Go On Prem AD or Azure AD/ADDS?

Question

Hi There! Just need to get your point of view about my problem:

We have an organization (1000+) with no Active Directory and we are also using Non-Microsoft email platform. We are planning now to improve our architecture and we are left with below options:

1. On-premise AD
2. Azure AD + Intune
3. ADDS

We don't have on prem web apps, file servers, etc. We only have on premise ERP system where selected users are connecting to.

Budget is not a problem and we are eyeing a cloud first approach here but hope to receive some comments from you guys. Thanks!

Answer 1

In that case it will come down to features, as in what do you require? If you have somehow managed without Active Directory up to now then I would not go down this route unless you need to. It's just adding additional infrastructure to manage and maintain. I would be aiming to use Azure AD + Intune ideally as it's a truly cloud native solution.

Here's an AD vs AAD comparison:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/fundamentals/active-directory-compare-azure-ad-to-ad

Azure AD Domain Services then is a managed domain service, it has similarities with Active Directory but a lot less features, by the sounds of it you don't require this right now but it might be worth considering depending on what your future growth plans are.

Here is a comparison of AD vs AADDS features
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory-domain-services/compare-identity-solutions