Self-service or delegated user information administration
For organizations that replicate their on-premises Active Directory to Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) using a technology like the Entra ID Connect, this means that most of a user’s attributes (phone numbers, address, title, department, on-premises group membership, etc…) are primarily stored in your on-prem Active Directory. The replication technology replicates those changes to Entra ID.
For Microsoft 365 workloads that depend on Entra ID for user information such as Exchange / Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Delve, Forms, Power Apps, this means that the Entra ID directory should be kept up-to-date. As long as a replication technology is in place, your on-premises Active Directory is the authoritative source.
Ithicos Solutions Directory Update or Directory Manager can help you simplify keeping user information up to date in your on-premises Active Directory (and as a result also in Entra ID.) Both Directory Update and Directory Manager are primarily on-premises solutions that reside on an domain-joined Windows Server hosting IIS server.
Directory Update is an easy-to-use, customizable web interface that allows end users to update their own information using drop-down lists, free-form text boxes, or field validation to ensure that user data is accurate. The administrator defines what fields are available on the web user interface.
Directory Manager (both Standard and Advanced editions) is also a simple-to-use web interface that allows authorized users such as Human Resources, an admin assistant, department admin, or other Tier 0 or Tier 1 end user to update other user’s information. Like Directory Update, the administrator defines what fields are editable or visible, drop-down list values, and if features such as phone number format validation is used.
Unless you have modified your synchronization interval, changes from your local Active Directory will generally appear in Entra ID within about 30 minutes. If you are using a different replication technology, the interval will depend on that software.
Last Review: 3 Sept 2024