The Architecture Behind UNIFYConnect

Identity modernisation isn’t just a migration problem, it’s an architecture problem

Every organisation wants the benefits of modern identity: stronger security, simplified access, rapid onboarding, automated governance, provable compliance. Microsoft Entra has made all of that achievable at scale, and it’s now the centre of how enterprises in our region approach digital trust.

But most environments aren’t greenfield. Authoritative sources still live on-premises. Core applications still expect legacy authentication patterns. Directories and entitlement models built over decades haven’t disappeared just because Entra arrived. The reality in 2025 is hybrid.

That reality creates an architectural gap: how do you apply modern identity, governance and assurance everywhere, when “everywhere” still includes systems that were never designed for the cloud?

UNIFYConnect exists to close that gap. It’s the integration and control layer that lets organisations apply modern identity to the systems they already depend on without waiting for those systems to be rewritten, replaced, or declared end of life.

What UNIFYConnect actually does

UNIFYConnect is UNIFY’s identity integration and governance platform. It connects the authoritative sources organisations already trust, the applications they still have to run, and the cloud services they’re moving to - and makes them behave like one controlled environment.

It’s available in two delivery models:

• UNIFYConnect Cloud - a managed service operated by UNIFY, providing identity as a service and continuous compliance.

• UNIFYConnect Server - an on-premises edition for organisations that need to run the capability within their own boundary.

Both editions are designed to enhance and extend Microsoft Entra, not compete with it. They orchestrate provisioning, governance, and policy enforcement across hybrid environments, including legacy applications that don’t natively understand Entra or modern standards.

In plain terms: UNIFYConnect lets Entra reach the parts of your organisation that aren’t “cloud-ready” yet, so your program can keep moving.

The three pillars of the UNIFYConnect architecture

1. Authoritative data in one place

Identity programs fail when there’s no reliable source of truth for “who someone is” and “what they’re allowed to do.” Many organisations still rely on on-prem HR systems, specialist line-of-business apps, or legacy directories that haven’t (and in some cases can’t) move to the cloud yet.

UNIFYConnect continuously synchronises and normalises identity data from those sources and feeds it into the modern control plane — including Microsoft Entra. That means entitlements, access, and status changes flow consistently, even if the original system was written long before the concept of Zero Trust.

2. Governance that spans cloud and legacy

Most governance frameworks assume that access can be centrally enforced and centrally evidenced. In hybrid reality, that’s rarely true out of the box.

UNIFYConnect applies the same governance expectations — joiner/mover/leaver controls, access approvals, auditability — across both cloud-native and legacy applications. That means organisations can demonstrate control to auditors and regulators without building manual workarounds or inventing parallel processes for “old” systems.

3. Adaptable delivery, not hard-coded integration

Classic identity integration projects often create brittle point-to-point links that are expensive to maintain and impossible to scale.

UNIFYConnect takes a different approach. It exposes adaptable integration services — including a flexible SCIM gateway — that allow legacy or custom applications to participate in modern lifecycle management and automated provisioning, even if they never shipped with a compliant API.

In practice, that means applications which historically required manual account creation, spreadsheet-driven access changes or bespoke scripts can be brought under policy-driven automation from day one.

This is particularly powerful in environments where program success depends on reaching dozens of “edge” systems across education, health, emergency services, or local government; systems that matter to operations but would otherwise sit outside Entra’s native reach.

Why this architecture matters right now

Identity modernisation is no longer just an IT upgrade. It’s now one of the fastest-moving levers for security uplift, compliance assurance, and workforce agility across ANZ public and regulated sectors.

The challenge is speed with assurance.

Boards expect visible progress toward cloud identity. Security teams expect Zero Trust posture, continuous access review, and rapid deprovisioning. Operational teams expect “no outages.” Regulators expect audit evidence. Nobody is asking for a five-year disruption window.

UNIFYConnect is designed for that tension. It lets organisations:

• modernise identity without turning off systems that still run the business;
• establish clear ownership and accountability for access from day one, not later;
• demonstrate governance before the migration is “finished,” not months after; and
• move at the pace of Microsoft Entra’s capability roadmap while staying in control of their own risk envelope.

This is the difference between “we’re planning to modernise” and “we’re already operating as if we’re modern.”

How it supports staged migration, not big-bang replacement

For most enterprises, especially those with compliance obligations or critical services, shutting down legacy identity infrastructure overnight isn’t realistic. Some workloads can go directly to Entra. Others need to be phased, sequenced, or contained.

UNIFYConnect is built around staged adoption:

1. Connect: Link existing authoritative sources, directories, and applications — without forcing them to change first.

2. Control: Apply consistent provisioning, governance, and policy enforcement across that hybrid estate. This includes automated joiner/mover/leaver handling and entitlement management, backed by auditable evidence.

3. Converge: Gradually shift systems and workloads to Entra-aligned models, decommissioning technical debt on your timeline — not the vendor’s.

Because the same architecture underpins both UNIFYConnect Cloud (managed by UNIFY) and UNIFYConnect Server (operated within the customer boundary), organisations can choose the operating model that suits each environment — including high-assurance or sovereign workloads — without creating a separate identity stack.

The outcome

When identity is treated as architecture — not just a tool rollout or a licensing exercise — it becomes a strategic control surface for the organisation.

UNIFYConnect is that control surface:

• It gives Entra reach into the legacy world.
• It gives governance one story across cloud and on-prem.
• It gives program owners proof that modernisation can be paced, sequenced, and insured instead of forced.

This is how organisations move forward with confidence instead of disruption: by extending modern identity into the systems that still matter today, while quietly designing for the next platform.