valuable features include integration with Infoblox, for IP management; and three-tier app deployment as one unified Blueprint."
"quality-of-latest-release; Compared to the earlier versions, from my experience, the upgrade process is easier; for example, the compatibility checks. I also don't need to go and find out the resources that are required. It tells me in one report what the current environment is like and, if I want to go to the next level, what things I need to take care of. Based on that I can make things happen."
"Before it would take months to deploy a VM, now, with this solution, we can deploy many VMs in one hour. We can do a stack of them with Mediaware."
"The extensibility of it and the customization of a lot of the Blueprints, that you can customize, and the community as a whole. There's a ton of community-generated Blueprints that might be (helpful) to set up a design for your automation needs, that you can use as a base and go on from there and make changes to it."
More VMware Aria Automation pros
 

Cons

"The solution's pricing and support services need improvement."
"We use a third-party API called Nebula API to integrate the account for authorization. The time-bound access area in Entra can be a problem. It can be improved in terms of the granularity of the permissions."
"The initial setup is complex. There are too many components to integrate, especially when we integrated with different storage types and backup vendors. All the integration made it more complex."
"I would like to see better integration capabilities. Maybe if they could develop libraries within Aria Automation for simpler integration with other third-party solutions, instead of just basic integration."
"I would like to see more integration to do things like DR, from a court perspective. Today, for us, SRM doesn't scale because each of our customers has a local vCenter environment as well as the vCenter in our environment. So we can't get SRM to scale to the point to which we need. From an integration perspective, DR inside of that would be good."
"When it comes to the orchestration workflow, you're on your own. The documentation and resources are very limited, and you have to learn everything on your own."
"The setup needs coding. It's not easy. It's not straightforward."
"It would be better if VMware would provide API documentation for developers and customers on the Internet."
"There is a little bit of pain when it comes to libraries and what is needed to run the product."
"We would like them to improve the automation part. This is an upcoming area that we would like to focus on."
More VMware Aria Automation cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product cost is in the mid to high range."
"We are a Fortune 500 company, so we always negotiate with Microsoft."
"Better pricing is always handy, but I feel it's at the right price point."
"The solution is free of cost."
"The solution has helped to increase infrastructure, agility, speed, and provisioning in the time to market."
"There is confusion between licensing levels. There are three different licensed versions of vRealize Automation, and there are different things which can happen in each of them."
"So much can be done with the Open Source side, and especially for smaller shops. I personally think the pricing for Enterprise is hard to justify."
"VMware Aria Automation is expensive."
"From a budget point of view, the pricing is a bit on the higher side."
"The pricing is very high."
More VMware Aria Automation pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise130
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Entra Permissions Management?
Multifactor authentication is valuable.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Entra Permissions Management?
The product cost is in the mid to high range. You need to have a good budget to implement it, so it is considered fairly expensive for our market. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra Permissions Management?
The solution's pricing and support services need improvement.
See all answers
What's the difference between VMware vRA (automation) and vROps (operations)?
vROP is a virtualization management solution from VMWare. It is efficient and easy to manage. You can find anything you need from the software interface. It provides complete visibility over applic...
See all answers
Is there any way to try VMware Aria Automation for free?
When it comes to VMware Aria Automation, you have three choices for free runs: Hands-on Lab (HOL) Advanced lab A free trial I cannot describe in detail the second and third options as my company ...
See all answers
Which sectors can benefit the most from VMware Aria Automation?
I was looking at VMware Aria Automation case studies recently and I got the impression that three main kinds of companies were using it most often: Social organizations Financial institutions and ...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Compared 21% of the time
Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] Logo
Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL]
Compared 18% of the time
Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] Logo
Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL]
Compared 16% of the time
More Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] Competitors
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Compared 16% of the time
VMware Aria Operations vs VMware Aria Automation Logo
VMware Aria Operations vs VMware Aria Automation
Compared 14% of the time
Morpheus vs VMware Aria Automation Logo
Morpheus vs VMware Aria Automation
Compared 10% of the time
VMware Cloud Director vs VMware Aria Automation Logo
VMware Cloud Director vs VMware Aria Automation
Compared 8% of the time
Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) vs VMware Aria Automation Logo
Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) vs VMware Aria Automation
Compared 6% of the time
More VMware Aria Automation Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM)
August 2025
Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] reportDownload Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] product report
Buyer's Guide
VMware Aria Automation
August 2025
VMware Aria Automation reportDownload VMware Aria Automation product report
 

Also Known As

CloudKnox Permissions Management
VMware vRealize Automation, vRA, VMware DynamicOps Cloud Suite, SaltStack
 

Overview

Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] provides robust access control and identity management, enhancing security by optimizing permissions and reducing risk.

This advanced platform offers comprehensive capabilities designed to streamline identity management. It empowers organizations to manage permissions efficiently, enhancing security frameworks while addressing compliance needs. By focusing on visibility and control, it optimizes access to ensure the right resources are available to the right users, reducing excessive permission grants and potential security vulnerabilities.

What are the main features of Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL]?
  • Advanced Visibility: Gain insights into permissions to identify and address security risks.
  • Access Optimization: Align permissions with actual usage to prevent over-privileged access.
  • Compliance Integration: Streamline compliance processes with built-in reporting tools.
What benefits should you consider when evaluating Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL]?
  • Improved Security Posture: Reduces risk by eliminating excessive permissions.
  • Enhanced Compliance: Eases regulatory compliance with robust auditing features.
  • Operational Efficiency: Saves time and resources by automating permission management.

In specific industries like finance and healthcare, Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] plays a crucial role in maintaining data integrity and regulatory compliance. Its implementation allows organizations to seamlessly integrate permission management into existing security infrastructures, providing tailored solutions that address sector-specific requirements and challenges.

Microsoft

VMware Aria Automation is a cloud management tool that allows companies to simplify their cloud experience through a modern automation platform. The solution is designed to deliver self-service clouds, multi-cloud automation with governance, and DevOps-based security and infrastructure management. It helps organizations improve IT agility, efficiency, and productivity through its various features. 

VMware Aria Automation has multiple use cases that include the following:

  • Self-service multi-cloud: VMware Aria Automation can be used to deliver consistent self-service consumption. Another use case in this area is for delivering infrastructure across VMware Clouds as well as public clouds.

  • Multi-cloud governance: The solution can be used to manage cost, performance, networking, configuration, and security at scale for multi-cloud environments. VMware Aria Automation offers all this with an everything-as-code approach.

  • DevOps for infrastructure: Through VMware Aria Automation, companies can enable a powerful infrastructure as code platform with support for iterative development and infrastructure pipelining.

  • Kubernetes automation: Users can utilize VMware Aria Automation to automate the management of Kubernetes clusters and namespaces with support for vSphere with Tanzu.

  • Security operations: VMware Aria Automation facilitates event-driven automation to deliver full-service IT system compliance enforcement and vulnerability remediation.

VMware Aria Automation Features

VMware Aria Automation has various features that allow users to easily perform operations. Some of the solution's capacities include:

  • VMware Cloud agnostic template: This feature allows organizations to use a single cloud template to deploy with Infrastructure as a Code. Deployment options include VMware Cloud as well as major public cloud platforms such as Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and more.

  • Extensibility and customization: This VMware Aria Automation feature allows users to get full extensibility and customization. This can be achieved through Aria Automation Orchestrator, Action-Based Extensibility (ABX), and built-in integrations with common third-party tools.

  • Self-service multi-cloud: This feature enables users to request and provision infrastructure resources. It can be done across clouds using a unified and consistent Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) consumption layer, idempotent REST API, and self-service catalog.

  • Centralized policies and governance: VMware Aria Automation offers a feature for users to manage multiple clouds with templatized cloud and policy definition, automated remediation, and cloud environment visibility.

  • Configuration management: Through this feature of the product, day 1 and 2 control can be achieved for virtualized and cloud environments. This can be done with intuitive configuration automation, compliance enforcement, and vulnerability remediation.

  • Infrastructure pipelining: Through this feature, organizations can access user-friendly release automation pipelines. They can be specifically tailored for CI/CD in infrastructure use cases.

VMware Aria Automation Benefits

VMware Aria Automation offers its users various benefits. Some of the biggest advantages that the solution brings to companies that utilize it include:

  • VMware Aria Automation provides faster time to market for companies through offloading manual tasks with advanced workflows and agile templating.

  • The solution offers high levels of security and control.

  • This product is suitable for beginners, as it offers a self-service consumption experience for users.

  • VMware Aria Automation accelerates innovation through Infrastructure as Code and DevOps principles.

  • The product provides users with flexibility, as it is compatible with the most popular public cloud solutions.

  • The solution offers fast deployment because of all natively integrated functions.

Reviews from Real Users

Awais J., CTO/CEO at a tech services company, likes VMware Aria Automation because it saves a lot of time, provides more visibility, and has extensive automation capabilities.

An IT consultant at a government rates VMware Aria Automation highly because the product gives you flexibility to analyze and consume resources.

VMware
 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Rent-a-Center, Amway, Vistra Energy, Liberty Mutual
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] vs. VMware Aria Automation
July 2025
Free Report: Microsoft Entra Permissions Management [EOL] vs. VMware Aria Automation
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