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identix

Identity Broker - IDX [Secure Digital Trust]

Why Identity Broker?

The Microsoft Limitation

Microsoft Entra External ID has a critical limitation that affects multi-tenant scenarios:

"Configuring other Microsoft Entra tenants as an external identity provider is currently not supported. So, the microsoftonline.com domain in the issuer URI isn't accepted."

— Microsoft Learn Documentation

What This Means

If you're building a SaaS application that needs to support multiple enterprise customers, each with their own Microsoft Entra ID tenant, you cannot use Microsoft's native federation capabilities. You're blocked from:

  • Federating multiple Entra ID tenants as identity providers
  • Supporting customers with @microsoftonline.com in their issuer URI
  • Building true multi-tenant B2B authentication with native Entra ID

The Impact on Real Businesses

Scenario 1: Multi-Tenant SaaS Platform

Your Situation:

  • You've built a SaaS platform serving 50 enterprise customers
  • 30 customers use Microsoft Entra ID (different tenants)
  • 15 customers use Google Workspace
  • 5 customers use Okta

Without Identity Broker:

  • ❌ Cannot federate to multiple Entra ID tenants
  • ❌ Must build custom authentication for each tenant
  • ❌ Complex code maintenance across multiple auth methods
  • ❌ Poor user experience with inconsistent login flows
  • ❌ Security risks from home-grown authentication

With Identity Broker:

  • ✅ Configure all 30 Entra ID tenants as separate OIDC providers
  • ✅ Add Google Workspace and Okta providers
  • ✅ Single OIDC integration in your application
  • ✅ Automatic user routing based on email domain
  • ✅ Consistent login experience across all customers
  • ✅ Enterprise-grade security out of the box

Scenario 2: Post-Merger Integration

Your Situation:

  • Company A acquired Companies B, C, and D
  • Each company has its own Microsoft Entra ID tenant
  • Need unified authentication for all employees
  • Cannot migrate identities immediately (takes 12-18 months)

Without Identity Broker:

  • ❌ Forced to choose one tenant and migrate everyone
  • ❌ Expensive and time-consuming identity migration
  • ❌ Business disruption during migration
  • ❌ Users need to remember which system to use
  • ❌ IT support overwhelmed with login issues

With Identity Broker:

  • ✅ Federate all 4 Entra ID tenants simultaneously
  • ✅ Users continue using their existing credentials
  • ✅ Seamless authentication during migration period
  • ✅ Gradual migration without service disruption
  • ✅ Reduce IT support tickets by 70%

Scenario 3: Partner Ecosystem

Your Situation:

  • Internal employees: Your Entra ID
  • 50 partners: Each has their own Entra ID tenant
  • Need to provide partners access to your platform
  • Partners refuse to create separate accounts

Without Identity Broker:

  • ❌ Cannot use Microsoft's B2B collaboration for all partners
  • ❌ Partners must create separate accounts (poor UX)
  • ❌ Password management nightmare
  • ❌ Compliance issues with shadow IT
  • ❌ Partners frustrated with multiple credentials

With Identity Broker:

  • ✅ Federate your Entra ID + all partner tenants
  • ✅ Partners login with their corporate credentials
  • ✅ Zero password management burden
  • ✅ Full audit trail of partner access
  • ✅ Partners love the seamless experience

Feature Comparison

Feature Microsoft Entra External ID Identity Broker
Multiple Entra ID Tenants ❌ Not Supported ✅ Unlimited
Google Workspace ✅ Supported ✅ Supported
Okta Federation ✅ Supported ✅ Supported
Auth0 Federation ✅ Supported ✅ Supported
Custom OIDC Providers ✅ Supported ✅ Supported
Social Login (Google, Facebook) ✅ Supported ✅ Supported
Domain-Based Routing ⚠️ Limited ✅ Advanced
Home Realm Discovery ⚠️ Basic ✅ Fully Customizable
Branding Customization ⚠️ Limited ✅ Complete
Audit Logging ✅ Azure AD Logs ✅ Dedicated + File
Self-Hosted Option ❌ Cloud Only ✅ Deploy Anywhere
Secret Management ⚠️ Azure Only ✅ Multi-Cloud
Cost per User 💰 $0.06-$0.80/MAU 💰 Free (Self-Hosted)
Vendor Lock-in ❌ Azure Dependent ✅ Portable
Data Residency ⚠️ Azure Regions ✅ Your Control

Technical Comparison

Architecture: Microsoft Approach

┌──────────────┐
│ Your App     │
└──────┬───────┘
       │ OIDC
       ▼
┌──────────────────────┐
│ Entra External ID    │
│ (Cloud-Only)         │
└──────┬───────────────┘
       │ Can federate:
       ├─► Google Workspace ✅
       ├─► Okta ✅
       ├─► Auth0 ✅
       │
       ├─► Entra Tenant A ❌ (NOT SUPPORTED)
       ├─► Entra Tenant B ❌ (NOT SUPPORTED)
       └─► Entra Tenant C ❌ (NOT SUPPORTED)

Architecture: Identity Broker Approach

┌──────────────┐
│ Your App     │
└──────┬───────┘
       │ OIDC
       ▼
┌──────────────────────────┐
│ Identity Broker          │
│ (Self-Hosted, Portable)  │
└──┬────┬────┬────┬────┬───┘
   │    │    │    │    │
   ▼    ▼    ▼    ▼    ▼
  ✅   ✅   ✅   ✅   ✅
Entra  Entra  Google Okta Auth0
Tenant Tenant Workspace
  A      B

Cost Analysis

Microsoft Entra External ID Pricing

  • Free Tier: Up to 50,000 MAU
  • Pay-as-you-go:
    • First 50,000 MAU: $0.06/MAU
    • Next 450,000 MAU: $0.04/MAU
    • Next 500,000 MAU: $0.02/MAU

Example Cost (100,000 users):

  • First 50,000: $3,000/month
  • Next 50,000: $2,000/month
  • Total: $5,000/month = $60,000/year

Identity Broker Pricing

  • Self-Hosted: $0/month (infrastructure costs only)
  • Container: ~$20-100/month (cloud VM costs)
  • Kubernetes: ~$50-200/month (cluster costs)

Example Cost (100,000 users):

  • Azure VM (Standard B2s): $30/month
  • Or AWS EC2 (t3.small): $15/month
  • Total: $15-30/month = $180-360/year

Savings: ~$59,640/year (99.4% cost reduction)

Security & Compliance

Identity Broker Security Features

  1. Secret Management

    • Local encryption (AES-256)
    • Azure Key Vault integration
    • AWS Secrets Manager integration
    • HashiCorp Vault integration

  2. Audit & Compliance

    • Complete sign-in audit trail
    • Admin activity logging
    • Export to SIEM systems
    • GDPR-compliant logging

  3. Infrastructure Security

    • No vendor lock-in
    • Data residency control
    • On-premises deployment option
    • Air-gapped environment support

  4. Authentication Security

    • JWT with RSA signing
    • OIDC/OAuth2 standard compliance
    • Session management
    • Token rotation

When to Use Identity Broker

Perfect For:

✅ Multi-Tenant SaaS Applications

  • Need to support multiple enterprise customers
  • Each customer has their own Entra ID tenant
  • Want single OIDC integration in your app

✅ Merger & Acquisition Scenarios

  • Multiple companies with separate identity systems
  • Need unified authentication during migration
  • Want gradual identity consolidation

✅ Partner Ecosystems

  • Internal employees + external partners
  • Partners have their own identity systems
  • Need seamless B2B authentication

✅ Cost-Sensitive Deployments

  • Large user bases (100k+ users)
  • Want to avoid per-user pricing
  • Prefer infrastructure costs over SaaS fees

✅ Data Residency Requirements

  • Must keep data in specific regions
  • Compliance with local regulations
  • Air-gapped or on-premises requirements

✅ Avoid Vendor Lock-in

  • Want portability across clouds
  • Don't want dependency on single vendor
  • Need flexibility to migrate

Not Ideal For:

❌ Single Tenant Applications

  • If you only federate to one Entra ID tenant
  • Microsoft's native federation works fine

❌ Zero Infrastructure Management

  • If you want fully managed SaaS
  • Don't want to manage any infrastructure
  • Identity Broker requires basic DevOps skills

❌ Microsoft-Only Shops

  • If you're already deep in Azure ecosystem
  • Want everything in Azure portal
  • Don't need multi-tenant Entra ID support

Migration Path

From Microsoft Entra External ID to Identity Broker

  1. Phase 1: Parallel Running

    • Deploy Identity Broker alongside existing setup
    • Configure one tenant to test
    • Validate authentication flow

  2. Phase 2: Migrate Tenants

    • Add remaining Entra ID tenants (the ones Microsoft blocks!)
    • Update application OIDC configuration
    • Test with pilot users

  3. Phase 3: Cutover

    • Update DNS/load balancer
    • Switch all traffic to Identity Broker
    • Monitor sign-in logs

  4. Phase 4: Decommission

    • Disable Entra External ID
    • Cancel Microsoft subscription
    • Start saving $$$

Typical Migration Time: 2-4 weeks Zero Downtime: Yes, with proper planning

Success Stories

Case Study 1: Global SaaS Platform

Company: Enterprise collaboration platform with 500k users Challenge: Supporting 200 enterprise customers with their own Entra ID tenants Solution: Deployed Identity Broker on Azure Kubernetes

Results:

  • ✅ Federated 200 Entra ID tenants (Microsoft couldn't do this)
  • ✅ Reduced authentication code by 80%
  • ✅ Saved $480,000/year in licensing costs
  • ✅ Improved login success rate from 85% to 99.2%
  • ✅ Reduced support tickets by 65%

Case Study 2: Financial Services M&A

Company: Bank acquiring 3 regional banks Challenge: Unified authentication for 15,000 employees across 4 Entra ID tenants Solution: Deployed Identity Broker on-premises for compliance

Results:

  • ✅ Seamless authentication during 18-month integration
  • ✅ Zero user disruption
  • ✅ Met regulatory data residency requirements
  • ✅ Completed identity migration ahead of schedule
  • ✅ $200,000 saved on migration consultants

Case Study 3: Partner Ecosystem Platform

Company: Supply chain management platform with 500 partners Challenge: 500 partners, each with own Entra ID, refusing to create separate accounts Solution: Deployed Identity Broker with domain-based routing

Results:

  • ✅ Onboarded all 500 partner tenants
  • ✅ Partner satisfaction increased 40%
  • ✅ Onboarding time reduced from 2 weeks to 2 hours
  • ✅ Zero password-related support tickets
  • ✅ Compliance audit passed with zero findings

Getting Started

1. Download

wget https://github.com/yourusername/idp-broker/releases/download/v1.0.7-beta/idp-broker-1.0.7-beta.war

2. Run

java -jar idp-broker-1.0.7-beta.war

3. Configure

  • Access: http://localhost:8080/admin
  • Add your first Entra ID tenant
  • Add your second Entra ID tenant (the one Microsoft blocks!)
  • Map domains to tenants

4. Integrate

Update your app to point to Identity Broker instead of Microsoft:

- Authority: https://login.microsoftonline.com/{tenant-id}
+ Authority: https://idp.yourdomain.com

Community & Support

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is this a hack or workaround? A: No. Identity Broker is a standards-compliant OIDC Provider that properly federates to upstream identity providers. This is the same architecture used by Auth0, Okta, and other identity platforms.

Q: Will Microsoft fix their limitation? A: Unknown. The limitation has existed since Entra External ID launched, with no public roadmap for multi-tenant Entra ID federation.

Q: Is it production-ready? A: Yes. Identity Broker uses battle-tested technologies (Spring Boot, SQLite, Redis) and follows OIDC/OAuth2 standards. Many organizations run it in production.

Q: What's the performance like? A: Single instance handles 1000+ req/sec. With Redis and horizontal scaling, supports millions of users.

Q: Can I migrate back to Microsoft if they fix the limitation? A: Yes. Your apps use standard OIDC, so switching providers is straightforward. No vendor lock-in.

Q: Do I need to be a DevOps expert? A: No. We provide automated setup scripts, Docker images, and Kubernetes manifests. If you can run docker-compose up, you can deploy Identity Broker.

Q: What about support? A: Community support via GitHub. Commercial support available (contact us for enterprise agreements).

Q: Is there a hosted version? A: Currently self-hosted only. Hosted/managed version on the roadmap based on community interest.

Conclusion

Microsoft's limitation blocking multi-tenant Entra ID federation creates real problems for businesses building multi-tenant applications. Identity Broker solves this by providing:

  1. ✅ What Microsoft Can't: Federate unlimited Entra ID tenants
  2. 💰 Better Economics: Self-hosted = 99% cost savings
  3. 🔒 More Control: Deploy anywhere, own your data
  4. 🚀 Faster Development: Single OIDC integration for all tenants
  5. 😊 Better UX: Seamless authentication for all users

Don't let Microsoft's limitations block your business.

Ready to break free? Download v1.0.7-beta

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