Identity and Access Management (IAM) is an important element of any organization’s security strategy. IAM helps organizations protect sensitive data and ensure that only authorized users have access to the resources they need. Microsoft Entra ID is an IAM service that enables organizations to control access to their resources and applications, both on-premises and in the cloud. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the importance of using secondary accounts in IAM with Entra ID . We’ll cover the benefits of using secondary accounts, the different types of accounts available, and how to best use them in a business setting. Benefits of Using Secondary Accounts Using secondary accounts in IAM with Entra ID can provide numerous benefits to an organization. First, it can help organizations improve their security posture by providing an additional layer of security. By using multiple accounts, organizations can better control and monitor access to their resources and applications. Furthermore, it can also help organizations reduce the risk of compromising their resources due to a single point of failure. Second, it can help organizations better manage their costs. By using multiple accounts, organizations can better control their spending and allocate their resources more effectively. Additionally, it can also help organizations better manage their users and their access to resources. Third, it can help organizations achieve greater compliance with industry regulations and standards. By using multiple accounts, organizations can better ensure that their users are only accessing the resources and applications that they are authorized to access.
Types of Accounts​
There are various types of accounts available with Entra ID that organizations can use for their IAM needs. These include:
- Global Administrator Accounts: A global administrator account is the root account in an Entra ID tenant. It is used to manage the overall Entra ID tenant and all the resources associated with it.
- User Accounts: User accounts are used to manage individual user access to resources. They can be used to control user access to applications, services, and other resources. - Service Accounts: Service accounts are used to manage access to services. They can be used to control access to cloud services and services hosted in Azure.
- Group Accounts: Group accounts are used to manage user access to resources. They can be used to control access to applications, services, and other resources.
- Guest Accounts: Guest accounts are used to manage access to external users. They can be used to control access to applications, services, and other resources for external users. How to Use Secondary Accounts in Your Organization Using secondary accounts in your organization can be a great way to improve security, reduce costs, and achieve compliance. Here are some tips for using secondary accounts in your organization:
- Create a strategy: Start by creating a strategy for how you will use secondary accounts in your organization. This could involve creating a list of the different types of accounts that you will use and the purpose of each account.
- Create the accounts: Once you’ve created a strategy, you should create the accounts. This could involve creating global administrator accounts, user accounts, service accounts, group accounts, and guest accounts.
- Assign permissions: Once you’ve created the accounts, you should assign the appropriate permissions. This could involve assigning permissions to manage resources, access applications, and access services.
- Monitor usage: Finally, you should monitor usage of the accounts. This could involve tracking which users are accessing which resources and ensuring that only authorized users are accessing the resources they need.
Using secondary accounts in IAM with Entra ID can provide numerous benefits to an organization. By using multiple accounts, organizations can better control access to their resources and applications, reduce costs, and achieve compliance with industry regulations and standards. Furthermore, by using the tips outlined above, organizations can better leverage secondary accounts to improve their IAM strategy.
