Ping Identity migration
Move from Ping Identity to Microsoft Entra ID with a migration path you can see
Ping Identity can describe materially different source architectures. Before any move is planned, PhaseArc establishes what you are actually running, because a PingOne tenant and a PingFederate deployment lead to very different migration work.
What is a Ping to Entra migration?
A Ping Identity to Microsoft Entra ID migration moves application connections, user and group data, attributes and assignments, authentication flows, and provisioning integrations from a Ping deployment into Microsoft Entra ID, formerly called Azure Active Directory. Applications move in waves, the Ping environment keeps serving anything not yet cut over, and cutover follows validation rather than preceding it.
Discovery first
Know your Ping starting point
The single most common cause of an inaccurate Ping migration plan is assuming one architecture when the estate contains another, or both.
| Consideration | PingOne | PingFederate |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A cloud identity platform delivered as a service. | A federation server, commonly deployed and operated by the customer. |
| Where configuration lives | In the PingOne environment, exposed through the administrative console and APIs. | In server configuration, exposed through the administrative console and administrative API. |
| Typical inventory route | Environment, applications, populations, groups, and policies. | Adapters, connections, data stores, token processors, and mapped attribute contracts. |
| Common migration focus | Application connections, users and groups, attributes, and policy intent. | Service provider connections, attribute contracts, and the federation cutover itself. |
| Frequent complication | Custom flows and integrations built around the platform. | On-premises dependencies, custom adapters, and legacy application enforcement. |
Where PingAccess, PingID, DaVinci, or other components appear, they are recorded during discovery as items with a dependency and an owner. Their target approach is agreed during assessment rather than assumed here.
Workstreams
What the migration actually covers
Each area has a different inventory source and a different definition of done.
Applications and connections
Users and groups
Assignments and attributes
Policies and authentication flows
Provisioning
Custom integrations
Protocol paths
SAML, OIDC, and everything that is neither
Modern protocols follow predictable target patterns. Legacy access models do not.
- SAML connections become enterprise applications in Microsoft Entra ID, with entity identifiers, reply URLs, signing certificates, and claims that must be configured deliberately and confirmed with each service provider.
- OIDC and OAuth clients are registered again in Microsoft Entra ID with new identifiers, redirect URIs, and credentials, so each one needs a coordinated switchover window.
- Legacy or header-based applications, and anything protected by an agent or proxy enforcement model, require architecture-specific planning because Microsoft Entra ID enforces access differently.
- Applications with hard-coded issuer values, embedded certificates, or bespoke assertion handling are treated as exceptions with named owners.
PhaseArc stages
How PhaseArc runs a Ping migration
The same four stages, applied to whichever Ping architecture discovery finds.
- 01
Discover
Inventory the source estate and its dependencies.
- 02
Prepare
Map objects to a target design, log exceptions, and plan waves.
- 03
Migrate
Run controlled batches while the source keeps serving sign-ins.
- 04
Validate
Test access and configuration, record evidence, decide on cutover.
| Stage | Focus | Concrete output |
|---|---|---|
| Discover | Identify the architecture and inventory it | A record of the Ping components in use, application connections, users and groups, attributes, and dependencies. |
| Prepare | Mapping and target design | Per-object treatment, attribute and claim mapping, exception list, wave plan, and test plan. |
| Migrate | Controlled batches | Executed wave changes with the Ping environment retained until approved cutover, plus a change record. |
| Validate | Access, claims, provisioning | Validation results per application, an exception log, and a documented cutover or fallback decision. |
Scope caveats
Be honest about what is environment dependent
This is typical treatment, not a verified product support matrix. Scope for your environment is established during assessment.
| Source item | Typical Entra destination | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Users and attributes | Entra ID users and directory attributes | Assessed and mapped |
| Populations or groups | Security groups and dynamic membership rules | Mapped or translated |
| SAML connections | Enterprise applications with SAML SSO | Mapped or translated, validation required |
| OIDC and OAuth clients | App registrations and enterprise applications | Re-register, validation required |
| Attribute contracts and claims | Claims mapping on the target application | Target design required |
| Authentication policies and flows | Conditional Access and authentication methods | Target design required |
| Outbound provisioning | Microsoft Entra provisioning | Target design required |
| Agent or header-based enforcement | Application-specific target architecture | Environment dependent |
| Custom adapters and integrations | Rebuild, replace, or retire | Environment dependent |
Ping Identity migration questions
What is a Ping Identity to Microsoft Entra ID migration?
Does Ping Identity mean one product?
What about PingAccess, PingID, or DaVinci?
Can legacy or header-based applications migrate directly?
Do Ping policies map to Conditional Access?
Official sources
- Ping Identity docs: Introduction to PingOne
- Ping Identity docs: Introduction to PingFederate
- Ping Identity docs: PingFederate administrative API
- Microsoft Learn: Migrate application authentication, phases and planning overview
- Microsoft Learn: Migrate Okta sign-on policies to Microsoft Entra Conditional Access
Keep going
Where to go next
Migration map
How it works
Establish your Ping starting point
An assessment identifies which Ping components are in play, inventories application connections and attributes, and sets the sequence for a migration you can validate.