Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) is Microsoft’s cloud-based identity and access management solution. It provides the essential control plane for securing access across your digital environment. Key capabilities include:
Enterprise-grade identity management for users, devices, and applications
Single sign-on (SSO) to thousands of cloud and on-premises apps
Multifactor authentication and conditional access policies
Lifecycle management and automated identity governance
Integration with Microsoft 365, Azure, and thousands of third-party services
Built-in support for Zero Trust security models
To learn more, visit Microsoft’s official Entra ID page.
At Elimity, we are frequently asked whether our platform offers the same capabilities as Microsoft Entra ID. While the question is understandable, the answer is no.
Although both platforms play a critical role in identity and access management, they serve distinct and complementary functions.
Microsoft Entra ID acts as the identity control plane, responsible for authentication, authorisation, and access provisioning.
Elimity, by contrast, operates as the identity intelligence and governance layer, positioned above Entra ID and other sources, to provide comprehensive visibility, risk analysis, and provable control.
In essence, Entra ID manages access; Elimity ensures that access is appropriate, secure, and compliant.
Elimity is a lightweight identity governance and analytics platform that provides organisations with clear, actionable insights into who has access to what, across all systems.
It consolidates identity data from various sources, including Entra ID, custom applications, and legacy systems and empowers security teams to:
Below you'll find the architecture of Elimity Insights:
In conclusion, Elimity helps organisations move beyond basic access control to achieve provable, data-driven governance.
| Capabilities | Elimity Insights | Entra ID |
| Crawling | ✅ | |
| Identity collection | ✅ | |
| Permission inventarisation | ✅ | ✅ |
| Access certifications | ✅ | ✅ |
| Access requests | ✅ | |
| Data classification | ✅ | |
| Real-time alerts | ✅ | |
| Provisioning | ✅ | |
| Include Windows File Shares | ✅ | |
| Include SharePoint Sites | ✅ | |
| Include SharePoint files & folders | ✅ | |
| Include identity sources (AD, EntraID, LDAP, ...) | ✅ | |
| Include HR data | ✅ | |
| Include custom sources | ✅ | |
| Advanced analytics for reorg | ✅ | |
| SaaS or on-premise deployment | ✅ |
While Microsoft Entra ID provides strong foundational identity and access management, especially within Microsoft ecosystems, many organisations operate in complex, hybrid environments that include non-Microsoft systems, legacy applications, and disconnected data sources. Elimity complements Entra ID by:
Integrating identity and access data from all sources, including Active Directory, custom applications, legacy systems, HR databases, and third-party IGA tools.
Identifying access risks such as orphaned accounts, excessive privileges, and segregation of duties violations (learn about other identity risks).
Enabling fast, user-friendly access reviews and automating follow-up actions like revocations and ITSM ticketing.
Providing a unified, continuously updated view of user permissions across the entire IT landscape.
Offering audit-ready reporting and controls to ensure provable compliance with standards like ISO 27001 and NIS2 (Download NIS2-Guide).
Delivering rapid time-to-value with deployment and insights in days—not months or years.