External Account

An external account is a user account or identity managed by an external identity provider — such as a partner organization, contractor, or customer IdP — that is granted access to internal resources via federation or B2B identity protocols.

IAM CIAM Federation B2B

❓ What is External Account?

⚙️ How Does It Work?

External accounts are managed through identity federation (SAML, OIDC) or B2B platforms (Azure AD B2B, Okta). The external IdP authenticates the user; the internal system trusts the assertion and grants appropriate (usually limited) access.

📍 Where Is It Used?

B2B portals, partner integrations, contractor access, supplier portals, M&A scenarios where two organizations need cross-company access.

💡 Real-World Example

A manufacturer grants 200 suppliers access to its procurement portal using Azure AD B2B. Each supplier authenticates with their own company credentials. The manufacturer never manages supplier passwords — authentication is delegated to each supplier's own IdP.

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