Entra ID (Azure Active Directory)


Entra ID (Azure AD) provides a variety of cloud-based capabilities including application management, authentication, credential management, device management, information security, and is the integration point for a variety of cloud-based and hybrid solutions. If you are familiar with Active Directory, Entra ID is the cloud-based, infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) version, providing many of the same kinds of capabilities, but with the benefits of a cloud-based solution. A document which explains a broad set of common terminology associated with Entra ID Directory may help you navigate.

UW Entra ID tenant

Use of some Azure services depends on having an Entra ID tenant. The UW has guidance on when a new Entra ID Tenant should be created and when the existing enterprise Entra ID tenant should be leveraged. If in doubt, contact help@uw.edu for assistance. The UW has one primary Entra ID tenant with a variety of domain names associated with it, including: uwnetid.onmicrosoft.com, cloud.washington.edu, uw.edu, u.washington.edu, and washington.edu. The most commonly used domain in this tenant is uw.edu, with many UW NetIDs automatically provisioned for use. Review the complete list of domains in this tenant. Other UW Entra ID tenants exist and all are managed by UW-IT. The netid.washington.edu (NETID) Active Directory (AD) has a special association with our primary Entra ID tenant--objects in the NETID AD are synchronized to our Entra ID.

Service Options

There are many service options that Entra ID provides. A full list of what capabilities UW supports and the level of support is detailed in the Entra ID  Capability Lifecycle and Support document. Here are some notable capabilities supported:

Solutions