UK Microsoft Partner Kocho has released Alira, a unified access portal and licence manager built to run alongside Microsoft Entra, giving employees a single place to request any application while IT teams get consolidated control over approvals, access governance and software licence spend.
Application access has become a persistent operational drag for many enterprises. Onboarding delays, fragmented request channels and opaque licence inventories place routine pressure on IT service desks, particularly for organisations running complex, multi-platform environments. Alira is Kocho's response to that friction.
The platform routes access requests through a branded employee portal. Approval notifications arrive via Microsoft Teams, Slack or email, with automated approval flows available where Entra integration allows. The architecture covers Entra-integrated applications alongside legacy, on-premises and multi-cloud services, so IT teams can present a consistent access experience even during phased migration work.
The licence management module provides real-time visibility into Microsoft 365 and SaaS licence usage. Finance and IT teams can identify dormant licences, reclaim unused allocations and feed the data into renewal decisions. An Enterprise service plan extends the same governed framework to non-HR identities, including contractors, guests, partners and service accounts.
Kocho says two early adopters have deployed Alira in production. SimplyBiz, which operates across multiple financial services brands, used it to manage access during a period of organisational change, with onboarding times dropping from days to hours. Unilabs, a diagnostics company, used it to improve licence visibility ahead of contract renewals.
Alira is generally available across Enable, Pro and Ultimate service plans. Kocho, founded in the UK and headquartered in London with additional offices in Cardiff and Cape Town, holds long-standing Microsoft Partner status focused on identity, security and cloud modernisation.
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