Microsoft has made available the final version of Microsoft Identity Manager 2016 to its MSDN and volume license customers, according to various customer who tweeted to and e-mailed me on August 3.

Microsoft Identity Manager -- the product formerly known as Forefront Identity Manager -- is designed to allow administrators to synchronize identities directly to the cloud, while supporting on-premises systems that use and exchange identity information. Microsoft made Microsoft Identity Manager 2016 available in preview form in November 2014.

The new Identity Manager release, meant to be deployed on-premises only, offers customizable password-management, two-factor authentication and deeper attribute integration with Active Directory, Microsoft's Directory Service.

In 2012, Microsoft announced it was discontinuing a number of its Forefront products, including Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server (FPE); Forefront Protection 2010 for SharePoint (FPSP); Forefront Security for Office Communications Server (FSOCS); Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 (TMG); and Forefront Threat Management Gateway Web Protection Services (TMG WPS). In 2013, Microsoft also discontinued Forefront Unified Access Gateway.

Microsoft delivered its most recent version of Identity Manager, known as Forefront Identity Manger 2010 R2, in June 2012.

Microsoft Identity Manager 2016 is licensed on a per-user basis. A Client Access License (CAL) is required for each user whose identity is managed. A Windows Server license with active Software Assurance is required to use Microsoft Identity Manager 2016's server software as a Windows Server add-on.Microsoft Identity Manager 2016 is also included with Azure Active Directory Premium which is part of the Enterprise Mobility Suite, which also includes Azure Active Directory Premium, Azure Rights Management, Intune and Advanced Threat Analytics as an option.