I'm considering activating Global Secure Access (GSA) in our organization, starting with a private access trial. However, I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about hitting that big blue 'Activate' button. I can't find clear information about what activating it actually does, why it needs activation, and whether it could cause any problems. Also, most of our users have A5 licenses. Is that sufficient for using GSA?
5 Answers
Good news! Microsoft 365 Education A5 licenses are compatible with GSA since they include Microsoft Entra ID Plan 2, which is required for GSA clients.
I implemented GSA in my company without a hitch. It was super smooth—no one even realized we activated it. There’s a helpful guide for deploying it via Intune, so I'd definitely recommend giving it a shot.
Activating GSA shouldn't cause any noticeable changes for users. Nothing happens on their end until they have a GSA client installed and a profile assigned. Just keep in mind that for the GSA services under Microsoft 365, you'll need the Entra ID P2 license that comes with A5. To access the Private Access profile, you'll need either the Entra Suite step-up license or a Private Access license.
Just following along here, this topic came up in our organization recently too!
I'm eager to try it out, but I'm still confused about what the 'Activate' button actually does. Could it negatively impact anything? There's no 'deactivate' option, which makes me a bit nervous.