Navigating Microsoft Entra Permissions Management Retirement: Migration and Security Guidance

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Microsoft has announced the upcoming retirement of Microsoft Entra Permissions Management, the standalone Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) solution for Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. Beginning April 1, 2025, new purchases for Enterprise Agreement or direct customers will no longer be accepted (May 1, 2025 for Cloud Solution Provider customers), with full retirement effective October 1, 2025. After this date, the product will no longer be available or supported.

This marks a major strategic shift in Microsoft’s CIEM strategy, with core functionality being absorbed into Microsoft Defender for Cloud—its Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) offering. The move emphasizes Microsoft’s intent to unify entitlement visibility, risk detection, and posture management under one integrated cloud security ecosystem rather than through standalone tools.

Why Microsoft Is Retiring Entra Permissions Management

The decision reflects Microsoft’s broader effort to streamline security across its Entra and Defender product families. Instead of managing identity entitlements in a separate CIEM platform, customers will now gain access to integrated CIEM capabilities directly through Microsoft Defender for Cloud. This consolidation aims to improve cloud-native visibility, reduce administrative overhead, and centralize identity risk analytics.

For organizations requiring a full-scale CIEM alternative, Microsoft is partnering with Delinea, an independent software vendor, to provide a comparable or enhanced solution set that maintains multi-cloud entitlement control.

Key Implications for Enterprise Security and IAM Teams

1. Standalone CIEM Availability - Prior to retirement, Entra Permissions Management served as a dedicated CIEM platform spanning Azure, AWS, and GCP. Post-retirement, the standalone offering will be unavailable to new customers, and existing customers will transition to Defender for Cloud or third-party CIEM solutions by October 2025.

2. Licensing and Subscription Changes - The product was previously licensed as an add-on to Microsoft Entra (formerly Azure AD). With its discontinuation, enterprises will no longer be able to purchase or renew it separately, signaling a fundamental change in CIEM procurement models.

3. Integration with Defender for Cloud - The new model centralizes CIEM under Defender for Cloud’s CSPM suite, providing entitlement visibility alongside configuration drift detection, workload protection, and compliance mapping. This unified approach is designed to simplify governance and align CIEM with broader security operations.

4. Multi-Cloud Governance Adjustments - Organizations previously relying on Entra Permissions Management to track permissions across Azure, AWS, and GCP must now evaluate Defender for Cloud’s evolving CIEM capabilities or integrate third-party tools to maintain deep multi-cloud visibility. A hybrid strategy may be necessary during the transition phase to prevent entitlement blind spots.

5. No Change to Core IAM Capabilities - Importantly, the retirement does not affect Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) core IAM functions such as Single Sign-On (SSO), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Conditional Access, or Privileged Identity Management (PIM). The change is limited to the CIEM layer, ensuring identity and access operations remain stable.

6. Support and Updates - Official support for Entra Permissions Management will cease in October 2025. Security teams relying on Microsoft’s CIEM updates must migrate to Defender for Cloud or adopt partner solutions like Delinea for continued entitlement management and compliance reporting.

Strategic Impact on Identity Security Posture

The retirement signals a larger industry shift toward integrated cloud security architectures that merge IAM, CIEM, and CSPM into unified governance layers. Organizations should expect tighter coupling between identity analytics, threat detection, and posture management within Defender for Cloud.

However, for enterprises managing complex multi-cloud or hybrid environments, relying solely on Defender for Cloud may not offer the depth or granularity needed for advanced entitlement analytics and automated least-privilege enforcement. This gap opens opportunities for independent CIEM and Identity Security platforms to fill the void.

The Unosecur Advantage: A Unified, Multi-Cloud Identity Security Platform

As organizations transition away from Microsoft Entra Permissions Management, Unosecur emerges as a robust, AI-powered identity security platform purpose-built for multi-cloud environments.

Unosecur provides continuous Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM), identity threat detection, and automated privilege enforcement across Azure, AWS, and GCP. Its platform enhances Microsoft Entra and Defender for Cloud by offering:

• Centralized visibility into entitlements and permissions across all clouds.
• Automated least-privilege policy enforcement through no-code workflows.
• Real-time anomaly detection and adaptive access responses.
• Deep compliance auditing aligned with frameworks like ISO 27001, SOC 2, and NIST.
• Agentless deployment with rapid time-to-value.

Designed for enterprise-scale operations, Unosecur acts as an independent layer of identity risk intelligence, integrating seamlessly with existing IAM and CSPM ecosystems. This enables organizations to maintain compliance, enforce least privilege, and reduce identity-related attack surfaces—without losing control during the Microsoft transition.

Conclusion

The retirement of Microsoft Entra Permissions Management underscores a new phase in cloud identity governance, where entitlement management becomes a core part of the larger security posture ecosystem. While Microsoft Defender for Cloud will continue to deliver integrated CIEM capabilities, enterprises that require deeper cross-cloud visibility, advanced analytics, and autonomous remediation should evaluate solutions like Unosecur to fill capability gaps.

Organizations should begin migration assessments immediately, align licensing and compliance strategies, and test alternative CIEM integrations before October 2025 to ensure a smooth and secure transition.