Enhance User Experience with Microsoft Entra ID: A Comprehensive Guide

In today’s digital landscape, managing user identities and access has become a critical aspect of organisational security and efficiency. Microsoft Entra ID offers a powerful solution to streamline identity management, enhance user experience, and bolster security. In this article, we’ll delve into the benefits and best practices of using Microsoft Entra ID, exploring how custom domains and company branding can elevate your organisation’s identity and access management.

Default and Custom Domain Name

Each Microsoft Entra ID tenant comes with an initial domain name like (tetteislove.onmicrosoft.com). This is the actual identity for your organisation, similar to a physical data center address for your on-premise workload. The initial domain is on the internet, and all Microsoft security looks after this domain. You cannot change or delete the initial domain name, but you can add your organisation’s domain to the initial domain provided by Microsoft. Adding a custom domain name ensures consistency for your usernames across on-premise and cloud identities.

Benefits of Custom Domain Names

• Professional branding: Provides a more professional appearance for your business.
• Seamless user experience: Enables users to continue using their regular email addresses as their usernames.
• Improved email deliverability: Improves deliverability and credibility of emails sent from your organisation.
• Customisation and flexibility: Allows for setting up email aliases, creating custom subdomains, and configuring other settings.
• Enhanced security: Better control over domain-related security settings.
• Streamlined management of digital assets: Makes it easier to manage and consolidate digital assets under one domain.

Add a Custom Domain Name

To add a custom domain name, navigate to Microsoft Entra ID > Manage > Custom domain names. Click Add custom domain, enter your custom domain name, and then configure the TXT or MX records in your domain name registrar’s DNS settings.

Adding a custom domain name in Microsoft Entra ID.

TXT or MX data to add to the DNS records at the registrar for domain name verification.

Updated TXT records at the registrar to verify the domain name.

Common Domain Verification Issues

• Incorrect DNS records
• DNS propagation delay
• Typographical errors in DNS records
• Using incorrect DNS manager
• Expired domain registration
• Firewall or security settings blocking verification
• Multiple domains with similar names
• Lack of administrative rights
• Domain not validated with another directory

Company Branding

Company branding in Entra ID is essential for serious businesses, especially in managing user access and identity across corporate resources. You can add company branding that applies to all experiences to create a consistent sign-in experience for your users. Customise the default experience with a custom background image, color, favicon, layout, header, and footer.

Check out the Microsoft documentation for a guide on customising your company brand in Microsoft Entra ID, available in either the Azure Portal or the Microsoft Entra Administrator page.

Empowering Branding Team

In big corporations, the branding team is responsible for maintaining company branding. Assign the Organizational Branding Administrator role to the branding team to allow them to maintain branding configurations. Ensure collaboration between administrators, branding teams, and security teams before making any changes.

Summary

In conclusion, enhancing the user experience in Microsoft Entra ID is a straightforward process that yields significant benefits. By customising your company brand, verifying your domain, and streamlining access management, you can create a seamless and secure identity experience for your users. With these simple steps, you can improve user satisfaction, bolster security, and maintain a strong corporate identity. Take the first step today and unlock the full potential of Microsoft Entra ID for your organisation