Session Abstract

For more than a decade, hybrid identity has followed a familiar pattern. We create and manage identities in Active Directory, synchronise them to the cloud directory—Azure AD, now Microsoft Entra ID—and then use Entra ID as the identity platform for Microsoft’s cloud services. The trade-off is that Active Directory remains the source of authority, so attributes synchronised to the cloud are effectively read-only in Entra ID. In 2026, Microsoft began changing that model in stages. First, synchronised identities could be edited in Entra ID. Later updates added the ability to write those changes back to Active Directory. In other words, Microsoft started to turn the established hybrid identity model of the past ten-plus years on its head. That gives us a genuinely modern identity platform and two possible paths. We can use this capability as a step towards retiring Active Directory altogether, or we can move day-to-day identity management into Entra ID while continuing to synchronise the objects back to Active Directory. Either way, the direction of management no longer has to be from on-premises to the cloud. And there is another important outcome: this can help us remove the last Exchange Server. Traditionally, when hybrid identities flow from Active Directory through Entra ID to Exchange Online Directory Services, we have needed either an Exchange Server or recipient management tools that write to Active Directory. That has been the supported way to manage Exchange Online attributes. If we cut over Exchange identity administration to Exchange Online, we can finally remove that last Exchange Server as well. In this session, I’ll show you what has changed, how the new model works and what it means for your hybrid identity and Exchange strategy.

Brian Reid

Brian Reid is a consultant, instructor and author specialising in Microsoft 365, Azure, Enterprise Mobility and Security and Microsoft Exchange Server as well the UK director of Microsoft Partner, NB Consult. With 30 years of experience in Microsoft and related technologies as well as many years of experience in helping customers to design and integrate Microsoft Exchange Server, Active Directory and Microsoft 365. Brian specialises in helping his clients implement, migrate to, and secure Microsoft 365. Brian is a global subject matter expert in Microsoft 365, Azure AD, Enterprise Mobility + Security and Defender.