AAD Group-Based License Management

A preview of Azure Active Directory (AAD) group-based licensing can be used to assign user subscription licenses to end users for hosted services such as Office 365, without needing to assign them individually. This functionality could make assigning and auditing licenses of Microsoft hosted services easier. The service preview has limitations that might hinder adoption, although they may be resolved by general availability.

Assigning Licenses to Users

Commercial Microsoft hosted services generally require that each user of the service be assigned a user subscription license (User SL) that grants them access to the hosted services when they sign in with their AAD credentials. Assigning licenses has historically been done through the management portal for each service (Office 365, Intune, etc.) or through PowerShell. However, as many aspects of user and license management realign around AAD, license management of Microsoft hosted services appears to be centralizing around the new Azure portal, where AAD management will reside in the future.