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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Choose the identity model before you choose a product. If a partner already runs a corporate identity provider (IdP), federate it so people sign in with the credentials their employer controls. If your organization must issue and govern guest identities, choose a platform with scoped application assignment, approvals, access reviews, expiration and rapid revocation. Use a dedicated partner portal when the relationship needs a purpose-built workflow rather than ordinary access to internal applications.
For a Microsoft-centered environment, Microsoft Entra External ID with B2B collaboration is the most natural fit. For an AWS multi-account environment, AWS IAM Identity Center is the strongest fit. Require multifactor authentication (MFA) for every external user and phishing-resistant authentication, such as a FIDO2 security key, for sensitive applications.
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Start with identity ownership
The first question is not “Which access-management brand should we buy?” It is “Who owns the identity and its security controls?” That decision determines how accounts are created, how authentication is performed, and who is responsible when a contractor leaves a partner company.
Federation: the partner keeps its identity
Federation lets a partner’s IdP authenticate its employees while your environment consumes the resulting trust. The partner handles passwords, account recovery and usually the employee’s primary MFA. Your side still decides which applications, groups, roles or cloud accounts the person may use. SAML 2.0 is the common sign-in protocol in the options described here; SCIM can automate user and group provisioning.
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Federation is generally the cleanest model when a partner has a mature IdP and can meet your assurance requirements. Put a written agreement around MFA, account disablement, attribute accuracy, certificate rotation and notification when employment or assignment changes. Federation does not eliminate your responsibility for authorization or offboarding.
Guest identities: your tenant governs the relationship
A guest model represents an external person in your directory. You can approve invitations, assign named applications or groups, require your own Conditional Access policies, review access periodically and revoke the guest object quickly. This is useful when partners vary widely in identity maturity or when your administrators need a single tenant-level control plane.
The trade-off is lifecycle work. Invitation sprawl, duplicate guest objects, stale assignments and unclear ownership can turn a convenient guest model into unmanaged access. Require a business sponsor, an expiration date and a review owner before an invitation is issued.
A dedicated partner portal: constrain the use case
A portal can be appropriate when partners need one controlled workflow—such as submitting documents, checking order status or exchanging case information—rather than broad access to internal applications. It can reduce exposure by presenting only the functions designed for outsiders. Treat it as a separate application with its own authorization, logging, incident response and offboarding process; a portal is not automatically safer than federation or guests.
Compare the main approaches
| Decision area | Microsoft Entra External ID / B2B collaboration | AWS IAM Identity Center | Federated enterprise IdP pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity ownership | Partners can use their own identities; the external person is represented as a guest user. | Users can sign in through an external IdP using SAML 2.0. | The partner retains its home identity in a SAML-compatible IdP. |
| Provisioning and lifecycle | Supports entitlement-management policies, invitations, approvals and access reviews. | Supports SCIM provisioning from an external directory. | Use SCIM where available; otherwise define a controlled joiner, mover and leaver process. |
| Authorization scope | Assign named applications and groups; cross-tenant access settings control inbound and outbound collaboration. | Assign accounts, permission sets, roles and applications centrally across an AWS organization. | Rely on explicit trust, mapped attributes and application or role assignments. |
| Authentication controls | Conditional Access can target external-user categories and enforce authentication requirements; cross-tenant settings can trust external MFA and device claims. | Authentication is provided by the connected IdP; permission-set and account boundaries control what the user can do after sign-in. | The parties must agree on MFA strength, claims, assurance levels and who investigates failed authentication. |
| Best fit | Organizations operating Microsoft 365 or Entra ID and sharing Microsoft applications. | AWS organizations needing centralized multi-account access, permission sets and CLI access. | Ecosystems with many partner organizations and an established federation operating model. |
| Primary operational risks | Guest lifecycle, invitation sprawl, cross-tenant trust decisions and feature or licensing requirements. | Incorrect permission-set design, unsafe account mapping, emergency-access gaps and incomplete deprovisioning. | Inconsistent partner assurance, metadata or certificate rotation, attribute mapping and unclear MFA responsibility. |
How to securely give vendors access without creating unmanaged accounts
Use a repeatable intake and approval path rather than creating accounts on request. The following sequence works whether the final model is federation, guests or a portal.
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- Inventory the relationship. Record the partner organization, named sponsor, people or groups involved, applications, data classifications, required actions, expected start and end dates, and the partner’s IdP and MFA capabilities.
- Choose the identity path. Federate a partner that can operate a trustworthy SAML 2.0 connection. Use governed guest identities when the partner cannot federate or when your tenant must apply the central lifecycle policy. Use a dedicated portal when the workflow can be isolated from internal applications.
- Define authorization before authentication. List the exact applications, groups, AWS accounts, permission sets or roles required. Separate read, submit, approve, administer and export actions. Do not grant a broad network connection when an application-level assignment is sufficient.
- Set an owner and an end date. Every external entitlement needs a business sponsor, technical owner, expiration date and review cadence. Make the default assignment temporary; extend it only after the sponsor confirms the continuing need.
- Require strong authentication. Require MFA for all external users. For sensitive applications, use a phishing-resistant authentication strength, such as a FIDO2 security key. Document whether the partner’s MFA is trusted or whether your policy requires an additional challenge.
- Automate provisioning where possible. Use SCIM to create, update and disable users or groups when the partner’s directory supports it. Map only the attributes needed for authorization, and test what happens when a group membership is removed or a person is disabled upstream.
- Log and review the complete trail. Retain invitations, authentications, MFA outcomes, group or role changes, application assignments and revocations. Give reviewers enough context to recognize dormant or excessive access, not just a list of usernames.
- Test lifecycle and failure cases. In a controlled pilot, run a joiner, mover, leaver, failed-MFA and emergency-revocation scenario. Verify the expected result in every connected application, not merely in the directory.
Microsoft Entra External ID and B2B collaboration
Microsoft describes B2B collaboration as a model in which “A simple invitation and redemption process lets partners use their own credentials to access your company’s resources.” The external person is represented as a guest user, while the partner can authenticate through its own identity provider.
Why it fits Microsoft-centered estates
Organizations already using Microsoft 365 or Entra ID can manage partner access beside their existing users, groups and applications. Entitlement-management policies can package access, route requests for approval, set expiration and trigger periodic reviews. This gives a sponsor and reviewer a defined process instead of relying on informal invitation emails.
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Design cautions
- Decide who owns each guest object and how duplicates are detected.
- Set invitation and expiration rules before enabling broad self-service requests.
- Review cross-tenant trust deliberately; trusting a partner’s MFA or device claim is a policy decision, not a technical default.
- Confirm the licensing and feature tier required for entitlement management, access reviews and the Conditional Access controls you plan to use.
- Test what happens when a partner account is disabled, a guest is removed, or a cross-tenant relationship is withdrawn.
AWS IAM Identity Center
AWS IAM Identity Center connects to external identity providers through SAML 2.0 and SCIM. AWS documents that users can sign in with existing credentials from providers such as Okta or Microsoft Entra and then receive centrally assigned account, role and application access. AWS also recommends managing access in IAM Identity Center with identity federation instead of creating IAM users as a security best practice.
Why it fits AWS multi-account estates
IAM Identity Center centralizes access across an AWS organization. Permission sets describe the permissions a person receives in an account, while account assignments determine where those permissions apply. This makes it possible to give one partner read-only access to selected accounts, a deployment role in another account and no access elsewhere. The same model can support command-line access as well as the AWS console.
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Design cautions
- Map each partner group to the smallest useful set of accounts and permission sets; avoid one group with organization-wide administrator rights.
- Define who can approve a new account assignment and how quickly it is removed when a contract ends.
- Test SCIM disablement and group changes, including delays or failures between the partner directory and AWS.
- Provide a controlled emergency-access procedure that does not depend on the normal partner connection being available.
- Check that application assignments, console sessions and CLI credentials are all covered by logging and review.
Using a partner’s enterprise IdP
If a partner already operates Okta, Microsoft Entra, Ping, Google Workspace or another SAML-compatible IdP, retaining that home identity avoids a second password store. Establish an explicit trust, exchange and protect federation metadata, and agree on the claims used for authorization. SCIM is preferable when automated provisioning and disablement are available.
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Questions to settle in the trust agreement
- Which IdP is authoritative for employment and partner assignment?
- What MFA methods satisfy your policy, and who investigates a failed or bypassed challenge?
- Which attributes or groups are sent, and how are changes validated?
- Who rotates signing certificates and how much notice is provided?
- What is the maximum time between a person being disabled at the partner and access being removed from your applications?
- How are temporary workers, shared service identities and emergency accounts handled?
Federation scales well across many organizations, but every additional trust adds operational work. Keep a current inventory of partner metadata, certificate expiry dates, contacts, mapped attributes and review dates.
Build least privilege into the design
External access should be narrower than ordinary employee access unless there is a documented reason otherwise. Start with the action the partner must perform, then assign the smallest application, group, role or account boundary that permits it.
Separate duties and data paths
Keep viewing, editing, approving, exporting and administering as separate entitlements. A vendor that submits records should not automatically be able to approve them. If a partner needs access to more than one environment, assign each environment independently and log the transition between them.
Use time and context as controls
Expiration and periodic review address the fact that partner work changes. Conditional Access can add authentication requirements for external users and sensitive applications. Device claims may be considered only when their source and assurance are understood. Do not treat a successful sign-in as proof that the person still has a business need.
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Provisioning, reviews and offboarding
Joiner
Capture the sponsor, approved entitlement, start date and identity source. Provision through SCIM or an approved invitation flow, then confirm that the person can reach only the assigned application or account. Record the approval and the first successful authentication.
Mover
When responsibilities change, remove the old group or permission set before adding the new one where practical. Review inherited access, nested groups and cached sessions. A mover event is a common way for accumulated partner access to exceed the current assignment.
Leaver
Define partner departure as an explicit offboarding event. Disable or remove the upstream identity, revoke guest assignments, remove groups and permission sets, terminate active sessions where supported, and confirm that connected applications no longer authorize the person. Record who performed each action and when.
Periodic review
Give sponsors a named list of external users and their effective access, not merely the original request. Require a keep, reduce or remove decision with a reason. Escalate unanswered reviews and remove access when the review window expires rather than silently extending it.
Audit, monitoring and incident response
At minimum, make these events searchable by person, partner and application:
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- Invitation creation, redemption and expiration.
- Federated sign-ins and failed sign-ins.
- MFA challenges, failures and authentication-method changes.
- Guest, group, role, permission-set and application assignment changes.
- SCIM creates, updates, disables and synchronization errors.
- Access-review decisions, revocations and emergency actions.
Alert on unusual sign-in locations or times only when your organization can investigate them. Pair logs with a response playbook: identify the partner sponsor, disable the relevant assignment, preserve evidence, check for data access and notify the partner according to the contract.
Common failure modes and fixes
“We invited everyone and will clean it up later.”
Later cleanup rarely identifies the original business need. Require an entitlement, owner and expiration before invitation, and use an approval workflow for exceptions.
“The partner has MFA, so no further controls are needed.”
MFA quality varies, and it does not limit authorization. Require a defined authentication strength for sensitive applications, then scope the user to the minimum resources.
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“SCIM is enabled, so offboarding is automatic.”
Synchronization can fail, be delayed or remove a user from one group while leaving another assignment intact. Test disablement end to end and monitor synchronization errors.
“One role is simpler for every AWS account.”
Organization-wide permissions magnify a compromised account. Use separate account assignments and permission sets, and review them as a matrix of partner, account and action.
“Trust every device and MFA claim from the partner.”
Cross-tenant trust is a deliberate security boundary. Trust only claims whose issuer, assurance and revocation behavior you understand; otherwise require your own policy control.
A practical selection sequence
- Choose Entra External ID/B2B when Microsoft 365 or Entra ID is already the administrative center, partners need Microsoft application access, and tenant-level guest governance is important.
- Choose AWS IAM Identity Center when the primary problem is centralized access across AWS accounts, with permission sets, account boundaries and CLI access.
- Choose a federated enterprise IdP pattern when many partners already operate capable IdPs and your organization can run trust, metadata, attribute and certificate operations consistently.
- Choose a dedicated portal when the partner task can be isolated to a purpose-built workflow and exposing ordinary internal applications would create unnecessary risk.
- Reject any option that cannot demonstrate MFA enforcement, scoped authorization, reviewable logs, a tested leaver process and emergency revocation.
Run a small pilot with one representative partner before a broad rollout. Include a partner with strong federation capability and one that needs guest governance if both models will be used. Measure whether approvals, provisioning, sign-in policy, reviews and revocation produce the expected result in every target application. Validate feature and licensing requirements in your own tenant or cloud organization before committing to a design.
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