Why enterprises are replacing guest access with policy-based, in-platform collaboration.
The end of the guest account era
For years, organizations have relied on guest accounts to let partners, vendors, or contractors access internal systems. But what started as a convenient fix has become an administrative and compliance nightmare. Each guest account is another identity to track, secure, and offboard. Over time, they accumulate like digital debris—posing serious risks:
✕ Forgotten accounts with lingering access
✕ Duplicated users across tenants
✕ Orphaned identities after projects end
✕ Compliance gaps in access reviews
In short: the more guest accounts you have, the less control you keep.
Why guest accounts no longer work
Traditional guest management tools struggle with three realities of modern collaboration:
⓵ Scale – Hundreds of projects and thousands of partners make manual provisioning unsustainable.
⓶ Compliance – Regulations demand precise visibility into who accessed what and when.
⓷ Governance – Security teams can’t apply consistent policies when guests live outside the corporate directory.
Enterprises are shifting from identity sprawl to governance-driven collaboration—where external users can collaborate securely without creating accounts at all.
The modern replacement: secure link-based collaboration
Instead of managing thousands of external identities, organizations are adopting link-based, policy-driven access within Microsoft 365. eSHARE leads this shift by replacing guest accounts with secure collaboration links that inherit your organization’s governance rules.
How it works:
➥ External users receive a secure link tied to document sensitivity and sharing policy.
➥ Access is enforced by domain rules, expiry dates, and watermarks.
➥ Permissions are granular (view, edit, comment, or request access).
➥ Access can be revoked or audited instantly—no lingering accounts.
This model delivers the same collaboration flexibility—without the identity chaos.
Key benefits of replacing guest accounts
♖ Reduced risk: No forgotten or stale accounts.
♖ Full auditability: Every external interaction is logged.
♖ Faster collaboration: Partners access files instantly—no onboarding delay.
♖ Consistent governance: Sensitivity labels and DLP follow every share.
♖ Cost efficiency: No license consumption for short-term or one-time users.
Building a zero-trust collaboration model
Modern enterprises operate on the principle of Zero Trust—never assume, always verify. Replacing guest accounts with eSHARE’s policy-based access reinforces that model: verification happens per file, per session, per policy. It’s not about restricting access—it’s about governing it intelligently.
eSHARE turns Microsoft 365 into a zero-trust collaboration hub—no extra accounts, no new systems, no lost control.
