Azure AD business-to-business (B2B) collaboration is now generally available worldwide, Microsoft announced last month. This means that users can collaborate safely and securely with other organizations, even if they don’t have Azure AD. The program received a lot of positive buzz during its public preview, Microsoft said.
Who can use Azure AD B2B?
Azure AD B2B is most useful for organizations that need to share documents, applications, or other items with B2B partners while still maintaining control of corporate data. Those you share documents with don’t even necessarily need to have Azure AD B2B installed in order to access what you share with them. And they don’t need to have an IT organization in place, either.
According to Microsoft, the demand for this product has been extremely high. During the public preview period, customers invited 2.6 million guest users using these sharing capabilities. So the user base will certainly grow substantially now that the product is available worldwide.
We have spent thousands and thousands of hours with these customers diving into how we can best serve their needs with Azure AD B2B.
— Alex Simons, Microsoft’s director of program management
What are the features of Azure AD B2B?
The program uses secure collaboration, so you can share specific items with collaborators while still allowing them to use their own credentials and organizational identity.
Some of the most popular features include:
- The ability to easily add new B2B collaborators to your organization.
- Access to Azure AD apps.
- Delegation capabilities.
- Consistent authorization policies.
- APIs and sample code to build custom onboarding applications.
Essentially, the program just gives organizations a simple and customizable way to work with B2B partners outside their organization. It’s secure and straightforward. And now that it’s out of public preview mode, it’s available for everyone to use and make their own.
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