Azure AD B2B vs B2C

What is Azure AD?

Azure Active Directory, or Azure AD, is a cloud-based identity provider service by Microsoft, whose main purpose is to authenticate and authorize users of cloud applications (SaaS apps).

Azure AD Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C) are External Identity solutions that enable organizations to manage external users' access to their applications and resources.

Access to Consumer-Facing Apps (B2C)

• Identity Access Management (IAM) for SaaS and custom developed Apps excluding Microsoft first-party apps
• Collaboration with consumers of your product
• Users are managed in a separate Azure AD directory

External User Collaboration (B2B)

• Externally sharing in Microsoft 365, Teams, or your own applications
• Collaboration with suppliers, partners, vendors, etc.
• Users exist as Guest users in your directory

In this article, we've put together a comparison of the functionalities of Azure B2C and Azure B2B, as well as B2B integrated with Extranet User Manager (EUM) capabilities. The table below is a breakdown of which features they support, and how identities are managed.

Bridging the Gap between B2B and B2C

Suppose your organization is looking to employ Azure B2C to help manage consumer identities within the product's tenant. The following are some common applications of such a scenario:

• The organization wants to enable and protect customer identities on custom-built transactional applications
• The organization wants to create and manage a directory specifically for customers
• The organization wants to enable access to its apps using a wide range of accounts, including local application and social identities
• Controls such as single sign-on, custom domains, branding, policies, and compliance requirements need to be managed by the application rather than the organization

Much of the above can also be achieved with B2B. While the branding is less customizable and the login.microsoftonline.com URL will appear in the sign-in and sign-up process, the remainder can be well managed in B2B. This will also give the added advantage of a much richer multi-factor authentication, security controls, and full support for Microsoft 365.

EUM can bridge much of the gap by providing B2C functionality while leveraging all the features of B2B. By creating consumer-focused groups in your custom-branded EUM portal, you can define how users gain access to your organization’s applications. A fully customizable registration and sign-in running on a custom domain allows users to sign in using their personal or social accounts, with the benefit of conditional access policies determined by the organization, enhanced security through identity protection, risky sign-in detection, document encryption, and much more. Even e-commerce is supported through EUM's Stripe integration, allowing for seamless and secure payment.

Essentially, EUM will allow your organization to create a consumer directory that has the manageability and security of B2B, while surpassing the ease of use of B2C.

Upcoming Events

Interested in learning more about how EUM and B2B collaborate for an optimized guest user management experience? Register for our upcoming, Azure B2B and Guest Management Webinar, which will be held on June 23rd from 12 - 1 PM EST.