AZ Lamps #21 — Azure AD renamed to Microsoft Entra ID
Microsoft has rebranded its Azure AD this week. The new name of the service is Microsoft Entra ID. Nothing changes from a functionality perspective. Below is a short list of old vs. new titles of affected services and features (find the complete list here).
- Azure AD tenant -> Microsoft Entra ID tenant
- Azure AD account -> Microsoft Entra ID account
- Azure AD joined -> Microsoft Entra ID joined
- Azure AD Premium P1 -> Microsoft Entra ID P1
- etc.
Considering the number of “Azure AD” customers, this “feature” will cause confusion and irritation to some extent.
Microsoft explains its motivation with the following statement:
“To unify the Microsoft Entra product family, reflect the progression to modern multicloud identity security, and simplify secure access experiences for all, we’re renaming Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) to Microsoft Entra ID.”
I didn’t get how the update contributes to modern multicloud identity security, but the first reason sounds legitimate — to unify the Microsoft Entra product. Azure AD has never been a fully-fledged copy of Active Directory and never provided its predecessor’s features like Groups Policies or Kerberos/NTLM authentication support. They are two different products with different target audiences, where Azure AD is a cloud identity provider that can extend AD capabilities in hybrid environments. The title “Azure AD” emphasized this seamless bridge from the classical on-premises AD to the Cloud.
Frankly, I am not a fan of rebranding for the sake of rebranding. The world knows many examples of misnamed things. The well-known LAN interface RJ-45 name is inaccurate, but if I tell you RJ-45, most likely you will understand me. Also, everyone knows that airplanes’ black boxes are not black but bright orange.
Don’t get me wrong, the proper naming is crucial. As software developers and architects, we must care about using the right-to-the-point names. And Microsoft did exactly that — renamed Azure AD to Entra ID to highlight that the service is an identity provider. It will take a few years to get used to a new name, but I sincerely hope there is more to come besides a label.
