Active Directory as Directory versus Application

[SteveFuson]

When we onboarded Aveksa, the professional services vendor set up Active Directory as an application, rather than as a directory.  It's not our source of truth for users, so it hasn't been an issue.  But now we're looking to implement Data Access and Governance, and DAG seems to need AD as a directory.  Is that correct, or will DAG work with AD as an application?  What are the benefits and drawbacks of collecting AD as a diretory versus an application (or both)?

[MHelmy · Accepted solution]

The main difference between directories and applications are:

1. You can create Identity collectors to get user information from Directories only.
2. With a Directory, you can use its collected accounts as accounts for an Application, but you cannot do that using from one Application to another.

I don't think DAG specifically has to do with any of this unless you intend to use one of the above features.