Enterprise CIAM implementation and strategy from Schutz IT — branded customer sign-up, social login, MFA and passwordless authentication, delivered globally with deep Microsoft Azure AD B2C and Entra External ID expertise.
Selecting the right CIAM provider is a strategic decision, not just a platform preference. The CIAM providers and CIAM tools worth evaluating differ on five things: scale at your growth trajectory; security, including MFA, passwordless and risk-based access; compliance and data residency; standards support for OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SAML 2.0 and SCIM; and ecosystem fit with your existing stack. Microsoft Azure AD B2C and Entra External ID are strong choices for organisations already using Microsoft 365, Dynamics, Power Platform or Azure. Okta Customer Identity and Auth0 are alternatives for multi-cloud environments or specific developer-experience requirements. Schutz IT's deepest implementation experience is in the Microsoft ecosystem, while our CIAM strategy work starts before any vendor is chosen.
A CIAM implementation built without a strategy phase is the most common way these projects run over budget. Before configuration begins, a CIAM strategy defines your identity data model, compliance and data-residency requirements, migration approach, and which sign-up, social login, progressive profiling and self-service journeys require custom logic. Answering these questions first turns platform configuration into an identity strategy that can support your next three years of growth.
Azure AD B2C (Azure Active Directory B2C) is Microsoft's cloud-based customer identity and access management (CIAM) service. It authenticates and manages the external users of your applications — customers, partners, citizens and contractors — with username/password, social logins (Google, Facebook, Apple, LinkedIn), enterprise federation (SAML, OIDC) and multi-factor authentication, all on a dedicated B2C tenant that scales to hundreds of millions of users. Alongside Azure AD B2C, Microsoft now offers Microsoft Entra External ID as the next-generation Azure CIAM platform. Schutz IT implements both — and migrates customers between them — so you get sign-up, sign-in, MFA, Conditional Access and identity governance without building an identity stack yourself.
If you're evaluating Azure CIAM today, the choice is between the mature Azure AD B2C and the newer Entra External ID. Here's how they compare:
| Capability | Azure AD B2C | Entra External ID |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Generally available, maintenance mode | Generally available, actively invested |
| User journey customisation | Custom policies (XML, steep learning curve) | User flows + native extensions |
| Conditional Access | Limited (basic risk policies) | Full Conditional Access engine |
| Continuous access evaluation | Not supported | Supported |
| Tenant model | Separate B2C tenant | Integrated with workforce Entra tenant |
| Best fit | Existing B2C deployments, complex legacy flows | New builds, B2B + B2C, regulated workloads |
Pairing Azure CIAM with a properly governed Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) gives you end-to-end identity assurance — from the customer login flow down to the certificates that secure your APIs and devices. For deeper context, see our briefing on CIAM vs IAM.
At Schutz IT, we empower organizations to deliver secure, scalable, and user-friendly digital experiences through modern CIAM solutions. Leveraging Microsoft Azure AD B2C and the next-generation Microsoft Entra External ID, we help businesses manage customer identities while ensuring strong security and seamless access.
Our CIAM services enable organizations to provide:
As Microsoft transitions to Entra External ID, Schutz IT is ahead of the curve, helping clients adopt this powerful new platform that enhances flexibility, governance, and security for external users.
Our CIAM solution integrates Microsoft Entra External ID to provide a secure and flexible login journey for your external users. The login flow supports username/password, social logins (Google, Facebook, etc.), and multi-factor authentication (MFA), all governed by adaptive access policies.
With this streamlined flow, users are authenticated through Microsoft's identity platform and granted access to your applications via secure tokens—ensuring both a frictionless experience and robust protection.
Our CIAM solution seamlessly integrates with your enterprise applications through Microsoft Azure AD B2C and Entra External ID, providing:
We design fully customized login experiences tailored to your brand using Azure AD B2C and Entra External ID. From logos and colors to background images and language localization, every aspect of the login screen can be adapted to match your organization's identity.
This approach enhances trust and recognition and ensures a consistent experience across all digital touchpoints—mobile apps, websites, and portals.
Passwordless authentication methods are now a baseline expectation for enterprise customers concerned about password resets and credential-stuffing attacks. Passkeys (WebAuthn/FIDO2), magic links and biometric sign-in can work alongside MFA and risk-based access in Azure AD B2C and Microsoft Entra External ID. Schutz IT designs the passwordless rollout within the same branded login experience, giving returning customers faster sign-in without reducing security.
Microsoft Azure AD B2C provides a robust cloud-based CIAM solution that handles millions of identities and transactions. The architecture supports custom policies, RESTful API integrations, and identity verification workflows, all while maintaining high security standards and compliance with regulations like GDPR and CCPA.
As Microsoft's next-generation CIAM solution, Entra External ID builds upon Azure AD B2C with enhanced features like conditional access policies, risk-based authentication, and simplified lifecycle management. It provides seamless integration with Microsoft's security ecosystem and advanced analytics for behavioral insights.
Our implementation of Azure CIAM solutions provides enterprises with a scalable, secure, and user-friendly identity management system that can be customized to meet specific business requirements. Whether you're looking to implement Microsoft AD B2C or make the transition to Microsoft Entra External ID, our team provides end-to-end support for your CIAM journey.
Azure AD B2C (Azure Active Directory B2C) is Microsoft's cloud-based customer identity and access management (CIAM) service. It authenticates customers, partners and citizens with username/password, social logins (Google, Facebook, Apple, LinkedIn), enterprise federation (SAML, OIDC) and multi-factor authentication, all on a dedicated B2C tenant that scales to hundreds of millions of users. Azure AD B2C is generally available and remains fully supported by Microsoft.
Azure AD B2C is priced per monthly active user (MAU). The first 50,000 MAUs are free in Premium P1, after which you pay a per-MAU price plus a small per-authentication charge for MFA via SMS or voice. Pricing depends on region and edition (P1 vs P2 for advanced risk and identity protection). Schutz IT can model your projected Azure AD B2C bill against your active customer base.
Azure AD B2C custom policies (Identity Experience Framework, or IEF) are XML-based definitions for advanced sign-up, sign-in and profile-edit journeys beyond the built-in user flows. They support REST API calls to your own systems, claims transformation, age gating, progressive profiling and complex federation. Custom policies are powerful but have a steep learning curve — Schutz IT designs and maintains them for clients who need flows that user flows alone cannot deliver.
Microsoft Entra External ID is the next-generation evolution of Azure AD B2C. B2C uses a separate tenant and XML custom policies; Entra External ID lives inside your workforce Entra tenant, replaces XML with extensible user flows, and adds the full Conditional Access engine plus continuous access evaluation. New CIAM builds should usually default to Entra External ID. Existing Azure AD B2C tenants remain fully supported — there is no forced migration deadline.
An Azure AD B2C to Entra External ID migration runs in four phases: (1) inventory existing user flows, custom policies, identity providers and connected applications; (2) rebuild user journeys as Entra External ID user flows or extensions; (3) bulk-migrate user accounts (with credential re-hashing or just-in-time migration via REST APIs); (4) cut applications over one at a time using parallel issuers. Schutz IT delivers this so you keep both tenants live during the transition with no customer downtime.
Azure AD B2C is usually the lowest-friction CIAM choice for organisations already standardised on Microsoft 365, Azure, Dynamics or the Power Platform — identities, billing and governance live in the same tenancy and per-MAU pricing is competitive at scale. Okta Customer Identity and Auth0 are strong alternatives when your stack is multi-cloud or when you need specific developer-experience features. Choose based on existing platform investments, regulatory requirements and the integrations on your roadmap.
Schutz IT provides end-to-end Azure AD B2C implementation services — requirements analysis, B2C tenant setup, identity provider federation, branded user flows, custom policies, MFA and Conditional Access policy design, API and application integration, migration, security hardening, testing, deployment and ongoing managed support.
Weigh scale, security including MFA and passwordless access, compliance and data residency, standards support for OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML and SCIM, and ecosystem fit against your existing stack. Microsoft platforms suit Microsoft-centric organisations, while other CIAM tools may suit multi-cloud stacks.
Okta Customer Identity is a strong CIAM platform, particularly for organisations running a multi-cloud stack or wanting specific developer-experience features. Schutz IT’s deepest implementation experience is in Azure AD B2C and Entra External ID; our CIAM strategy work can help evaluate which platform best fits your existing investments.
A CIAM strategy defines your identity data model, compliance requirements, migration approach and which user journeys need custom logic before any platform is configured. Skipping this step is a common reason CIAM implementations run over budget or need substantial rebuilding after launch.
Schutz IT implements passkeys using WebAuthn and FIDO2, magic links and biometric sign-in within Azure AD B2C or Entra External ID, alongside MFA and conditional access policies.