Okta + on-prem AD: MSPs are using Okta to retire legacy AD and modernize security

Modern MSPs live in a hybrid reality where some clients still cling to legacy tech like on premises Active Directory (AD), while also expecting frictionless access to cloud apps. If you’ve got customers like this, the fastest way to simplify their digital identities, close security gaps, and future-proof your stack is to integrate Okta with on-prem AD—then make Okta the single source of identity. Once Okta is authoritative on digital identities, you can streamline operations, move off AD (or at least push AD downstream), and deliver a highly secure passwordless experience with Okta that your customers love.

This article walks through (1) why Okta as the identity authority (which we sometimes refer to as Okta user mastery) is the better operating model for MSPs who understand the importance of identity and access management (IAM), (2) how to flip an AD-integrated Okta org to Okta mastery safely, and (3) a practical decommissioning checklist when you’re ready to retire on-prem AD altogether. We’ll also touch on why Okta delivered through ZeroTek beats Microsoft Entra ID for MSPs who want to deliver a robust identity and access management (IAM) service across their customers.

“When you get users off AD and onto Okta, you shrink the attack surface, improve security, and increase availability. With Okta, we automate user provisioning and set up passwordless login with Okta FastPass for benefits all around. My clients love it. And ZeroTek makes Okta very, very accessible.”

— Benjamin Katz, CTO, Boston Tech Advisors

• One authoritative identity = fewer gaps. Okta becomes your single source of truth, consolidating accounts from SaaS apps, legacy directories, and HR systems. That consolidation eliminates identity drift, reduces manual work, and sets you up to configure Zero Trust policies that are consistent across customers.
• Automated lifecycle = less ticket churn. With Okta Lifecycle Management (LCM), you can auto-provision and deprovision across hundreds of popular apps—day-one access in, day-last access out—without any “swivel chair work”. More than 800 of Okta’s pre-built app SSO integrations support provisioning end-to-end.
• Integrate almost anything. The Okta Integration Network (OIN) offers 8,000+ pre-built SSO integrations, making it easy for MSPs to standardize while still meeting unique client needs quickly with Okta. Most integrations take minutes, not hours.
• Passwordless-ready user experience. As a legacy on-premises directory service, Active Directory includes authentication capabilities but was not designed for modern, passwordless methods. Okta supports phishing-resistant FIDO2/WebAuthn and offers Okta FastPass—so your roadmap to going passwordless is straightforward once you’re using Okta.
• Built for multitenancy—with ZeroTek. ZeroTek gives you a single dashboard to see and manage all customer Okta orgs, with MSP-specific RBAC, deep auditing, and consumption-based licensing that mirrors how you bill. Actions you take in ZeroTek run instantly in Okta.

In most cases, you and your clients will be better served when you integrate Okta with AD and configure users to be Okta-mastered. If a client’s daily work critically depends on existing GPOs, legacy apps, or on-prem workflows that you truly can’t modernize yet, you may need to keep AD as the identity master for a time. Otherwise, move identity and authentication authority to Okta and let AD function as a downstream directory until you’re ready to retire it. Okta-mastered deployments can be configured to secure access to AD and AD-joined machines—easy for legitimate users to access while keeping out bad actors.

Important behavior when switching: the moment you flip to Okta-mastered, Okta emails all AD-synced users a secure password-reset link. That link expires after one hour. If someone misses the window—which is likely—an Admin can easily re-issue it using the Reset password link action in ZeroTek. Build communications and office hours into your cutover plan to minimize help-desk load.

When you’ve had an Okta-mastered Active Directory integration in place for a while and validated downstream dependencies, MSPs typically choose to retire AD entirely to eliminate server, patching, cooling, and physical security costs.

Use this checklist before you decommission AD:

✅  All human users from on-prem AD exist in Okta. Validate in Okta or ZeroTek.

✅  All users have Okta passwords set. Even if you’re going passwordless, Okta still requires each account to have a password on record.

✅  Provisioning from Okta to M365 works. Create a test user in Okta; confirm its M365 account is created and licensed correctly.

✅  No apps still rely on on-prem AD. If any do, retire them, retool them for Okta, or replace with cloud-native alternatives.

✅  Microsoft Entra Connect Sync is removed from on-prem servers to be certain no provisioning continues between AD and M365.

Once all of the above criteria are true—and after creating a change window and rollback plan—you can safely decommission AD and keep the directory footprint cloud-only in Okta.

What if there are still AD-dependent apps and you can’t move off AD right away? You can still move as many users off AD as possible to reduce the attack surface, use Okta to harden security with strong authenticators, then decommission on-prem AD entirely when you’ve eliminated all dependencies.

When you’re ready, most MSPs look at going passwordless with Okta FastPass, which leverages strong phishing-resistant biometric authenticators like Face ID and fingerprint recognition. Depending on the customer, going further and configuring even a subset of users for device trust is appropriate to lock down sensitive apps and access.