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Managing users is already a difficult task for IT admins. For IT service providers with multiple organizations under their control, like MSPs and others, these user management concerns are compounded. That’s why the concept of multi-tenant user management is gaining in popularity. Let’s explore the best options available for multi-tenant user management.
Multi-Tenant User Management Through the Years
Historically, managing multiple clients/organizations was a literal chore for admins. With Microsoft® Active Directory® (MAD or AD) being the core user management tool, MSPs had to physically engage with each organization’s domain controller onsite in order to manage users at scale.
That meant driving back and forth between clients or setting up expensive VPN infrastructures. Obviously, this all added up for MSPs as a tax upon both their business and their well-being. Beyond that, MAD struggles to manage non-Windows® resources, which limits client organizations’ freedom of choice, locking them into Microsoft tooling.
In today’s cloud era, one would think multi-tenant user management would be considerably easier. Unfortunately for some, the truck rolls needed to manage multiple AD instances still remain.
Multi-Tenant Azure Active Directory
Many were hopeful that Azure® Active Directory® (AAD) would allow IT service providers to remotely manage their clients. Azure Active Directory, however, is not a cloud replacement for on-prem Active Directory. It’s focus area is somewhat different by being the user management system for Azure and Office 365, rather than being the central identity provider for all IT resources, whether Microsoft-based or not.
Azure AD does boast their own “multi-tenancy,” in the form of Azure Lighthouse, but like AAD itself, Lighthouse is still largely limited to Azure-related resources. This means that important resources like systems, networks, and the various others that users need access often need to be dealt with outside of AAD and Azure Lighthouse. IT service providers often will still need to put infrastructure on their clients’ premises by managing these resources with MAD, and once again, additional solutions are required to manage non-Windows resources.
Multi-Tenant User Management from the Cloud
What IT service providers/MSPs need for complete multi-tenant user management is an independent cloud directory service. A cloud directory service can remotely manage users and their access to the critical IT resources they need on a daily basis without anything on-prem or the need to go onsite. What’s more, an ideal cloud directory service allows admins to manage multiple client instances from a single browser window.
That’s why hundreds of MSPs have turned to JumpCloud® Directory-as-a-Service®, the first cloud directory service. With JumpCloud, IT organizations of all kinds are enabled to manage users, systems, networks, applications, infrastructure, file servers, and more, all from JumpCloud’s browser-based admin portal.
Directory-as-a-Service features actual multi-tenant user management that’s fully cross-platform, allowing MSPs and others to manage their clients as needed with the JumpCloud Multi-Tenant Portal. The Multi-Tenant Portal lets admins monitor disparate IT environments at a glance, with the ability to manage them granularly as needed. All of these capabilities are carried out from a single pane of glass.
Try JumpCloud Free
Organizations can try out JumpCloud for multi-tenant user management and more, absolutely free. A JumpCloud account includes ten users, available forever at no cost, no credit card required.
The JumpCloud Partner Program
MSPs can also opt to join the JumpCloud Partner Program, which grants IT service organizations specialized resale discounts, co-marketing opportunities, implementation assistance, and more. Please contact us to learn more.
