Modern Identity Starts with Entra

For years, identity has been treated as background infrastructure. Necessary, reliable, and largely unchanged. Active Directory authenticated users, devices, and applications while organisations focused on everything else.

This a mindset that no longer holds.

In a cloud-first, threat-driven, hybrid world, identity has become the primary control plane for security, access, and trust. The question leaders must now answer is not whether Active Directory still works, but whether it should continue to define their future.

This is where Microsoft Entra, supported by strong identity governance, becomes a strategic enabler rather than just another platform.

From Infrastructure to Identity Platform

On-premises Active Directory was designed for a world with clear boundaries. Users were internal. Devices were fixed. Trust was implicit.

Modern environments look very different.

Applications are SaaS-first. Users work from anywhere. Devices are transient. Threats are constant and adaptive.

Microsoft Entra represents a shift from identity as infrastructure to identity as a platform. Authentication, access control, risk evaluation, and governance are delivered as cloud services rather than physical dependencies.

Importantly, Microsoft’s own guidance and recent customer case studies show that success does not come from replicating AD in the cloud. It comes from deliberately changing the identity model.

What Microsoft’s Case Studies Are Really Showing Us

Recent Microsoft Entra case studies consistently highlight the same pattern.

Organisations that succeed do not start by removing Active Directory. They start by stopping its expansion.

Customers such as global pharmaceutical companies, large service providers, and digital-first organisations have demonstrated that:

• New users and devices are onboarded directly into Entra

• Windows Autopilot and Intune replace traditional domain join

• Conditional access becomes the primary security enforcement layer

• On-premises AD is retained only where legacy systems genuinely require it

The outcome is not disruption. It is gradual simplification.

Active Directory becomes smaller, quieter, and less critical over time. Entra becomes the authority.

This is AD minimization as a strategic outcome, not a forced initiative.

Security Improves When Identity Leads

Modern security models are identity-centric by necessity. Zero Trust, least privilege, and continuous verification all rely on strong identity signals.

Microsoft Entra brings these signals together. User risk, sign-in behaviour, device compliance, and access context are evaluated continuously. Conditional access policies enforce decisions dynamically rather than relying on static network trust.

From an advisory perspective, this is where real value is delivered. Not in enabling a feature, but in designing identity controls that reflect business risk, regulatory obligations, and user experience.

Technology enables. Governance directs.

Why Identity Governance Cannot Be an Afterthought

As identity moves to the cloud, governance becomes more critical, not less.

Cloud-first identity dramatically increases the speed at which access can be granted. Without governance, it also increases the risk of overprovisioning, entitlement sprawl, and audit gaps.

This is where identity governance platforms such as SailPoint play a critical role.

When integrated with Microsoft Entra, governance tooling helps organisations:

• Define and enforce access models aligned to roles and business functions

• Automate joiner, mover, and leaver processes across cloud and legacy systems

• Perform regular access reviews with clear accountability

• Demonstrate compliance with internal and regulatory requirements

In practice, Entra and governance platforms are complementary. Entra controls access in real time. Governance platforms ensure access is correct, justified, and reviewed over time.

Advisory-led organisations recognise that modern identity requires both.

Advisory First. Platform Second.

Identity transformation rarely fails because of technology. It fails because of unclear ownership, weak operating models, or poor sequencing.

Effective advisory starts with intent:

• What is the target identity state?

• Which systems genuinely require on-premises AD, and for how long?

• How will access be governed as cloud adoption accelerates?

• How will risk be measured and enforced consistently?

Microsoft Entra provides the platform. Governance tools like SailPoint provide oversight. Advisory ensures they are aligned to business outcomes rather than implemented in isolation.

This is the difference between deployment and transformation.

A Measured Path to Modern Identity

The strongest identity programs follow a deliberate, incremental path:

• Entra becomes the default identity authority

• Authentication is modernised before infrastructure is removed

• Devices transition to cloud-native management

• Governance is embedded early, not retrofitted later

• Legacy dependencies are retired through normal lifecycle change

There is no big bang. There is steady progress.

Over time, identity becomes easier to operate, simpler to govern, and significantly more secure.

The Question Leaders Should Be Asking

The question is not whether Active Directory will disappear.

The question is whether your organisation is intentionally designing its future identity architecture, or inheriting it by default.

Microsoft Entra enables a modern, resilient identity foundation. Governance platforms like SailPoint ensure access remains controlled and auditable. Strong advisory leadership connects both to real business outcomes.

Identity is no longer just an IT concern. It is a strategic capability.

And the organisations that recognise this will be the ones best prepared for what comes next.