The reality is simple: Active Directory forms the backbone of IT in any enterprise running on Windows, and managing such a crucial piece of technology requires a lot of manpower and time. With cloud applications taking center stage, it is equally important to manage them as efficiently and securely as your AD.
ManageEngine AD360 and NetIQ Directory and Resource Administrator (DRA) are two software solutions that aim to reduce the cost and time associated with managing users’ identities and accesses.
AD360 is an integrated solution that is easy to deploy and use. It provides a wide range of features to create, manage, and sync identities in the AD and the cloud, and secure access to network resources. It can also be used to manage non-Microsoft applications such as G Suite.
NetIQ DRA controls and manages Active Directory, Exchange, and Office 365 administration. It provides key features to properly control the security and administrative management of Microsoft directory and messaging administration.
| AD360 | NetIQ DRA | |
|---|---|---|
| Office 365 and G Suite support | ManageEngine AD360 support all critical services of Office 365 for administration including Exchange Online, Skype for Business Online, Azure AD, OneDrive for Business, Power BI, and Microsoft Teams. AD360 also supports G Suite management and reporting. | NetIQ DRA supports only Exchange Online and Skype for Business Online services of Office 365. No support for G Suite either. |
| Management | ManageEngine AD360 supports bulk user provisioning in Active Directory and crossplatform provisioning that lets you provision users in AD, Office 365, Exchange Servers, G Suite, and others in one single click. You can also modify and deprovision users in bulk using a CSV file or custom templates. | NetIQ DRA on the other hand doesn’t have these powerful management capabilities. Even for user provisioning, you can only create on user account at a time and only allocate an Exchange mailbox. |
| Reporting | With over 300+ ‘out-of-the-box’ reports, AD360 has quite an arsenal of reports. You can also create your own custom reports with filters based on your requirements. | NetIQ DRA has about 60+ built-in reports. Refer the comparison table for details. |
| Auditing | AD360 has a powerful auditing component for Active Directory, Windows File Servers, Office 365, and Microsoft Exchange Servers. It has you covered when it comes to IT regulatory laws like SOX, HIPAA, PCI, FISMA, etc., with built-in compliance specific reports and audit reports (300+ reports). | NetIQ DRA has very limited auditing capability. You need other products from NetIQ for compliance purposes. Refer the comparison table for details. |
| Alerting | AD360 supports real-time alerts via email and SMS for various events such as group membership changes, password changes, admin activities, privilege changes, etc. | NetIQ DRA doesn’t have alerting capabilities. |
| Mobile Apps | AD360 has dedicated apps for Android & iPhone for ‘on the go’ Active Directory management and self-service password management. | NetIQ DRA doesn’t have a mobile app. |
| Multi-platform Password Management | AD360 supports self-service password reset and synchronization for Google Apps, Salesforce, Office 365, Zoho, IBM AS400, HP UX, Oracle Database and Oracle E-Business Suite with support for more applications and systems being added regularly. | NetIQ DRA supports self-service password reset only and that too only after integration with its SSPR product. There is no info on support for password sync. |
| Single Sign-On for Cloud Apps | AD360 offers SSO for 80+ cloud apps with Active Directory identities. Users are automatically logged in to a large number of cloud applications using their Windows credentials. | NetIQ DRA doesn’t support SSO. It is available as a separate product. |
| Backup and Restoration | AD360 has a comprehensive disaster recovery feature set for Active Directory. It can backup and restore any AD object at attribute level. It can even backup and restore entire DCs. | NetIQ DRA on the other hand has only AD Recycle Bin feature to restore deleted objects. |
| Easier Deployment | AD360 can be installed on a DC, member server, or even a workstation. You can install all the components of AD360, and be up and running in a matter of minutes. | NetIQ DRA on the other hand requires a lot of prerequisites (separate database for reporting, IIS server, etc.) and involves a steep learning curve. |
| Affordable ‘Component-based’ Pricing Model | AD360 gives you complete freedom to choose the components you need and pay only for what you choose. As such, AD360 starts at $595 for unlimited users (AD Management component alone). | NetIQ DRA official pricing is not readily available. Though many third-party sources point towards a pricing of 5x times of AD360. |
To know more about the differences between ManageEngine AD360 and NetIQ DRA, please refer the following features comparison table. Or, just click on the categories given below based on your requirement:
| Features | Description | ManageEngine AD360 Try now |
NetIQ DRA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Management | |||
| Bulk user provisioning | Allows creation of user accounts in AD, Office 365, G Suite, Exchange, and more simultaneously with a single click. | ||
| User management | Support for user account management tasks including enable, disable, password reset, and more. |
(20+tasks) |
(11 tasks; bulk actions may not be supported) |
| Computer management | Support for computer management tasks including enable, disable, delete, and more actions. |
(9 tasks) |
(bulk actions may not be supported) |
| Contact management | Support for creating, deleting, and moving contact objects. |
(bulk actions may not be supported) |
|
| OU management | Support for creating, moving, and deleting OUs. |
(bulk actions may not be supported) |
|
| Delegation, Automation, and Workflow | |||
| Active Directory delegation | Delegate specific AD tasks to help desk personnel or HR staff without explicitly altering their permissions in AD. | ||
| Active Directory workflow | Control the actions of help desk staff by defining workflow and approval rules. | ||
| Active Directory automation /td> | Automate routine AD management tasks. | ||
| Single Sign-On | |||
| SSO for cloud apps | Provides secure, one-click access to cloud applications using Active Directory identities. |
(available in a separate product) |
|
| Password Synchronization | |||
| Real-time password synchronization | Synchronizes passwords across Active Directory, Office 365, G Suite, Salesforce, IBM iSeries, and more. | ||
| Reporting | |||
| Active Directory objects reports | Reports on AD users, computers, groups, OUs, and GPOs. |
(150+ reports) |
Info N/A. |
| Active Directory password reports | Reports on password status, security permissions, password expiration, invalid logon attempts, and password changes. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Management from reports | Reset passwords directly from password reports, enable users from user reports, and more. | ||
| Auditing | |||
| WHO, WHEN, WHERE and WHAT of AD changes | Reports on who changed what, when and where in Active Directory. | ||
| Logon/logoff audit reports | Exact time of user workstation logon & logoff time along with the logon duration. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Compliance ready reports | Pre-defined reports for SOX, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, GLBA and FISMA compliance. | ||
| Before and after values of a change | Reports on before/after attribute values of an object. |
Info N/A. |
|
| GPO audit reports | Report on changes to group policy objects. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Custom reports | Create your own custom reports or put up a request for one based on your requirements. |
Info N/A. |
|
| History reports | Get reports on Active Directory from a particular period of time in the past. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Report customization | Export, sort, and modify report columns as per your convenience. | ||
| Scheduling of reports | Schedule Active Directory reports for automated delivery. | ||
| User, computer, group, OU Management Audit | Auditing of all important Active Directory objects. | ||
| Backup and Restoration | |||
| AD backup and restore | Back up user, group, GPO, OU, computer, contacts, etc., and restore them. | ||
| AD rollback | Roll back the entire AD, particular OUs or even individual objects to a previous point in time. | ||
| AD recycle bin | Restore deleted AD objects and all attributes. | ||
| Change management and version management | Maintains multiple versions of backup for each object and can reverse even the smallest of undesired attribute value changes. | ||
| Bare-metal backup and restore | Back up all parts of your domain controllers including the system state, data in system partitions, and AD database. | ||
| VMware backup and restore | Backup all the VMware virtual machines and restore them to any of their backup versions. | ||
| Other features | |||
| Custom dashboard | A customizable dashboard that provides a bird's eye view of all critical information regarding AD, Office 365, Exchange and more. | ||
| Embed dasbhoard | Embed the entier dashboard or part of it in any webpage or your business web console of your choice. | ||
| Features | Description | ManageEngine AD360 Try now |
NetIQ DRA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Management | |||
| NTFS permissions Management | Manage NTFS permissions for users in bulk. | ||
| Windows Share permissions management | Control user access and activity on shares. | ||
| Auditing | |||
| File integrity monitoring | Monitor changes to the Windows system, configuration, program files, file attributes and folder. | ||
| Access permission changes | Reports on folder and file permission changes (DACL and SACL). | ||
| Failover clusters | Audit and monitor the Windows File Server Failover cluster. | ||
| Supported file servers | List of file servers supported for auditing. |
Windows Servers, NetApp Filers, EMC |
|
| Additional Auditing Capabilities (applies to both AD and File Server Auditing) | |||
| Web browser access | Accessibility from anywhere in the domain using a web-browser. | ||
| Custom alerts | Schedule custom alerts of important events. | ||
| Alert profile | Schedule alerts based on a certain threshold level or business hours. | ||
| Archival | Sustain compliance by archiving and storing audit data. | ||
| Account lockout analyzer | Analyze reasons behind domain account lockout. | ||
| SIEM integration | Integrate raw logs from into your onpremises Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems. | ||
| Features | Description | ManageEngine AD360 Try now |
NetIQ DRA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting | |||
| Mailboxes reports | Reports on mailbox size, account status, content, permission, retention policies, storage information, and more. |
(40+ reports) |
Info N/A |
| OWA & ActiveSync reports | Provides valuable insights on OWA & ActiveSync usage and configuration details |
(15+ reports) |
Info N/A. |
| Email traffic reports | Analyze Exchange Traffic by tracking the traffic to each mailbox. |
(50+ reports) |
Info N/A. |
| Storage reports | Get complete insights into storage objects in your organization including mailbox database, public folders, and server storage. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Distribution Lists and Public Folders reports | Provides complete insight into the distribution lists and public folders in your Exchange environment. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Organization reports | Provides details of various objects in Exchange. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Monitoring | |||
| Exchange monitoring | Monitoring of emails, mailboxes size, DAGs, databases, and servers. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Auditing | |||
| Mailbox permission changes | Shows details of changes made to mailbox permission settings. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Mailbox storage quota changes | Shows changes to user mailbox storage quotas settings. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Mailbox properties changes | Shows details of changes made to mailbox properties. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Mailbox size restriction changes | Shows details of changes made to mailbox size restriction. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Exchange database changes | Shows details of changes made to Exchange databases. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Non-owner mailbox activities | Shows non-owner activities on mailboxes. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Owner mailbox activities | Shows activities on mailboxes by owners. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Admin mailbox activities | Shows activities on mailboxes by Exchange admins. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Mails deleted or moved | Shows email moved or deleted by users. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Compliance reports for Exchange | Pre-defined reports for SOX, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, GLBA and FISMA compliance. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Alerting | |||
| Alerts on critical activities | Receive instant email notifications when critical events occur in your Exchange environment. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Features | Description | ManageEngine AD360 Try now |
NetIQ DRA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mailbox management | Manage mailbox permissions, properties, audit settings, and more, in bulk (including shared mailbox and public folder). |
(50+management tasks) |
|
| Mailbox reports | Get details on mailbox users, inactive mailboxes, mailboxes size, account status, mailbox content, mail traffic, and more. |
(100+ reports) |
Info N/A. |
| Mailbox auditing | Shows details of activities performed by users and admins on mailboxes. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Audit profiles | Create custom audit profiles to track specific events and actions. |
Info N/A. |
|
| User management | Reset passwords, block/unblock users, delete/restore users, change attributes, configure MFA, and more, in bulk. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Group management | Configure whether groups can accept mail from internal and external senders in bulk. |
Info N/A. |
|
| Contact management | Delete contacts and make changes to contact attributes in bulk. |
Info N/A. |
|
| License management | Assign or remove licenses in bulk along with usage location. |
Info N/A. |
|
| User reports | Get details on all users, account status, password status, logon details, and more. |
(20+ reports) |
Info N/A. |
| Group reports | Identity all groups, group members, groups’ size, groups’ type, and more. |
(15+ reports) |
Info N/A. |
| Contact reports | Get details on all contacts, inactive contacts, modified contacts, and more. |
Info N/A. |
|
| License reports | Get details on licenses applied, licensed users, soon-to-expire licenses, and more |
Info N/A. |
|
| Compliance specific reports | Built-in reports for SOX, HIPAA, GLBA, PCI DSS, and more. |
Info N/A. |
| Features | Description | ManageEngine AD360 Try now |
NetIQ DRA |
|---|---|---|---|
| OneDrive for Business Reporting and auditing | Shows detailed reports and auditing on all activities in OneDrive for Business | ||
| Skype for Business general reports | Reports on active users, blocked users, client devices, P2P sessions, conferences, PSTN usage, and more. |
(10 reports) |
|
| Sway activities | Audit admin and user activities in Sway. | ||
| Microsoft Teams Events audit | Track events such as channels added, teams created, teams deleted, and users signed in to Teams. | ||
| Power BI auditing | Helps you track all activities in Power BI |
| Features | Description | ManageEngine AD360 Try now |
NetIQ DRA (self-service is available as a separate product) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Password reset/account unlock | Users can reset their forgotten passwords and unlock their lockedout Windows accounts without calling helpdesk | ||
| Password expiration notification | Notify users to change password before it expires via email |
(100% Free feature for unlimited users) |
|
| Employee directory update | Employees can update their profile information in Active Directory | ||
| Group subscription | Users can opt-in and opt-out of Secruity and Distribution Groups at their will based on policies set by administrator | ||
| Change password | Users can change their password from anywhere, anytime | ||
| Add-on features | |||
| Mobile password management | Self-Service Password Reset and Account Unlock via Mobile Devices | ||
| Client software (GINA/Credential Provider) extension | Password Reset/Account Unlock from Windows logon screen (CTRL+ALT+DEL) | ||
| Authentication methods | Users identity are verified before they can reset their password or unlock their account |
RSA SeurID, Duo Security, RADISU Server, Security Q&A, SMS/Email based Pin code, and Google Authenticator |
Info N/A. |
| Client software extension for Mac OS | Password Reset/Account Unlock from Mac OS X logon screen | ||
* - self-service, SSO, auditing, and other components cost extra.
For businesses looking to cut cost on IT administration and improve security, ManageEngine AD360 offers a comprehensive solution that covers all the bases and much more.
AD360 is an identity and access management (IAM) solution for managing user identities, governing access to resources, enforcing security, and ensuring compliance. AD360 provides all these functionalities for Windows Active Directory, Exchange Server, and Office 365. With AD360, you can choose the modules you need and start addressing IAM challenges across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments—all from a single console.
For more information about AD360, please visit
www.manageengine.com/ad360.Your download should begin automatically in 15 seconds. If not, click here to download manually.
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Disclaimer: ManageEngine does not guarantee the accuracy of any information presented in this document, and there is no commitment, expressed or implied, on ManageEngine’s part to update or otherwise amend this document. The furnishing of this document does not provide any license to patents, trademarks, copyrights or other intellectual property rights owned or held by ManageEngine.
