The Multi-Cloud Reality
Most organizations don’t choose one cloud. They inherit multiple:
- AWS as primary for core workloads, with Azure for specific services (Active Directory, O365-integrated apps, .NET workloads).
- Azure as primary for Microsoft-native stacks, with AWS for specific capabilities (data, ML, managed services).
- Both meaningfully — different business units, different products, different acquisitions bringing different cloud platforms.
When a team runs JIT access on AWS and then needs the same governance on Azure, the question is: do they need a separate tool? A separate workflow? A separate audit trail?
The answer should be no. One engine, one workflow, one audit trail — regardless of which cloud the access targets.
Azure JIT: Same Model, Different Target
Cloudanix JIT access supports AWS, Azure, and GCP as target clouds with one unified engine. For Azure specifically:
What It Governs
- Azure RBAC role assignments: Time-bound assignment of Azure roles (Reader, Contributor, custom roles) to users on specific subscriptions or resource groups.
- Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) roles: Time-bound assignment of directory-level roles.
- Azure resource access: Scoped to specific subscriptions, resource groups, or individual resources.
How It Works
The lifecycle is identical to AWS JIT:
- Engineer requests access via Slack, Teams, or Console — selecting the Azure subscription, role, scope, and duration.
- Approval routes per policy — auto-approve for low-risk, human approval for sensitive.
- Cloudanix grants the role assignment in Azure for the approved duration (via Microsoft Entra ID / Azure RBAC API).
- Engineer uses Azure with the granted role — same Azure portal, same CLI, same VS Code extensions.
- Access auto-revokes when the time window expires. The role assignment is removed.
- Full audit trail — request, approval, grant, actions, revocation in one timeline.
What the Developer Sees
From the developer’s perspective, requesting Azure access is indistinguishable from requesting AWS access:
- Same Slack command (different target: Azure subscription instead of AWS account).
- Same approval notification pattern.
- Same “access granted” notification.
- Same auto-revocation at expiry.
The only difference is where they go after getting access: Azure portal / az CLI instead of AWS console / aws CLI.
Why Unified Multi-Cloud JIT Matters
Consistent Governance Model
Without unified JIT, multi-cloud teams build separate access workflows per cloud:
| Aspect | Separate Per-Cloud | Unified JIT |
|---|---|---|
| Request mechanism | AWS: Slack bot A, Azure: Portal B | One Slack command, select cloud |
| Approval flow | Different approvers, different routing | Same approval engine, configurable per cloud |
| Duration policies | Configured separately | Configured in one policy set |
| Audit trail | Two systems, two formats | One timeline, cross-cloud |
| Admin training | Learn two tools | Learn one tool |
| Compliance evidence | Assemble from two sources | Export from one source |
Cross-Cloud Identity Visibility
When an engineer has access to both AWS (via IAM Identity Center) and Azure (via Entra ID), unified JIT provides:
- One view of all active access across both clouds.
- One audit query for “what did this user access this week?” — returns both AWS and Azure sessions.
- One policy system governing duration caps, approval requirements, and auto-approval rules across both environments.
For security teams managing access governance, this eliminates the “two dashboards, two evidence packages, two policy configurations” overhead of running separate tools.
Compliance Simplification
SOC 2 auditors asking for “access governance evidence” want to see:
- How access is requested, approved, granted, and revoked.
- That this applies consistently across all cloud environments.
- That there are no gaps (one cloud governed, another ungoverned).
With unified JIT, the evidence package covers both AWS and Azure in one export. The auditor sees one consistent governance model, not two separate implementations with potentially different rigor levels.
Azure-Specific Considerations
Entra ID Integration
Cloudanix integrates with Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) as both:
- Identity source: Users and groups from Entra ID feed into JIT policies.
- Access target: Azure RBAC role assignments are managed through Entra ID APIs.
For organizations using Entra ID as their primary identity provider (common in Microsoft-centric environments), the integration is native: the same identity that authenticates into Azure is the identity that requests and receives JIT access.
Subscription and Resource Group Scoping
Azure JIT access can be scoped at multiple levels:
- Management Group: Role assignment across all subscriptions in a management group.
- Subscription: Role assignment on a specific Azure subscription.
- Resource Group: Role assignment scoped to a specific resource group within a subscription.
- Individual Resource: (Where supported) Role assignment on a specific resource.
This granularity means:
- An engineer can request “Contributor on the staging resource group” without getting Contributor on the entire subscription.
- Production resource groups can require multi-level approval while development resource groups auto-approve.
- Access is as narrow as the engineer’s actual need.
Azure PIM vs. Cloudanix JIT
Organizations using Azure Privileged Identity Management (PIM) may ask: “We already have PIM for eligible role assignments. How is this different?”
Azure PIM:
- Native to Azure / Entra ID.
- Manages eligible vs. active role assignments within Azure.
- Approval workflows within Azure portal.
- Limited to Azure resources.
Cloudanix JIT:
- Multi-cloud: same engine governs AWS, Azure, and GCP.
- Approval via Slack/Teams (not Azure portal).
- Unified audit trail across all clouds.
- Covers additional surfaces: databases, Kubernetes, CI/CD, SaaS.
- Policy configuration covers cross-cloud scenarios (same engineer, different clouds, one governance model).
For Azure-only organizations, PIM may be sufficient. For multi-cloud organizations (AWS + Azure, or all three clouds), Cloudanix JIT provides the unified layer that PIM can’t — because PIM only sees Azure.
The Multi-Cloud Pattern: One Policy Engine, All Clouds
Policy Configuration Example
Engineering Group:
AWS (Primary):
├─ Development Account: Developers_Editor, auto-approve, 4h
├─ Production Account: Developers_Editor, approval required, 2h
└─ Production Account: Admin, multi-level approval, 1h
Azure (Secondary):
├─ Dev Subscription: Contributor (dev-rg), auto-approve, 4h
├─ Staging Subscription: Reader, auto-approve, 4h
└─ Prod Subscription: Contributor, approval required, 2hOne policy configuration. One approval routing logic. One audit trail. Two clouds.
When Azure Usage Is Secondary
Many organizations start with AWS as primary and Azure as a smaller (but growing) footprint — maybe handling 10% of requests initially:
- Azure SSO is being set up.
- Some workloads are moving to Azure.
- The team wants access governance ready before Azure usage scales.
Cloudanix JIT supports this pattern: configure Azure JIT with minimal policies now, expand as the Azure footprint grows. The same platform scales from “a few Azure requests per week” to “Azure is 50% of our workload” without architectural changes.
When Azure Is Deprioritized
Conversely, some organizations are actively moving away from Azure (consolidating to AWS, for example):
- Azure still serves some requests (10–20%) during migration.
- Engineers still need access during the transition period.
- Governance shouldn’t lapse just because the cloud is being deprecated.
Cloudanix JIT governs Azure access during the wind-down period with the same rigor as during active use. When Azure accounts are fully decommissioned, remove them from JIT configuration. No residual governance gaps during transition.
Getting Started with Azure JIT
For teams already running Cloudanix JIT on AWS:
- Connect Azure — configure Cloudanix with Entra ID integration (App Registration, API permissions for directory and RBAC management).
- Sync identity — import users and groups from Entra ID (or verify they match existing IdP groups).
- Configure policies — map groups to Azure subscriptions/resource groups with appropriate roles.
- Set approval routing — same approvers can cover both AWS and Azure, or separate approvers for each cloud.
- Test — request Azure access via Slack, verify role appears in Azure portal, verify revocation.
For teams starting fresh (Azure only or Azure + AWS simultaneously):
- Both clouds can be onboarded in the same session.
- Policies can be configured for both simultaneously.
- Engineers learn one workflow that works for both.
Ready to Extend JIT to Azure?
If you’re running JIT on AWS and need the same governance model on Azure — or you’re operating both clouds and want one unified access control plane — Cloudanix JIT supports AWS, Azure, and GCP with the same request workflow, approval engine, and audit trail. One tool, all clouds.
Learn more about multi-cloud JIT or book a demo to see Azure JIT alongside your existing AWS deployment.
