Microsoft Entra Global Secure Access gets a Day 2 operations guide

Introduction

Deploying Microsoft Entra Global Secure Access (GSA) is only the first step. For most IT teams, the bigger challenge starts after rollout: monitoring health, assigning ownership, handling changes, and responding to alerts in production. Microsoft has now addressed that gap with a new Global Secure Access operations guide on Microsoft Learn.

This matters because many organizations have been building their own runbooks for GSA operations. The new guide gives administrators and operations teams a more standardized, repeatable way to manage GSA at scale.

What’s new

Microsoft’s new guide is a prescriptive post-deployment playbook for running Global Secure Access in production. Key elements include:

• A RACI matrix to define operational ownership and responsibilities
• Alert-first monitoring guidance using Microsoft Sentinel and Azure Monitor
• Capability-specific playbooks for:
  • Private Access
  • Internet Access
  • Remote Networks
  • Microsoft Traffic
• Daily, weekly, and monthly health check routines
• Templates and checklists for change control, reporting, and ITSM processes
• Automation scripts and workflows using Graph API and PowerShell
• Measured baselines, KPIs, and troubleshooting steps to reduce noise and improve uptime

Microsoft also highlights six recommended steps to improve operational maturity, including assigning roles early, configuring critical alerts first, collecting 30 days of baseline data, and automating backup and notification processes.

Why it matters for IT admins

For IT administrators, network engineers, and platform operations teams, this guide provides a clearer framework for running GSA consistently after deployment. Instead of relying on custom runbooks for each environment, teams can adopt tested procedures built from field experience.

The guide should also help organizations:

• Reduce time to operational readiness
• Standardize monitoring and reporting practices
• Improve audit readiness with documented processes
• Cut escalations by linking alerts to defined actions
• Support executive reporting on service health and value

For partners and FastTrack teams, the guide offers a more consistent baseline for customer engagements.

Recommended next steps

If you already run Global Secure Access, Microsoft recommends:

1. Reviewing the new operations guide on Microsoft Learn
2. Assigning roles with the included RACI matrix
3. Enabling critical alerts before building custom workflows
4. Running the provided daily health check templates
5. Starting weekly operational and monthly management reporting

Microsoft also says a dedicated GSA Security Operations Guide is coming soon, focused on security monitoring, detections, and investigation workflows.

For organizations still in the planning phase, Microsoft recommends starting with the GSA deployment guide first and then using the new operations guide to build a formal day 2 support model.