How Microsoft is partnering with vendors to provide Zero Trust solutions

As workplaces around the world embrace hybrid work, Zero Trust provides the guiding strategy that keeps companies secure. However, no two organizations are alike. The Zero Trust journey will look unique for every organization that implements it. This means we must work together to create solutions that support the varied workplaces that exist today.

At Microsoft, our mission is to create an amazing Zero Trust platform that protects our customers no matter what solutions they use. We realize that our customers use products that work well for them, and so we strive to meet them where they are. Our solutions are from Microsoft, but not just for Microsoft.

To this end, we have established integrations with a wide variety of service providers and applications to support varied solutions and environments. For example, in addition to Microsoft apps, Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) supports third-party and on-premises apps which are incredibly impactful for our customers. Our recent analysis of the usage of the Azure AD app gallery showed that some of the fastest-growing applications are security tools like Citrix ADC, Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access, and Zscaler Private Access, which help employees securely access any application regardless of location. These integrations have been key for our customers as they secure remote access to applications and resources from anywhere.

Additionally, Azure Sentinel has added many built-in data connectors with leading security providers so our customers can easily deploy these solutions. Once Microsoft engineering teams validate these integrations, we feature these third-party solutions as part of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA), which now includes over 175 independent software vendor (ISV) members and 250 integrations. Our joint integrations offer security solutions that meet the full breadth of our customers’ needs.

We’re also approaching partners and providing integration guidance to take the lead in solving our customers’ problems. Our goal is to be transparent and helpful so that partners know how they can integrate with us to extend their own solutions. That’s why we recently published Zero Trust partner integration guidance, which covers a wide range of integration opportunities with Microsoft products that support Zero Trust for our customers. We recognize that security is a team sport. These integrations will help our customers maximize their Microsoft investments as well as the investments they’ve already made in existing solutions.

Microsoft is proud to recognize a diverse slate of global companies with cybersecurity solutions that enhance support for our customers as they move towards an end-to-end Zero Trust security posture. The infographic below illustrates the range of additive offers for each of the core pillars of Zero Trust, supporting integrations across a wide variety of products and partners.

These integrated solutions provide real value for our customers. For example, when all its employees transitioned to work from home, Johnson Controls’ VPN solution for remote employee access was overwhelmed. To address this, they deployed an integration between Azure AD and Zscaler Private Access to strengthen their Zero Trust posture and improve employee experience. Dimitar Zlatarev, a Senior Manager on the Identity and Access Management (IAM) Team at Johnson Controls, explained that deploying the integration was simple, with 50,000 employees onboarded by the third week. It improved their security posture and “When employees learned how convenient it was, they asked to be enabled.”

Learn more

We have resources for you to get started finding a solution and to see the kinds of integrations we support. Our security partners page includes links for finding security solution provides and ISVs, as well as how to become a partner. In addition, our Zero Trust integration guidance explains how ISVs can integrate with Microsoft to create Zero Trust solutions. With these integrations, we provide solutions for the broad diversity of our customers.

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us at @MSFTSecurity for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

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