MIM and Azure AD Connect: Two Sides of the Same Coin?
Azure AD Connect is just MIM (Microsoft Identity Manager) with a different hat on, isn’t it? No! Anyone who approaches Azure AD Connect like this may well come undone.
Azure AD Connect is based on MIM and looks a lot like MIM – and it would be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that they are the same. But they are not. Azure AD Connect has been substantially re-engineered and it is vital to understand the differences in order to avoid sub-optimal implementations.
What are the differences between MIM and Azure AD Connect? There are too many to list here – but, for example, MIM and Azure AD Connect have different mechanisms for backup, restore and disaster recovery, and the configuration of high availability is also different.
One of the most profound differences is the synchronization model. Not only does Azure AD Connect have declarative rules, it has a totally different mechanism for joining, provisioning and deprovisioning. So, if you want to synchronize objects that will be used to authenticate and authorize users of your cloud resources, you really need to understand how Azure AD Connect works.
This does not mean that Azure AD Connect is more complicated or inferior to MIM – quite the opposite in fact. These differences are there to make it easier to support, and quicker to recover in the event of a disaster.
In this webinar recording, the expert team who wrote the new Azure AD Connect Masterclass – Andreas Kjellman (formerly MIM and Azure AD Connect Program Manager for Microsoft), Jimmy Andersson (MVP Enterprise Mobility), Hugh Simpson-Wells (CEO, Oxford Computer Group) and James Cowling (CTO, Oxford Computer Group):
- Discuss the differences between Azure AD Connect and MIM: synchronization, configuration, automatic updates, reverse join, soft join, sticky join etc – and why they matter.
- Answer general questions about Azure AD Connect.
If you’re interested in transferring your MIM skills to Azure AD Connect, or if you want to learn more about how to optimize your Azure AD Connect implementation, view the webinar recording!