Purpose
Organizations must collaborate with partners, suppliers, and vendors without creating new
local accounts for them.
Microsoft Entra External Identities makes this possible securely.
Microsoft Entra External Identities
Allows external users to “bring their own identity” from another organization or social
provider.
Two Main B2B Options
Type Description Representation in Directory
B2B
Collaboration External users sign in using their own
credentials to access your apps
(Teams, SharePoint, SaaS). Shown as guest users in your
Entra directory.
Type Description Representation in Directory
B2B Direct
Connect Mutual trust between Entra tenants.
Enables seamless collaboration like
Teams Shared Channels . External users aren’t stored as
guests but are visible in shared
spaces.
Example:
Your company (contoso.com) invites a supplier from fabrikam.com to collaborate in Teams.
The supplier uses their own @fabrikam.com credentials to access your shared channel
without needing a new Contoso account.
Microsoft Entra Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
For public-facing apps where customers log in using social or local accounts .
Key Features
Supports millions of users and billions of authentications.
Integrates with Google, Facebook, Microsoft, or local credentials.
Built for scalability and defense against attacks (DoS, brute force).
OƯers custom branding and user experience for customer sign-in flows.
Example:
An online retailer uses Entra B2C for its shopping portal. Customers can log in using
Facebook or Gmail, and Entra B2C handles authentication, security, and password
recovery.
DiƯerence Between Entra ID and Entra B2C
Feature Entra ID Entra B2C
Audience Employees and partners Customers and consumers
Purpose Workforce identity management Customer identity and access
Directory Type Corporate tenant Isolated customer tenant
Custom Branding Limited Fully customizable UI
Account Source Corporate domain or federated Social, enterprise, or local accounts
In Summary
B2B simplifies partner collaboration securely.
B2C empowers customer sign-in experiences at global scale.
Both rely on the Microsoft Entra platform to extend Zero Trust and centralized
identity management beyond your organization’s boundaries.