It goes without saying that password management is essential to online security, whether for a personal social media account or a company website.
Often the traditional methods of password management fall short of what is necessary today – simple security questions and code sent to your mobile phone just don’t cut it anymore!
That’s why Microsoft Azure is one of the best options when it comes to self-service password reset.
In this article, we will discuss the key features of Azure, including its best practices for implementation and how it can assist your business.
But firstly, we have to start at the very beginning.
What is Microsoft Azure?
Azure is a cloud platform program run by tech giant Microsoft. Its official name is Microsoft Azure, but it is often shortened and referred to simply as “Azure”.
It assists with the development of applications and services through global data centres and also offers access and management to those services – including self-service password reset (SSPR).
Why is Password Management Important?
Another point that it is essential to establish is the importance of password management for organisations, companies and businesses who conduct the majority of (or all of) their business online.
For example, we have all forgotten a password at some point, right?
It might have been during an IT lesson at school or perhaps when trying to access an account on a half-forgotten website you hadn’t visited for years.
The same thing happens in businesses worldwide every day. However, this can have far more serious consequences than forgetting your password to access an alternate email address you made when you were 10.
Typically, the first port of call for any issues revolving around password management involves contacting the IT department. That’s their job, right?
Not really, no. It can simply increase their workload, leading to more downtime for you if you cannot access your account and take away precious time for the IT department, which could do more with their time than resetting a password for the fifteenth time that week.
On the contrary, password self-service management solutions can essentially cut out the IT department, but in a good way. It means that users can reset their passwords or even unlock their accounts without needing to contact the IT help desk – which reverses all of the problems listed above, such as downtime for both the user and the IT support workers.
This not only helps the user but also aids the IT department, meaning that they can focus on the more pressing work at hand without being interrupted to perform a password reset. Meanwhile, the user can get back on with their work almost instantly.
Azure Self-Service Password Reset: Key Features, Advantages and Disadvantages
Now that it has been established what Azure is and why password management tools are necessary in the modern workplace, it is time to discuss the key features of Azure SSPR.
These will be listed and discussed in further detail below.
However, to provide a balanced analysis of Azure SSPR, it is important to discuss the various advantages and disadvantages associated with the system’s key features.
Personalisation and Branding: The Pros
This may not be the first thing that companies look for when choosing an SSPR system, but it is an attractive touch nonetheless.
Being able to add features such as company logos and branding helps to make the user feel more at ease – especially if it is a new piece of software.
Moreover, this can also help align with the company’s branding values – meaning that it never looks out of place while being used.
Personalisation and Branding: The Cons
The first downside of the personalisation factor is that it is quite limited.
While it is nice to be able to customise the user interface, there are limits to what you can do – and this may not fit in with all brands.
It could also cause problems with system administrators, particularly if logos must be changed to fit certain dimensions.
This is only likely to be an issue if there is limited graphic design experience within a company.
Integration with Azure AD: The Pros
Another attractive feature of Azure SSPR is that it integrates incredibly well with Azure AD (Azure Active Directory).
This means that it seamlessly integrates with the broader Microsoft management systems, resulting in a consistent user experience.
Integration with Azure AD: The Cons
However, its relationship with Azure Active Directory has some downsides. The most obvious one is its dependency on Azure AD.
This could be detrimental to a company opting to use Azure SSPR because if there is any downtime with Azure software, the SSPR side could suffer as well as the AD side of operations.
Multi-Factor Authentication: The Pros
Azure supports multi-factor authentication (MFA), which adds an extra layer of security to the password reset process.
Therefore, even if a user does forget their password, any unauthorised login attempts have to go through an additional verification step.
This could mean a code sent to a user’s phone or email address or perhaps a security question on top of the password.
Multi-Factor Authentication: The Cons
Although this might seem contrary to the whole point of MFA, it can create tension among users.
This is largely because users occasionally find it frustrating to have to input extra information when they simply need access to their account to continue with their day’s workload.
Another disadvantage of MFA is that it can increase the complexity of implementing Azure itself.
For example, extra steps of testing will likely need to take place before it can be implemented, which delays time and can cost more upfront than perhaps the company initially budgeted for.
Security Questions: The Pros
Another feature which Azure supports is security questions.
But what is better than that is that companies are free to tailor them, so they can decide which sort of security questions are available, rather than simply the standard “What was the make of your first car?”, “What was your mother’s maiden name?” or “What was the name of the street that you grew up on?”.
Being able to tailor security questions means that employers could make it an even more secure process, particularly if they opt to tailor the questions towards the company or work environment, such as “On which floor would you find the marketing department?” or “where was our Christmas party held in 2023?”
Security Questions: The Cons
While the primary advantage is being able to tailor security questions, it can also be a disadvantage.
Questions could lead to the disclosure of sensitive workplace information unintentionally or otherwise or to a further security breach down the line.
With security questions, there is also always the risk of someone forgetting their answer – and especially if they are work-related.
This can, in turn, cause further delays to the process and more downtime for IT departments and users while attempting to get through another layer of security.
Various Authentication Methods: The Pros
While s
ecurity questions and MFA go hand in hand, several methods are available for adding further layers of security to an account.
This can mean that the number of methods required to reset a password can be left up to the organisation’s discretion – another feature which benefits the organisation.
Various Authentication Methods: The Cons
While there are hardly any cons to being able to choose from a range of authentication methods, perhaps the biggest one is the cost.
There are additional costs associated with different methods, so it is important to have the money set aside for this reason – and to research these additional costs beforehand.
Auditing and Reporting: The Pros
Audit logs and reports are available as part of Azure and can be very useful to any company when it comes to analytics.
Arguably, the most important feature is that it allows company administrators to track the activity within Azure, meaning that they can identify who has been using the password reset service.
Not only is this good for seeing why passwords are being reset, but also who is resetting them – which adds a further layer of security to the company.
These audits and reports can flag any questionable or suspicious activity – whether from inside or outside the company – immediately.
Auditing and Reporting: The Cons
The first one that springs to mind is that the system and administrators could be left to deal with an overload of information.
For example, a large multinational organisation will have a high number of employees and, therefore, a high incidence of people forgetting their passwords. As such, a lot of activity would be flagged on the system.
In turn, this would mean more work for the administrative staff to analyse whether there was any suspicious or questionable activity or whether it was simply a lot of people forgetting their passwords.
Implementing Azure SSPR
The implementation of Azure is one of its most attractive features because it is so easy – especially when compared to other available competitors in the market.
Below, we will outline how you can implement it in a step-by-step guide.
1: Access the Azure Portal
Firstly, you will need to access the Azure Portal and sign in with the relevant credentials.
2: Access Azure AD
This is labelled as the “Azure Active Directory”.
Under the ” Security ” section, select which authentication methods you would like to use to enable self-service password reset methods.
3: Select Authentication Methods
After you have reviewed the SSPR registration methods, you can decide which authentication methods to use.
These can be security questions, mobile app (which is the official Microsoft Authenticator app), mobile phone or office phone – all of which can be selected at your discretion, and whichever option you believe works best for you, your business, and your employees.
4: You’re Good to Go!
There are a couple more steps, such as selecting notification methods and configuring any branding that you may require, but other than that, you are ready to go.
It is such an easy system to set up that there is no wonder why it is the most sought-after in the business world.
Examples of Azure Success Stories
It would not be right to write an article about the successes of Azure without mentioning some real-life examples of the SSPR system.
One notable example was in Saijo City, Japan. The Azure system is used by many schools in the region, including by students and teaching staff alike.
The local education board encouraged the upgrade from traditional password reset methods, and feedback from staff has largely been that it has been “easier to access” than before.
A further example of an Azure SSPR case study is with GCH Hotel Group, a European hotel management company with over 120 hotels in Austria, Germany, and Belgium.
They needed a new self-service password management tool, and once Azure was set up, it helped to improve security and user convenience.
There are plenty more examples of success stories with Azure. These are just two examples from across the globe, helping to convey that Azure is not limited to the UK, and nor should it be.
Regardless of where your company is based, Azure can be the perfect self-service password reset solution for you.
Conclusions
When it comes to self-service password management tools, Azure SSPR is one of the best options on the market.
As discussed above, there are various reasons for choosing Azure.
Firstly, its ease of integration with Azure AD makes for a seamless process across the Microsoft management system for those who know it well, followed by its branding options – making sure that users can feel comfortable with it, despite it being a new piece of software.
Outside of its ease of usability, a self-service password management tool is absolutely necessary for any digital business in today’s world.
Not only do these methods offer higher levels of security than traditional password management tools, but they also help to decrease downtime for both users and the IT department.
This, in turn, means that both users and the IT help desk can be more productive at work, which is naturally beneficial to the company.
Overall, Azure self-service password management solutions are not just ideal but absolutely essential for any business to step up its security game in 2024.
Whether you are opting for an extra layer of security across different work accounts or perhaps looking to change to an external provider, few competitors rival Azure when it comes to SSPR.