Microsoft 365 and Entra ID – A House with Many Doors

Your house probably has multiple doors. If your live in a house that does: do you always use the same door to exit and return? Maybe you use a different door depending on what you're carrying, wearing, covered in, or some other qualifying detail? Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) accounts can seem (and really are) "different ways of getting in" at times ... but why do we need all of them?
This presentation delves into the critical aspects of identity and account management within Microsoft 365, beginning with the exploration of the various identity models available to M365/Entra ID administrators and their users. We'll spend some time talking about the role of Entra ID when managing user profiles, authentication, and access controls. In addition, we'll talk about Microsoft's commitment to RBAC (role-based access control) and what it takes to effectively administer M365 and its workloads.
By the end of this discussion, participants will possess a functional knowledge of the different account types in Entra ID, approaches to granting access to Entra ID-secured resources, general identity practices that Microsoft promotes, and a relative comparison of the strengths and weaknesses that should be considered by you and your users.
Presenter bio:
Sean McDonough is a senior solution architect and consultant with Akumina, an acknowledged market leader in the modern intranet and digital workplace solution space. Microsoft certified MCP, MCTS, and MCPD, Sean has 25+ years of experience developing software, building infrastructures, and solving technical problems. Unable to take anything except the deep dive into any role, Sean has acquired a diverse and expansive skill set as consultant, product manager, solution architect, team lead, administrator, technical delivery manager, and platform evangelist through the years.

Some might label his passion for all things tech related as borderline 'obsession', but it is equal only to his desire to share those discoveries and experiences with others as author, blogger, and frequent speaker/instructor at technical conferences, user groups, and similar events all over North America. Sean is also a Microsoft MVP.