External User Access - Need better workaround to invite external users
Administrator should better "External User" invitation process. Recently we had a project where the client was in the "Office 365" environment, however, we did not know that they had an "On-Prem" Exchange with a separate "Microsoft Login". So when we sent the message to their "existing" email, they kept getting errors "Access Denied". After a VERY LONG Microsoft support process, the SharePoint Team sent me to the Azure AD Team. Then the Azure AD team sent me back to the SharePoint Team. LISTEN UP MICROSOFT, your current External Permissioning process STINKS!!!!! We need to be able to set the users up in our SharePoint with the appropriate Login and Password to access the site. STOP making them go through the "Microsoft Live Login" process. IT IS TOOOOO time consuming for our Clients. They should just have to click on the link provided with their user name and password. Right now we can do it, but if the person has an existing "Microsoft" identity then they need to know to select different, logout, then Login and select an "organization" email. It would be nice to be able to load the information and have an executable (when the mail should be sent) so all the users get the message at the same time, and everything is already set. You currently process is HORRIBLE! After each of the SharePoint and Azure AD teams were done tossing me back and forth, I still ended up with a very manual process that still needs "training" guides so the users knows where to go. We need a better process for "permission granting" and reporting. I have a powershell script I can run to get the information, however it should be a standard report.

1 comment
-
Anonymous commented
I want to add a couple more feature requests for the site admins.
- Possibility to have your own invite email text
- Send on behave of the useer inviting, not via no-reply@sharepoint.com
- Possibility to search for users and pending invites and history
(ever had to click through lists of couple of hunderd users 30 items per page...auch!)
- Possibility to create views on the external users, on domains for example
- Resend invites or reminders from pending users list
- Easy delete from the full tenant and azure directory, not via powershells or URL construction