Cloud
Microsoft Entra ID is the cloud directory for a Microsoft 365 tenant: accounts, groups, and sign-in. Applications and devices in that tenant trust it. It is not automatically a privileged-access vault, and it is not the directory for a Google Workspace tenant. Novatelia scopes it as part of Microsoft 365 and identity work. Partner status is not claimed.
Revised 2026-10-10. Published by Novatelia. No individual author is named, because no personal credential is claimed for this explanation.
Key points
- One tenant has one directory boundary.
- Conditional access exists only in the licenses that include it.
- PAM remains a separate control for administrator accounts.
Definition
Entra ID answers who can sign in to the Microsoft tenant and to the applications joined to it. Older documents call the same service Azure Active Directory.
How it works
Accounts and groups live in the tenant. Sign-in policy, including multi-factor authentication, applies to those accounts. An application is integrated by registration and consent, not by a shared password.
Architecture
- The tenant directory and the domains it owns.
- Groups that match real roles.
- Application registrations and the sign-in policy the license allows.
Use cases
- Staff mail and files are already in Microsoft 365.
- A line-of-business application should use the same sign-in.
- Administrator passwords are shared and need a vault, which Entra ID alone is not.
Selection guidance
- Use Entra ID when the tenant is Microsoft.
- Use the Google directory for a Workspace tenant.
- Add a PAM scope when the requirement is a vault, not another group.
Questions
Is Entra ID included with Microsoft 365?
A directory is part of the tenant. Features such as conditional access depend on the license. This site does not publish which SKU includes which feature or what it costs.
Does this replace the identity-security solution?
No. That solution is the access design, including PAM. Entra ID is one directory a Microsoft tenant can use inside that design.
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