Yesterday on August 28, Microsoft announced a public preview of Azure AD B2B Collaboration support for Google ID. This support means that users can now easily and securely share applications and collaborate seamlessly across companies with a Gmail account.
A blog post by Alex Simons, Vice President of Program Management, Microsoft Identity Division, notes the importance of this. “We’re reducing friction during invitation redemption and eliminating the proliferation of credentials by enabling your partners to bring their own existing identities to collaborate with you!” wrote Simons.
Google now becomes the first third-party identity provider supported by Azure AD. It all means for a rather seamless experience for invited Gmail users. Now, after set up with B2B Google federation, Gmail users can leverage their Google account to sign in and collaborate. No longer will Gmail users have to create an Azure AD account or Microsoft Account to access shared apps and resources.
Please be aware that only Gmail accounts ending in @Gmail.com are supported for the time being. You can learn more by checking out the documentation here.
