5 reasons why IT consultants love our Microsoft Entra Connect Masterclass

There’s so much more to Azure AD Connect (now Microsoft Entra Connect) than meets the eye or is covered in Microsoft documentation, and the Azure AD Connect Masterclass (now Microsoft Entra Connect Masterclass) offers something new and unexpected at every turn. Chris, IT Consultant, Australia

Written by an expert team including Andreas Kjellman (formerly Program Manager for Azure AD Connect at Microsoft), our Microsoft Entra Connect Masterclass is the only comprehensive, structured training course for this complex and powerful technology. And it’s particularly popular with IT consultants. Why?

You will learn about:
1. All the options that lie beyond the Microsoft Entra Connect wizard
2. The pros and cons of all supported authentication methods
3. How to document implementations using Microsoft and third-party tools
4. How to streamline group management
5. How to maintain security and compliance across all devices, and implement hybrid Microsoft Entra ID join

In the race to cloud, more and more businesses are choosing to implement Microsoft Entra Connect – and your clients will expect you to know everything about it!

There’s plenty of documentation on the web, but it’s dispersed, often out of date, and you can’t be certain that you have unearthed all the important things. And, there’s no substitute for trying out different scenarios in a lab environment, so that you can be confident you are giving the best possible advice to your clients about implementation or ongoing support.

How will our highly practical Microsoft Entra Connect Masterclass (which includes 22 lab exercises) enable you to work smarter and faster for your clients?

1. Discover all the options that lie beyond the Microsoft Entra Connect wizard

You may already have experience of implementing Microsoft Entra Connect, but do you know all the possibilities that lie beyond the wizard installation? Being aware of, and understanding, all available options is vital when advising on, refining or maintaining client implementations.

Our Microsoft Entra Connect Masterclass covers all scenarios – from the simple single forest/single domain to more complex multiple forest/multiple domain environments – and we discuss all the options, even the undocumented ones.

This means that you can be sure that you make the right design choices for your clients. And if your client has already installed Microsoft Entra Connect, knowing about all scenarios and options enables you to assess if choices made at the outset are now out of date and, if so, to put them right.

Although I have spent some time working with Azure AD Connect (now Microsoft Entra Connect) in certain scenarios, I found it extremely useful to look at and find out about other features in Azure AD Connect (Microsoft Entra Connect) that I haven’t used before. The Masterclass included lots of useful extra info as well, even in the areas that I thought I already knew! Andy, Senior Consultant, UK

2. Learn the pros and cons of all supported authentication methods

You may have clients with policies that prevent any kind of password in the cloud, others who embrace cloud authentication, and some who want the best of both worlds – and no matter what they decide, when embracing the cloud, identity security will be scrutinized even more.

In our Microsoft Entra Connect Masterclass, we look at the pros and cons of passwords in the cloud, passwords on-premises, and passwords in both and we discuss the correct way to implement it, and the security best practices so that you can confidently reassure your clients that secure channels remain secure!

3. Learn how to document implementations

Whether you have been asked to implement or maintain Microsoft Entra Connect, producing effective documentation is essential for both you and your clients. If the configuration ever needs to be changed, having the full picture of how and why it has been configured a certain way, can save you and your clients, time and money later on.

So, during the training we compare and contrast Microsoft and third-party tools that are available to document an Microsoft Entra Connect implementation.

4. Learn how to streamline group management

When you design your client’s Microsoft Entra Connect implementation, or assess an existing implementation, you’ll also need to evaluate which groups they need on-premises and in the cloud.

In our Microsoft Entra Connect Masterclass, we discuss different group types and scope; which ones are available in the cloud and on-premises; and how groups and their memberships correspond when synchronized.

We cover how to maintain group membership, and which system should be authoritative for group membership. With a good understanding of groups and what is synchronized to where and as what, you can ensure that you have the right groups (and membership) in the correct places, thereby maintaining security and preventing divergence in your client implementations.

5. Learn how to maintain security and compliance across all devices, and implement hybrid Microsoft Entra ID join

You may also want to discuss the various options for device security with your clients, but this can be complicated too. Why? Because devices can be managed on-premises with group policy or SSCM, and they can be managed in the cloud by, for example, Intune.

In our Microsoft Entra Connect Masterclass, we explore the different options for managing devices both in the cloud and on-premises.

We also show you how hybrid Microsoft Entra ID join enables you to make the make the most of on-premises and cloud technologies, and cover: how it works and who it’ll work for; what you actually have to do to implement it; which certificates you need and where; what group policies you need and where; and how to properly install it on a variety of operating systems.

You’ll leave the class knowing that you can explain to clients which of their devices can be managed and what the benefits are, and what you need to do to implement hybrid Microsoft Entra ID join.

The Masterclass offers you hands-on experience

There’s no substitute for hands-on experience, and our highly practical Masterclass – which includes 22 lab exercises – offers you the chance to try things out for yourself in a real Azure environment, with a real verified domain name, multiple on-premises forests and a test-bed client.

Our instructor Paul Captainino, an experienced identity consultant who regularly teaches our Microsoft Entra Connect Masterclass, says:

A consultant needs to have broad and in-depth knowledge and experience before they optimize Microsoft Entra Connect in a client’s live environment. If they don’t, it will be impossible to make appropriate choices.

Ian, a Senior Consultant in the UK, told us about his experience of taking our Azure AD Connect (now Microsoft Entra Connect) training:

In the past I’ve used Azure AD Connect to do really basic installations for customers, but going on the Masterclass has shown me the possibilities of doing larger scale implementations. There’s lots of information here that will save you time. It’s shown me some really exciting concepts.

There were some real ‘light-bulb moments’ for me on the course. One of the biggest eye-openers was how you deploy your infrastructure. Before I went on the Masterclass, I had a concept in my mind of how we would do it, but that’s been turned on its head by this Azure AD Connect course!

Read what other students say about the Microsoft Entra Connect Masterclass.

Microsoft Entra Connect Masterclass – live via Teams and private training courses

• Our 3-day live instructor-led training course runs live viaTeams.
• Got a team to train? We can run a private course for you wherever you are in the world. Our instructor will be all yours live via Teams.

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