If your clients run on Microsoft Entra ID, Cisco Duo, or both, you're working with capable tools. We believe Okta is the better platform, and the MSPs who work with both day to day tend to agree. The most successful MSPs we work with have made Okta their standard for most clients. This guide explains why.
It helps to know where each platform comes from. For Microsoft, identity is part of a broader platform, built to make Microsoft 365 and Azure work. Cisco added identity by acquiring Duo in 2018. For Okta, identity is the whole business, and has been from day one. That focus shows up in how deeply Okta goes on identity, and in how it treats every app a client uses, not just one vendor's.
Here's who needs Okta (more of your clients than you might think), what every client gets from day one, how add-ons take it further, and why leading MSPs make it their standard.
Which MSP clients need Okta?
Almost any client facing a cyber insurance questionnaire, and especially clients who are regulated, handle payments, or run on many apps beyond Microsoft.
Cyber insurance and proving security controls
Nearly every SMB now faces a cyber insurance questionnaire, and insurers expect clients to show their controls, not just describe them: MFA on every account, privileged access under control, and leavers locked out promptly. Okta covers all three across every app a client uses, and the evidence lives in one place, so proving it takes seconds instead of an afternoon of digging. That alone makes Okta a strong fit for most of the clients you serve.
Clients who benefit most from Okta
For some clients, the case is even stronger:
They're regulated, or audited. Law firms, financial services, healthcare, and any client who has to show who approved access, and when.
A compromised account would cost them money fast. Clients who move payments, change banking details, or hold sensitive data.
Their work runs on more than Microsoft. A growing stack of SaaS apps, each needing the same strong sign-in and the same clean offboarding.
They have specific security requirements. Rules that need to be precise, like who can reach which app, from where, on what device, and under what conditions.
Their people change often. New hires, role changes, contractors, and temporary access that has to end precisely and reliably when it should.
They expect best-in-class identity security and want their MSP to deliver it.
For these clients, identity is central to how they work, and the platform should be built for that.
Okta is cloud-first and vendor-neutral. It was built to sit above every app and every vendor, not to extend one vendor's stack. That's what makes it both elegant and robust: one place for identity, one set of policies, and one view of risk across everything a client uses.
What's included in Okta Pro from ZeroTek?
Okta Pro from ZeroTek includes four Okta Workforce Identity products: Universal Directory, Adaptive MFA (including Okta FastPass), Single Sign-On, and Lifecycle Management (LCM). Every Okta Pro org also includes 5 Okta Workflows at no extra cost. It's billed per user, month to month, with no annual contract.
Together with the security built into every Okta org, here's what that means for your clients.
One identity across every app. Okta's catalog includes more than 8,000 pre-built app integrations. They use modern single sign-on standards like SAML and OpenID Connect where an app supports them, and Okta's secure password vaulting where it doesn't. Either way, users reach every app from one dashboard, behind the same MFA and the same policies, Microsoft 365 included.
Precise policies that are easy to build. Okta's policy engine makes specific requirements straightforward to express and easy to adjust later. Requirements that would take careful work elsewhere become a few clear rules.
“Okta policies are much more granular and easier to configure than Microsoft Conditional Access, and then ZeroTek lets us automate and streamline deployment of those policies. So that’s a big reduction in administrative overhead.”
— Dan Le, Founder, Red Cup IT
Strong security users actually like. Clients start with phishing-resistant MFA, and most sign-ins use fast, low-friction methods instead of passwords.
“With Okta, everything is easier and better instantly, as soon as you roll it out—for the techs, for the end users. Nobody ever wants to go back to how things were.”
— Benjamin Katz, Founder and CTO, Boston Tech Advisors
Onboarding and offboarding that run themselves. Okta Lifecycle Management (LCM) automates provisioning and deprovisioning for more than 800 apps. New hires are ready on day one, and leavers lose access everywhere at once.
A fast answer to session theft. If an account looks compromised, an admin can end the user's sessions across supported apps like Zoom and Google Workspace, and revoke Microsoft 365 refresh tokens so access can't be renewed, in one action.
Protection informed by the whole Okta network. Okta ThreatInsight uses sign-in activity across Okta's entire customer base to identify IP addresses behind attacks like credential stuffing and password spraying. In log-and-enforce mode, it blocks those requests at the authentication endpoint. Pair it with geo-fencing policies, which stop traffic from locations a client doesn't operate in before it ever reaches the Okta sign-in page.
A proven platform. Okta has been named a Leader in Gartner's Access Management Magic Quadrant for nine years in a row.
Learn more about what's included in ZeroTek's Okta Pro licenses
Which Okta add-ons can MSPs offer month to month?
Okta Pro is a strong foundation. ZeroTek's Okta add-ons take it further in many directions, from automating IT processes with Okta Workflows, to securing the Windows and Mac sign-in screen with Okta Device Access, to governance and automated threat response, and every one of them adds real value for the right client. ZeroTek is the only provider authorized to offer select Okta add-ons to MSPs month to month, billed per user, so enterprise capabilities are within reach of the SMBs you serve. Okta Device Access, for example, extends the same MFA and policies to the Windows and macOS sign-in screen. Mac users sign in with their Okta password, kept in sync with their local account, and when a user is deactivated, Okta signs them out of their protected computers as well as their apps. To give you a sense of what's possible, here are two more add-ons up close, both relevant to almost any client.
Okta Identity Governance vs. Entra ID and Duo
In most SMBs, access requests run through email, chat, and tickets. Every request is really a security decision, and tracing who approved what later means digging. Temporary access lasts until someone remembers to remove it.
Okta Identity Governance moves all of that into Okta. Requests go straight to the right approver, often a manager or app owner outside IT. Approved access is provisioned automatically. Time-bound access removes itself when the period ends. Scheduled access reviews let managers confirm or revoke existing access, and every decision is recorded in one place. When an auditor or insurer asks who has access to what and who approved it, the answer takes seconds to find.
“Adding OIG was an easy call. Access requests were eating technician time, and every one of them was really a security decision being made over email. Now requests go straight to the person who should approve them, everything’s logged, and temporary access is easy to manage. It’s a better process for everyone. Our client is really happy with it. And with Okta Workflows included, the numbers work.”
— Benjamin Katz, Founder and CTO, Boston Tech Advisors
How it compares. Microsoft offers access reviews and entitlement management too, but they're licensed under Entra ID P2, Entra ID Governance, or Entra Suite, above the P1 included with Microsoft 365 Business Premium, on Microsoft's licensing terms. Duo's editions focus on MFA, single sign-on, device trust, and threat detection; identity governance isn't part of them. Okta Identity Governance works across every app a client has integrated with Okta, in the same platform as their sign-in and lifecycle management.
Learn more about Okta Identity Governance for MSPs
Okta Identity Threat Protection vs. Entra ID and Duo
Strong sign-in security protects the front door. The harder problem is what happens after: a hijacked session, a risky change mid-session, or an attacker using stolen credentials. A manual response starts when someone notices. By then, the attacker has had time.
Okta Identity Threat Protection watches before, during, and after sign-in, and responds automatically. Bot protection identifies automated attacks before they reach the sign-in page. The risk engine tracks signals like brute-force attempts, breached credentials, and sign-ins from high-threat networks. Session protection catches changes in context after sign-in, such as a new IP address or device. When risk crosses the threshold you set, Okta can automatically end the user's sessions in fully supported apps like Zoom and Google Workspace, revoke Microsoft 365 refresh tokens so access can't be renewed, and alert your team, all without waiting for anyone. You can start in monitor-only mode and tune the rules before turning on automatic responses.
“Our Okta org is the front door to every client environment we manage, so it was the obvious place to start with Identity Threat Protection. We wanted to see firsthand what it flags, how it responds, and how to tune it so it protects us without getting in our team’s way. When we recommend it to a client, we’re recommending something we already rely on every day.”
—Stuart Jivapongse, President, Renascent Technology
How it compares. Microsoft's risk-based protections are licensed above the P1 included with Business Premium and are subject to Microsoft's licensing terms. Duo's Advantage and Premier editions include threat detection through Cisco Identity Intelligence, which feeds Duo's risk-based authentication. What sets Okta Identity Threat Protection apart is where it acts: inside the identity provider that controls access to every app the client uses, so detection and response happen in one place.
Learn more about Okta Identity Threat Protection for MSPs
Why do MSPs standardize on Okta via ZeroTek?
Three reasons come up again and again: licensing terms that fit how MSPs work, a common security baseline, and one console for every client.
Month-to-month, per-user Okta licensing
Through ZeroTek, you architect an identity security service for each client: Okta Pro as the foundation, with capabilities like Identity Governance and Identity Threat Protection added where the client's requirements call for them. And you deliver all of it month to month, billed on each month's user count. ZeroTek is the only way for MSPs to buy Okta on these terms; buying from Okta directly means annual contracts and upfront payment. Your clients get a predictable monthly service, and you never fund licenses ahead of demand.
That changes the economics of saying yes. There's no annual commitment tying up cash ahead of demand. There's no bank of licenses to buy up front and hope you use. And when a client grows, there's no scrambling for more licenses. You just add users. When a client brings you a demanding requirement, you can meet it precisely instead of working around it.
A common security baseline across clients
Our most successful partners make Okta the standard for most of their clients, and a common baseline is a big part of why. Every client on ZeroTek's recommended baseline starts from the same proven security foundation. Your technicians know the fundamentals are in place before they open a ticket, so they spend their time on the problem, not on working out how this client was set up. And the efficiency compounds: each client on the baseline makes the next one easier to support.
ZeroConfig, ZeroTek's configuration tool built for MSPs, is what makes this practical. When you stand up a new client, it pushes a comprehensive, field-tested security baseline in about a minute, leaving only client-specific fine-tuning. From there, you tailor everything layered on top, from app access to sign-in rules, to exactly what each client needs, building on the baseline rather than starting from scratch. Any configuration you want to repeat for more than one client, you can build once and push to every org that needs it, then check for drift instead of re-auditing each tenant by hand. Mantle Group, which serves biotech and venture-backed clients, used ZeroConfig to cut a full Okta baseline rollout from more than two hours to about 20 minutes, and checking a tenant for drift from up to an hour to about two minutes.
“ZeroConfig’s ability to centrally build, manage, and modify client-wide secure baselines is critical. As we continuously optimize security in response to evolving threats, ZeroConfig allows us to push needed changes efficiently and transparently.”
— Alex Scheer, Head of Security, Mantle Group
One multi-tenant console for every client
ZeroTek brings every client's Okta org into one multi-tenant console. Role-based access controls what each technician can touch, there are no shared admin credentials to manage, and every admin action across every client is recorded in one audit log, with optional links to your PSA tickets. That makes compliance and audit support far easier: when an auditor or insurer asks, the record of who did what, for every client, is already in one place.
How to start moving clients from Entra ID to Okta
You don't need to move every client at once. Start with the one whose case is strongest, such as the firm facing a cyber insurance renewal, the regulated client, or the one that moves money. See how it runs, then make Okta your standard, the way our most successful partners have.
The move itself is less work than most MSPs expect. Microsoft 365 stays in place, the core setup takes under two hours, and go-live happens mid-workday.
Book a call with an Okta-certified expert to talk through which of your clients would benefit most.