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Microsoft Identity Manager vs NetIQ Identity Manager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

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

Omada Identity
Sponsored
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (3rd), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (5th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (3rd)
Microsoft Identity Manager
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
7th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetIQ Identity Manager
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
18th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Identity Management (IM) category, the mindshare of Omada Identity is 3.5%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Identity Manager is 3.9%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetIQ Identity Manager is 1.9%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity Management (IM)
 

Featured Reviews

Pernilla Hulth - PeerSpot reviewer
The interface is easy to use and gives you a solid overview
The cloud-based deployment was straightforward, but the on-prem deployment was in a highly complex ecosystem. Omada has matured since then. I wouldn't say that it isn't straightforward, but it depends on the customer. A standard deployment is relatively easy, but it can be more painful if you need a lot of customization. We deployed the cloud solution in around four months, nearly meeting the 12-week benchmark. The on-prem deployment took three years. It was a highly complex ecosystem that was dependent on other systems. Depending on the size of your environment, you need a product owner and some specialists for maintenance. My last customer was a university with a complex environment. They had around 12 people involved in maintenance at that organization. Typically, it's between 2-5 people.
MANUEL VALDIVIA - PeerSpot reviewer
Priced in a low range but needs to improve the support services offered to users
If we don't use Microsoft Identity Manager for data masking, we can use some other tools, like IBM InfoSphere. The scope of Microsoft Identity Manager is limited to the identity part of our applications. Microsoft Identity Manager is an old technology, and Microsoft will discontinue it soon. Microsoft Identity Manager is very complex compared with other platforms. For example, I know Microsoft Azure is working on Azure Identity. In the future, Microsoft Identity Manager will migrate to Azure Identity because Azure Identity is a software asset and is less complex. The solution's technical support is bad, making it an area where improvements are required.
SYAMSUL SALAM - PeerSpot reviewer
The product is affordable and easy to use, but the technical support must be improved
The solution is used to manage SSO and login for internal applications The product enables detailed user management. The product is easy to use. Our users found it easier than Microsoft Identity Manager. The solution must add more configurations. There are different types of user identity in…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"As an administrator, we benefit from a lot of functionality that is available out of the box, but it is also configurable to meet our specific needs."
"The customer success and support teams have been crucial."
"We used to have a problem where an employee's access wasn't terminated when they left the company. Now, we have much better visibility into and control over who has access."
"The most appealing aspect of Omada Identity is its self-service upgrade system."
"We are able to onboard new user accounts much faster by automating the process and standardizing our operations globally. Previously, there were many individual processes and manual admin interactions. We also see a lot of cost savings and benefits because through automation and standardization."
"The identity lifecycle support is definitely valuable because we are a complex organization, and there is a lot of onboarding, movement, and offboarding in our organization. We have 31,000 users, and there are a lot of users who are constantly onboarding, offboarding, and moving. So, we need to make sure that these activities are supported. In old times, we used to do everything manually. Everyone was onboarded, offboarded, or moved manually. So, from a business point of view and an economics point of view, identity lifecycle is most valuable. From a security point of view, access review is the most important feature for us."
"We don't have to go in and do a lot of the work that we did before. It may have saved us somewhere in the range of 10 to 30 percent of the time we spent on provisioning access."
"Omada's onboarding features reflect our processes for onboarding new employees well. That is the primary reason we use this solution. We use role-based access control. I'm not sure how much it has improved our security posture, but it's made managing identities more convenient."
"The product’s simplicity and integration are valuable."
"The integration with other Microsoft ecosystems, such as Graph API, is really cool."
"The concept is primarily for the people in the business. In business, you can discuss how integrating all the services and resources within the company can bring numerous benefits."
"I would recommend Microsoft Identity Manager to others anytime."
"Very powerful synchronization tool."
"MIM's most valuable feature is its connectivity with Exchange."
"It is a stable product. You will experience some issues with it, but it's a good product."
"The product’s most valuable feature is stability."
"It's a very flexible tool, so you can synchronize multiple sources of data and you have multiple connections to various kinds of systems."
"The access request management has improved significantly in terms of its user interface. What sets it apart from competitors like SailPoint is that it's an event-based solution rather than schedule-based. That's a key differentiator."
"The most valuable features are Password Reset Alerts, Password Sync, and SQL connectors."
"I like the eDirectory feature."
"The product is easy to use."
"NetIQ does not have a limit on the number of users."
"The most valuable feature of NetIQ Identity Manager for identity synchronization is the ability to provide users with all necessary access on day one through automated provisioning, facilitated by approval workflows."
"The most valuable features of NetIQ Identity Manager are the synchronization of different directories, such as Active Directory. We have many Active Directory systems, not only one."
 

Cons

"Its flexibility is both a good thing and a bad thing. Because it is very flexible, it also becomes too complex. This is common for most of the products we evaluated. Its scalability should be better. It had a few scalability issues."
"When making a process, you should be able to use some coding to do some advanced calculations. The calculations you can currently do are too basic. I would also like some additional script features."
"I would like to see them expand the functionality of the tool to continue to be competitive with the monsters out there. For example, they could add functionality on the authentication side, functionality that Octa and SailPoint have. But they should do that while maintaining the same simplicity that makes Omada a product of choice today."
"Omada Identity's user interface needs improvement, especially for new users."
"The comprehensiveness of Omada's out-of-the-box connectors for the applications we use could be better. We are getting a new HR system called Cornerstone for which they do not have an out-of-the-box connector, so we have to take the REST connector and play around with it."
"Omada could communicate better with us about the product roadmap. We haven't gotten any updates about it. The user interface is often a bit difficult to understand. It isn't optimized for small screens, so it doesn't display all of the information clearly, so users need to scroll a lot."
"Documentation can be improved. I have already filed a few suggestions to make documentation more clear and more representative of reality."
"The Omada support response time has room for improvement."
"It would be good if Microsoft Identity Manager Maybe could be integrated with Azure Active Directory directly and made as a cloud platform."
"Instead of using the connectors from the third-party companies, they should make the Microsoft templates available with this product. If Microsoft would increase the number of the box connectors that would be helpful to all the customers who use it daily."
"It requires a lot of improvements. Microsoft is killing this product and migrating some of the features to Azure AD. The last version of this solution was 2016. If it is going to stay and integrate with Azure AD, its integration needs to be worked on in terms of connectors, etc. It doesn't seem that they are improving it alone. Microsoft wants to integrate it with Azure AD, but the integration is still not complete."
"Microsoft Identity Manager could be more intuitive in terms of interface."
"All actions require logging in to the server."
"The setup was difficult. The deployment process is not quick."
"Microsoft Identity Manager has shown a strong focus on cloud solutions, but it could improve its support for legacy products and on-premise infrastructure. Legacy applications or solutions are often not fully supported, which can be a limitation for customers with existing on-premise setups. The emphasis on cloud-based solutions is beneficial for modernization as it is crucial to address customers' needs relying on legacy systems. Microsoft should address the gap in support for legacy products to ensure a more comprehensive and inclusive approach."
"The documentation could be better."
"The interface is old and outdated, and the design software seems archaic."
"The solution architecture is somewhat complex. For some components, the necessary resilience is not inherent."
"There's no huge thing missing, because it's already comprehensive. Now and then, however, there might be a minor issue."
"The vendor must provide an easier console for configuring things for smaller customers."
"The integrations must be made easier."
"We have another system that is using the SAML system, and we also integrate with Active Directory only. If NetIQ Identity Manager can integrate directly, we would not need to use the Active Directory directory."
"If it could be operated in such a way that anybody could use it, with just the user interface, and there's no need for programming, then that would be a great improvement."
"It needs some modern features. They should improve and modernize their management interface. It has been created over years and by different persons. You can see different applications, different management consoles for different things. There should be an integrated interface."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"From an on-prem point of view, the cost is quite transparent and reasonable. The direct cost is primarily for licenses and maintenance on licenses."
"My client deals directly with the Omada Identity team in terms of licensing. I never look at pricing, so I'm not aware of how much the solution costs, but it's worth the money. Often, when you begin to use Omada Identity and it takes a while to set up, it'll be irreversible, and you'd depend on and focus more on the functionality of the solution, rather than its price tag."
"It is fairly priced for an on-premise environment, but for the cloud environment, I am not that happy with the pricing."
"It is not cheap. None of these solutions are cheap, but we have good pricing at least for now from a licensing perspective."
"Omada continues to be very competitive on pricing, especially on the Omada cloud product."
"While Omada Identity carries a premium price tag, it proves to be cost-effective."
"It is expensive. Fortunately, I had a very good procurement manager on my side, but they are expensive. The closest competitors are also very expensive. You get a full-fledged solution that can do everything you dream of, but you pay for everything."
"It is licensed per managed user per year."
"The solution is included in the Microsoft E3 license and premium subscriptions of Azure AD."
"When comparing the cost, Microsoft Identity Manager is the best solution because it is free if you have an Azure P2 license."
"It is an expensive tool."
"The solution is expensive."
"The tool's price is low for my company."
"The prices can always be improved. I'd rate it a 4 out of 10 in terms of pricing."
"MIM is free with a Microsoft Azure license."
"My rating for the pricing of Microsoft Identity Manager is average, neither too expensive nor too cheap."
"It would easily help them in getting more market and more customers if more consultants knew about their software. If they could keep it free for schools for teaching purposes, it would be good. I had to pay myself to get it and use it for training. Their competitors are giving it for free. I had to pay for it myself. They are losing market to their competitors."
"The price of the solution is a bit high and could be reduced."
"Micro Focus is flexible when it comes to price. The cost varies from customer to customer. There are no additional costs, though. Everything is included."
"You just need to be aware that the more systems you connect, the more license fees you have to pay."
"I would rate the pricing a two out of ten, with one being low price and ten being high price. It is significantly more cost-effective than the major players in the market."
"The solution is quite affordable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Omada Identity Cloud?
As an administrator, we benefit from a lot of functionality that is available out of the box, but it is also configur...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Omada Identity Cloud?
They are positioned at a good price point. They are lower than some of their competitors.
What needs improvement with Omada Identity Cloud?
The biggest issue, which is the reason why we are transitioning from their product to SailPoint, is the overall user ...
What do you like most about Microsoft Identity Manager?
The product’s simplicity and integration are valuable.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Identity Manager?
Integration with third parties and enhanced policy management could be improved. The current policy management featur...
What do you like most about NetIQ Identity Manager?
The most valuable feature of NetIQ Identity Manager for identity synchronization is the ability to provide users with...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetIQ Identity Manager?
The pricing depends on whether we buy the solution as a service or a license. The license is expensive. If we buy it ...
What needs improvement with NetIQ Identity Manager?
The tool is used mostly in big systems to understand what is happening. There are not many technicians who know how t...
 

Also Known As

Omada Identity Suite, Omada Identity Cloud
MIM, Forefront Identity Manager, FIM, MS Identity Manager
Novell Identity Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bayer, ECCO Shoes, Vattenfall, NuStar Energy, Unicredit, Schiphol Group, BMW Group, Deutsche Leasing
Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Whole Foods Market
Sheetz
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Identity Manager vs. NetIQ Identity Manager and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.