Identity Manager: Start Planning Replacement Options Now

• Microsoft Identity Manager is set for retirement in 2029, and no direct replacement is expected.
• MIM lets organizations deeply integrate third-party systems and devices into Active Directory; replacing these integrations is complex.
• Existing customers can keep using MIM for now, but the danger of running unpatched means they should plan to retire the software before support ends.
• Microsoft alternatives to MIM lack its depth of features, and customers who require those MIM capabilities will need to find third-party alternatives.

Microsoft Identity Manager (MIM) 2016 is on-premises software that maintains and synchronizes user identity data, such as group memberships, across multiple applications and OS services. Services with which MIM integrates include Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), third-party directories, and HR systems, as well as credential management including certificates and multifactor authentication (MFA). First shipped in the second half of 2015, MIM will leave Extended support in 2029. Customers should not anticipate any additional extension of the support life cycle and instead plan to gradually retire the product. Microsoft provides limited replacements, as do some third parties, but none offers an exact match for MIM capabilities.