Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
Yagya Mishra - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Managing Consultant at IBM
Consultant
Top 10
Safeguards credentials, improves security posture, and reduces IT resources
Pros and Cons
  • "The main feature of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is the ability to manage who has access to what and when, especially with shared accounts."
  • "I would recommend CyberArk Privileged Access Manager."
  • "The reporting should be improved. There should be more customization. The report should show how we are going to mitigate the risk because we cannot show the system environment to each and every auditor."
  • "The reporting should be improved. There should be more customization."

What is our primary use case?

The main use of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is to manage identities and access for our clients. We mainly focus on use cases like managing shared accounts, automatic password rotation, and recording sessions.

Its quite difficult to track for client who has access and at what time, which activity was done with that account, especially for built-in administrator accounts and Shared accounts. 

Automatic password rotation is another use case. CyberArk Privileged Access Manager has the capability to rotate automatic passwords in the defined period of time. CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is also used for recording and session monitoring .

With CyberArk DNA, we can discover the accounts and their associated dependencies and usage.

How has it helped my organization?

Data is secure. The passwords are stored in an encrypted format. The data privacy is very high, and it is quite challenging for someone to retrieve credentials from CyberArk Privileged Access Manager.

With Privileged Threat Analytics (PTA), which is a different component in CyberArk, you can put some additional control. For example, you have an account onboarded on CyberArk. If someone wants to access the system without using CyberArk and copying a password, which they might have stored in the notepad or their system, an alert gets triggered. There is also an additional control for ad hoc admin access if someone wants to access an admin privilege or and want to access some critical application after business hours. PTA provides more control.

It improves the overall security posture and provides more control. We have better governance. Credentials are stored in the safe vault.

It reduces the need for IT and help desk resources. There is a streamlined change process without relying on the L1 team to reset the admin account credentials. There is also better compliance and segregation of duties. We can meet the compliance requirement for retention of logs, password rotations, etc. It helps client to meet different compliance requirement / standards, such as HIPAA, SOX, ISO 27001, etc.

With no manual intervention, there is also a reduction in human errors. Based on the number of available accounts for the organization and the user entitlement, that is 300 to 400 hours.

It improves operational efficiency. With the control that we have with CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, there is a reduction in the manual effort for validation of the admin accounts. Without it, a person has to extract the accounts from the servers and revalidate them with the owners or approvers. That is quite tricky.

It can help to reduce the number of privileged accounts. For example, if the Windows team has 10 or 15 members with individual accounts. It is better to create one shared account based on their role such as L1, L2, or L3, reducing it to 2 accounts. It will reduce the number of privileged accounts in the organization as well as threats.

What is most valuable?

The main feature of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is the ability to manage who has access to what and when, especially with shared accounts. With individual accounts, that is easy, but with shared accounts, it is quite challenging for clients.

The sessions are being monitored based on the Safe design and the ownership of a respective Safe. And its maintain individual accountability, Also check-in and check-out the passwords.

What needs improvement?

The reporting should be improved.  There should be more customization. The report should show how we are going to mitigate the risk because we cannot show the system environment to each and every auditor. Some kind of custom report should be there so that we can give a clear output about the risk.

There should be improvements in the dashboard visibility within CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. It should give more visibility in a single go rather than having to compare different reports.

Furthermore, having out-of-the-box dependency discovery for accounts, such as scheduled tasks , services and application pools, would be beneficial to improve overall functionality.

Buyer's Guide
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager
May 2025
Learn what your peers think about CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have a total of 16 years of experience, and I have been working with CyberArk for about twelve to thirteen years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There have been no stability or performance issues as long as the design meets the requirements. It is essential to adhere to the recommendations for concurrent session capacities.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is quite stable and scalable. It does not seem to have any gaps.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support from CyberArk is quite impressive. They are responsive and provide detailed information when needed. I would rate them a nine out of ten because sometimes there are delays due to different reasons or misunderstandings.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have worked in CyberArk, Delinea, CA PAM, ARCON, and BeyondTrust. I am parallelly working on other PAM tools along with CyberArk. I started to work in CyberArk PAM since version 7.1.

How was the initial setup?

For on-premises, there is complexity due to the need for physical servers and cluster configuration, which might require going to data centers. However, after several deployments, it becomes less challenging. A cloud deployment would be easier.

Its integration capabilities are quite good. We are using CyberArk identity as a multifactor authentication with RADIUS. That is quite impressive because, with one dashboard, we can manage the users' identities.

In terms of the deployment strategy, we first identify the scale and then design the solution. If the number of admins is high, there will be more concurrent sessions and recordings.

It is not tough to maintain. We once had an issue because of human error, but overall, it is easy. For 8X5 support, five members should be there.

What about the implementation team?

For a large-scale deployment, two to three people are sufficient.

What was our ROI?

The cost savings vary based on the organization. A larger organization will definitely have more cost savings with the reduction in the manual effort in managing the accounts in the system.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is slightly higher compared to other solutions, but it is reasonable because there are better security features. Initially, it was based on endpoints, now it is based on the number of users, which offers cost savings based on administrative accounts.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. My recommendation would be to ensure that the benefits of the solution are highlighted by presales, such as risk mitigation and meeting compliance posture.

The overall rating for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: MSP
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Mohammad Jasim - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Information Security at a non-profit with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
A comprehensive solution for securing our environment but it could be more user-friendly
Pros and Cons
  • "It has a lot of good tools, including everything we need."
  • "CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is cool."
  • "It could be more user-friendly. Sometimes I encounter issues, and I do not know what the issue is. It takes a lot of time to find the error and fix it. Sometimes it gives an error, but I do not know what the error is. I have to find the documents, but it does not provide all the details needed to fix the error. This is one of the day-to-day issues with CyberArk."
  • "It could be more user-friendly. Sometimes I encounter issues, and I do not know what the issue is."

What is our primary use case?

I am an admin, and I use this solution for all our users. We have 80 users in our environment.

How has it helped my organization?

By implementing CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, we wanted to secure our environment and track everything.

We were able to realize its benefits within four to five months of its deployment after we had onboarded everything.

What is most valuable?

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is cool. It has a lot of good tools, including everything we need. 

What needs improvement?

It could be more user-friendly. Sometimes I encounter issues, and I do not know what the issue is. It takes a lot of time to find the error and fix it. Sometimes it gives an error, but I do not know what the error is. I have to find the documents, but it does not provide all the details needed to fix the error. This is one of the day-to-day issues with CyberArk. 

When I contact support, it takes a long time to get help. They request all these logs, but they are not always relevant to my case. It is not always a definite help because I sometimes need help with issues that do not require any logs or device details. I am not sure if they read the case or not.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using CyberArk Privileged Access Manager for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is good. We had a ten-minute outage last month. That is all. We do not know the reason. 

It is reliable.

How are customer service and support?

CyberArk's support quality has to improve because we are totally dependent on them. I would rate their support a five out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used to use Okta. CyberArk Privileged Access Manager has more features.

How was the initial setup?

We had a third-party professional service that helped us to install it. It took about four or five months. To deploy, we worked with three people.

It does not require any maintenance. We just have to do the day-to-day operations work.

What other advice do I have?

New users should have training before they sign up for CyberArk. CyberArk should provide mandatory training so that everyone implements it properly. Sometimes, new users do not know what is going on, and they open a ticket, which might be an issue from their end. CyberArk should have a new user training service so that everyone is familiar with it.

I would rate CyberArk Privileged Access Manager a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager
May 2025
Learn what your peers think about CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Cybersecurity Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
The log and audit files are very helpful when we have to investigate an incident
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager are its robust functionality and reliability."
  • "CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is very powerful and customizable."
  • "The graphical user interface could be simplified and harmonized for better usability. It should be consistent. Its GUI is very confusing."
  • "Its GUI is very confusing."

What is our primary use case?

I use CyberArk Privileged Access Manager for privileged access management for our IT administrative team. It helps in managing access to IT systems.

By implementing this solution, we wanted to monitor and manage access. We wanted to control who can log into which machine.

How has it helped my organization?

Our administrators no longer have to save the passwords or credentials in a file or spreadsheet to share with colleagues. Everything is organized in a vault. We have logs on which credentials were used and at what time on a machine.

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is very powerful and customizable. We are able to customize it as per our needs. 

It has been stable over the last four years, and we have a good overview of the usage of every credential on hosts and endpoints. Our infrastructure consists of many solutions and pieces, and CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is one of the important pieces. 

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager has not helped us reduce the number of privileged accounts, but it certainly helps us manage our privileged accounts. Without it, it would not be possible to manage them.

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager assists us in meeting compliance and regulatory requirements from the government, the European Central Bank, and our customers. It is hard to measure the time saved on satisfying compliance requirements related to financial services by implementing CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, but without it, it would not be possible for us to meet these requirements.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager are its robust functionality and reliability. 

It has reduced the mean time to respond, but it is hard to provide any metrics. Its log and audit files are very helpful when we have to investigate an incident.

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager helps ensure data privacy because we now know who is using which credentials and at what time.

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager did not have much effect on our operational efficiency because it is a new tool for us. Any new tool means more work. It has also not saved us costs, but without it, we would not be able to meet the requirements for operating our bank.

We were able to realize its benefits immediately after the deployment.

What needs improvement?

The graphical user interface could be simplified and harmonized for better usability. It should be consistent. Its GUI is very confusing.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using CyberArk Privileged Access Manager for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Overall, the stability of the solution is high. I would rate it a nine out of ten for stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Currently, it meets my organization's capacity requirements. I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability.

We have about 6,000 employees at different locations. We have different operating systems, database systems, and decentralized infrastructure.

How are customer service and support?

Their technical support is good, but it can be better. Even if we provide everything required along with the ticket, we get a standard response asking for the logs. They do not go into analyzing the issue. They just ask for the log files. I would rate their support a six out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did not use any solution before CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. This is the first solution we are using for Privileged Access Management.

How was the initial setup?

Its implementation took us a year because we have a complicated infrastructure. It requires support from a consultant or an implementation partner. You cannot install it yourself. The automatic onboarding of the privileged accounts is a lot of work.

It requires maintenance because if your infrastructure changes, you have to take care of all the new credentials. If you also have a cloud setup, you need to figure out how to connect everything. There is a lot of work involved in maintaining it. It is not easy.

What about the implementation team?

We took the help of a third party for deployment and customization.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is on the expensive side.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend CyberArk Privileged Access Manager to other users. It is one of the leaders in Gartner's Quadrant. It is stable. 

My overall rating for the solution is an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Head of IT at Flash.co
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Cost-effective and helpful for compliance and preventing unauthorized access
Pros and Cons
  • "I feel that CyberArk Privileged Access Manager has a very well-stabilized connection, and the user interface is very good. The monitoring and data retrieval services are easy to understand."
  • "CyberArk Privileged Access Manager has saved us 60% to 70% of our cost."
  • "When we are implementing it, it is quite tricky. It could be less complex for new users. The learning curve could be a little better."
  • "I feel that the customization complexity requires training for new users. When we are implementing it, it is quite tricky."

What is our primary use case?

We are currently using CyberArk Privileged Access Manager for managing and securing privileged accounts. It provides us with an exceptional way to prevent unauthorized access. That is the main purpose we are using it for.

By implementing CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, we wanted to ensure security and compliance. We found it to be the best solution in the market.

How has it helped my organization?

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager has improved compliance and risk management in our organization. It has also improved internal operational efficiencies by almost 35% to 40%.

What is most valuable?

I feel that CyberArk Privileged Access Manager has a very well-stabilized connection, and the user interface is very good. The monitoring and data retrieval services are easy to understand. 

I also appreciate the integrations, including AD, cloud platforms, and third-party integrations. Everything can be done with it as it has robust features. The cost is very good.

What needs improvement?

I feel that the customization complexity requires training for new users. When we are implementing it, it is quite tricky. It could be less complex for new users. The learning curve could be a little better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used the solution for two and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

After one update back in 2024, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager was not working efficiently. We spoke with the technical support team, and they resolved the issues within a couple of hours. I would rate it an eight out of ten for stability. Due to that incident, I am deducting two points. Apart from that, it has been very good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is 100% scalable. We are currently using it only at the Bangalore location. We have 50 to 70 users.

How are customer service and support?

I would rate them a ten out of ten only because the problem I faced at that time was resolved in a couple of hours.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Before this, we were not using any other vendor.

How was the initial setup?

We have a hybrid deployment. The initial deployment was very easy for us. It took three weeks to learn everything. We had discussions with their service specialist team. Overall, it took six to seven weeks, from what I remember.

It does not require much maintenance from our side. They provide updates regularly.

What was our ROI?

We have saved a lot of costs on data security, compliance, and risk management. CyberArk Privileged Access Manager has saved us 60% to 70% of our cost.

It has saved a lot of time. It has saved 25% to 30% of time and resources.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Its cost is fair.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

While doing the evaluation, we considered other platforms as well, such as Broadcom, BeyondTrust, and Delinea. CyberArk has a very good image in the market. Its cost-effectiveness drove our decision towards it.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend CyberArk Privileged Access Manager to others because it serves the purpose, and it complies with the policies. Their support system is very good. The cost is very good. The initial integration and configuration are very good. I can definitely recommend it to others due to these features and capabilities.

I would rate CyberArk Privileged Access Manager a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
reviewer2619633 - PeerSpot reviewer
Contractor at a pharma/biotech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
The Privileged Session Manager feature provides visibility into user activities, audit ability, and traceability
Pros and Cons
  • "One of the best features of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is the capability of Privileged Session Manager (PSM) because it provides visibility into user activities, audit ability, and traceability."
  • "CyberArk Privileged Access Manager’s ability to safeguard credentials is very important."
  • "One area for improvement is the plug-in development challenge. Although CyberArk provides a plug-in generator utility, it does not fully meet our needs, particularly for web-based applications. The plug-in generator currently works only for Telnet and SSH connections. We cannot generate a plug-in for web-based applications."
  • "One area for improvement is the plug-in development challenge. Although CyberArk provides a plug-in generator utility, it does not fully meet our needs, particularly for web-based applications."

What is our primary use case?

We have traditional use cases for Windows, Unix, and Linux-based systems. Additionally, we have use cases involving AWS, Oracle, SQL, and Postgres databases.

We also plan to bring in more use cases for VMware vCenter, VMware VxRail, and iDRAC. We aim for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager to be an integral part of all our infrastructures in accessing and securing credentials, particularly in restricted environments. It is a life science project. There are certain places restricted for the users.

We are still trying to get everything driven through CyberArk. We are trying to restrict direct RDPs to a particular target or doing an SSH outside of CyberArk. The adaptability is about 60% at this time, but we want to make it 100%.

How has it helped my organization?

Authentication is the key to protecting sensitive data. Integration with SAML or Okta prevents intrusions to a great extent.

We were able to realize its benefits immediately after the deployment, and we are happy with it.

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager has not helped reduce the number of privileged accounts, but they all are being vaulted now. We do not have any privileged accounts that are not vaulted in CyberArk.

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager’s ability to safeguard credentials is very important. The paradigms are changing. The data is at threat when it is online. Anything digital needs to be secured. CyberArk has been the leader in the PAM product market. Our client made a good decision by taking CyberArk as their PAM tool.

The features that CyberArk Privileged Access Manager provides are good. It helps to meet the compliance and regulatory requirements to a large extent.

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager has helped to improve the incident response mean times. We have notifications configured from CyberArk. We have integrated CyberArk with ServiceNow and Splunk SIEM. We get notified pretty easily. The notification part works very well with CyberArk. There is about 85% improvement.

What is most valuable?

One of the best features of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is the capability of Privileged Session Manager (PSM) because it provides visibility into user activities, audit ability, and traceability. 

The integration with most other technologies is also excellent. We expect more plug-ins, but it already includes plug-ins for password management with other technologies, offering a robust mechanism for credential safety and management.

What needs improvement?

One area for improvement is the plug-in development challenge. Although CyberArk provides a plug-in generator utility, it does not fully meet our needs, particularly for web-based applications. The plug-in generator currently works only for Telnet and SSH connections. We cannot generate a plug-in for web-based applications.

Moreover, integration with ServiceNow ticketing supports change requests or incidents but lacks support for service requests. Introducing service request support could prevent the overhead of raising unnecessary incidents or changes. There have been a lot of votes for this feature, but I am not sure why CyberArk has not yet introduced it. This is one of the features that we have been waiting for.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used CyberArk for over six years, and the client I am working with has been using it for over four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate its stability an eight out of ten. There are occasional bugs where while installing the product, it behaves differently on different servers, especially during patch upgrades. Such issues have been more noticeable since we moved from version 12.6 to higher versions. This could be because they have done a lot of UI changes and enhancements in these versions.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is good, and I would rate it around an eight out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

They are fast. In some cases, they typically respond within one to two days. However, the response time can vary depending on the priority and volume of cases they receive.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used BeyondTrust but are transitioning everything to CyberArk, as it offers better integration and enhancements.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy. I was not part of the organization during the initial setup phase. It probably took around six months.

There are other vendors that handle the maintenance for us. CyberArk comes into the picture if issues are not resolved by our vendors.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing for CyberArk is on the higher side compared to other Privileged Access Management products. Something should be done regarding enterprise licensing for long-standing customers.

What other advice do I have?

I would advise trying CyberArk as it offers a wide range of integrations, plug-ins, and enhancements compared to other solutions. However, it is expensive.

Overall, I would rate CyberArk Privileged Access Manager an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Technical Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
MSP
Top 5Leaderboard
Simplified access to credentials with continuous updates for better security
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is very good for protecting full levels of data privacy."
  • "The most beneficial feature in CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is its simple user interface."
  • "I would like to see an easier way to define delegated roles within the administration of the core product."
  • "We have had some performance and stability issues. We have had instances where things weren't as they should be, however, we worked closely with the development support teams once the issues were escalated and managed to find either a resolution or a workaround to stabilize the solution."

What is our primary use case?

We use CyberArk Privileged Access Manager to provide a protective layer for our infrastructure, as well as for our customers. 

Additionally, the audit functionality that it provides is used as protection for our employees. It offers evidence, so if there's any question about wrongdoing, there's proof that the job was done correctly.

How has it helped my organization?

It's predominantly addressing challenges around reducing open access to critical infrastructure and providing a mechanism to control who can get to what and with what credentials.

It's improved the organization by making it easier to access privileged accounts. There are so many accounts needed by most people now and to have a a tool that can not only store those credentials for you, but manage them and give you easy access to them, has made life a lot easier. The removal of the need to manage and maintain those credentials and cycling passwords regularly is a pain for anybody. The tool manages all of that for you whilst giving you a simple means to use them.

What is most valuable?

The most beneficial feature in CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is its simple user interface. It is definitely advantageous. I also appreciate the enhancements that come along with the continual updates that are provided. 

It has improved the organization by making it simpler to gain access to privileged credentials. There are so many accounts needed by most people now, and having a tool that can not only store those credentials for you but also manage them and give you easy access has made life a lot easier. The tool manages credential cycling, which is typically a pain for anybody, while providing a simple means to use them.

The solution is very good for protecting full levels of data privacy. We silo out different parts of the solution for access to to different types of infrastructure in the same way we would to our customers so that we can restrict who can get to something. In combination with our IM processes, we can be quite granular about who has access to what.

We can stay updated on regulations. The updates that are coming through help to keep the product secure and also add in updates and enhancements that give greater functionality and keep it relevant in terms of requirements.

The controls are fairly granular. We can control who can administrate it and who can use it and what they can use when they're using it. It has positively impacted visibility. As we leverage the product for administration of the product, we're able to be much more granular in how we provide the access. The audit controls allow us to see who is doing what, and when, it should be required.

It safeguards credentials. This is very important. The ability to have the product manage and maintain credentials and only provide them to authorized individuals, whilst not actually allowing them to retrieve those credentials, has become more paramount as we look to increase the security based on sort of ongoing real-world threats. 

It's helping with compliance, specifically around securing and hardening of infrastructure. It allows us to harden while still maintaining usability. 

In terms of operational efficiency, it depends on where you're coming from. Some things are more efficient, some things are a little less efficient yet more secure. It's that ongoing balancing act between operation efficiency and security that we must deal with.

We've been able to reduce the number of privileged accounts in the organization with the ability to have shared accounts. Since the credentials are not specific to a user and they're made available to a user for the duration of their session, we can reduce the number of privileged accounts we have within the organization. We've reduced the accounts by a half to a third between ourselves and our customers. 

What needs improvement?

I would like to see an easier way to define delegated roles within the administration of the core product. There is granularity within the tool, however, it is not simple to define those specific delegated roles.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used the solution for about nine years; it's been quite a while.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have had some performance and stability issues. We have had instances where things weren't as they should be, however, we worked closely with the development support teams once the issues were escalated and managed to find either a resolution or a workaround to stabilize the solution. Typically, it is fairly stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Initially, we found some issues with scalability, however, over time, the guidelines and recommendations from the vendor have changed. By working closely with the available guidelines, the scalability is absolutely fine.

How are customer service and support?

The customer service is generally quite good, although if it's more complicated, you have to wait for it to be passed back to their dev support, which can take more time. For simpler issues, the turnaround is relatively quick. If more complicated, it can take longer to get the right level of support. 

However, the support they provide is usually good, particularly their dev guys, who certainly know what they're talking about.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Before CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, we didn't have a PAM product itself. We were using Citrix to provide remote access, but the need to move into the PAM space arose to provide extra security and audit control. 

Although I wasn't involved with the process, there was a competition to define which product would be used, and the CyberArk Privileged Access Manager product came out on top.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is relatively straightforward once you've done it. It is certainly a lot easier to repeat. We have multiple instances of the on-prem deployed, so we've done it a few times now.

What about the implementation team?

The deployment involved approximately four or five people, based on role separation. In a smaller organization, it could likely be done with one or two people. However, due to the need to separate functions for design, implementation of the service, product implementation, network and firewall requirements, and IAM processes for all accounts, several people are required to ensure these functions are covered.

What was our ROI?

From a security perspective, we started seeing value right away because we didn't have a PAM solution at the time. Over the next sort of months and years, we settled into the product and started to look at how we could make it work for us. This has been an ongoing process over the years, particularly with product enhancements and new features, which provide additional benefits against the incurred costs.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I'm not involved in the pricing. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

About a year ago, we started looking at potential alternatives. There were two others that were considered and were ruled out for various reasons before looking at additional proof of concepts to see what other features could be leveraged from CyberArk Privileged Access Manager that we weren't using. It managed to pass all of the requirements.

What other advice do I have?

We have customers for various industries and use the product internally ourselves. We are in the IT sector and provide services to organizations in a variety of sectors. 

It's definitely worth looking at as a PAM tool. I would steer towards the SaaS version since everything suggests that it is potentially a better way to go than on-prem. However, on-prem would still be suitable for those who must control and own their data. 

It's still worthwhile implementing, and overall, I'd probably give it an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Senior Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
MSP
An excellent solution with continuous upgrades and quick support
Pros and Cons
  • "The best thing about CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is that they keep on upgrading it. They continually conduct research and development from their end, and we get immediate support from CyberArk whenever OEM support is required for any task."
  • "Considering all those factors and being the best tool in the market for Privileged Access Management, it is recommended."
  • "It is only good as a PAM solution. If they could work more on Privileged Threat Analytics, it would be beneficial. It has limitations, so improvements on PTA would be fine."
  • "As of now, it does not manage all of the IDM practices. It is only good as a PAM solution."

What is our primary use case?

We use CyberArk Privileged Access Manager for all kinds of privileged accounts, comprising personal accounts, service accounts, and different database accounts. We manage the administrator account for Windows, the root account and reconcile accounts for Unix servers, and system administrator accounts in databases. Personal accounts are also managed along with some shared service accounts.

I work for a cybersecurity reseller company, which is US-based, and we provide managed services to all kinds of industries. Currently, I am working with a natural resource and a healthcare company.

How has it helped my organization?

Many things have improved with CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. All privileged accounts are now secured. 

The password management keeps the passwords rotated, and these have different sets of policies, which keep the passwords in compliance. Compliance-wise, it is good to have a PAM solution in the organization. I believe CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is the best one available at this point in time.

What is most valuable?

The best thing about CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is that they keep on upgrading it. They continually conduct research and development from their end, and we get immediate support from CyberArk whenever OEM support is required for any task. Support-wise, they are the best, and the way they conduct research and analysis and upgrade the tool often is excellent.

What needs improvement?

They keep on improving regularly. As of now, it does not manage all of the IDM practices. It is only good as a PAM solution. If they could work more on Privileged Threat Analytics, it would be beneficial. It has limitations, so improvements on PTA would be fine.

For how long have I used the solution?

I first used CyberArk Privileged Access Manager in 2016, and since then, I have worked on different tools as Cloakware, CA PAM, but I am now again working on CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, so it has been approximately seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

If implemented properly, the stability for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is very good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the scalability for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager as nine out of ten. It is very scalable, and you can manage more than 100,000 accounts, as I have worked in environments where we managed that volume and more.

We are partners with CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. Our clients are medium and small businesses. The number of accounts we manage in CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is approximately 10,000 in one client and 5,000 in another.

How are customer service and support?

Support-wise, they are the best. I would rate the technical support for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager a nine out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used a very old tool called Cloakware before CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, created by CA Technologies. It later got upgraded to merge with CA Technologies, and we had a product called CA PAM, which later got improved into what we see in the market today, called BeyondTrust. Cloakware was not that organized. There were many issues with provider IDs, the interface was very old, and hardly any companies use it these days. When I was using it, I was working for a US-based bank. Comparing that with CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is impossible, as they are poles apart.

How was the initial setup?

We have had cloud and on-premises deployments. Its deployment is easy. They have provided all kinds of documents. They are available in the community portal. You can get all kinds of help from the community or people using CyberArk and the OEM.

The duration of the deployment for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager completely depends on the environment. If it is a big environment, it may take up to one or two months sometimes. It depends on the collaboration of the teams. If the infra teams, the network side, and the OS side do not collaborate properly with the CyberArk team, it can take longer. However, if everything is in place and the environment is not huge, it takes less than a month, around 20 days.

The solution requires regular maintenance. You need to keep upgrading when updates are released by CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, and they do it quite often. Server patching is very important, and you need to be aware of the services running all the time. They have provided a system health feature to check if there are any component services that stop. All maintenance is required regularly, not daily but perhaps weekly, depending on the size of the environment. A good thing is that all of these can be automated. It saves a lot of time there.

What about the implementation team?

We have eight specialists in one team working with CyberArk Privileged Access Manager in my MSS team. There are other teams as well that have many CyberArk specialists, though I do not have an actual count.

What was our ROI?

It saves financially, though I cannot provide specific numbers. It is vital to have a PAM tool in your organization because it protects you from all kinds of malicious attacks, both insider and outside threats.

Regarding time-saving, many things are automated on CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, which helps us save considerable time work-wise and is very efficient for users. The end users have the authority to reconcile the password or verify it before using session isolation, which is one of the unique features that can be enabled through Privileged Session Manager, preventing any attacks from happening within the organization when connected with sessions through CyberArk Privileged Access Manager.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is quite expensive, and the pricing varies from region to region. In APAC, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager can be obtained for less than in North America, according to my understanding. Pricing-wise, they could improve by trying to sell their product in bulk licenses. You need to have a service provider or a reseller as the mediator company building the CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. Pricing-wise, they could definitely do a little better.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend CyberArk Privileged Access Manager to other users for all the reasons discussed. It has been number one on Gartner's quadrant for several years. Considering all those factors and being the best tool in the market for Privileged Access Management, it is recommended.

I would rate CyberArk Privileged Access Manager a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Technical Support Analyst at Capgemini
Real User
Top 20
Offers comprehensive session monitoring and is worth the price
Pros and Cons
  • "Session monitoring includes recordings of all activities performed."
  • "It is a leading solution and one of the best SaaS solutions in the market."
  • "Their support can be better. Their SLA timings are higher than others."
  • "Their support can be better. Their SLA timings are higher than others."

What is our primary use case?

The use cases include end-to-end privileged access and session management and complete password rotations. All the privileged accounts are secured within the vault, monitored, and rotated from there.

How has it helped my organization?

It helps manage non-human or application accounts used in scripting or containers. All can be managed in CyberArk. They have Secrets Manager as well.

What is most valuable?

Session monitoring includes recordings of all activities performed. For instance, if I connect to a server, whether it is Windows or Linux, and perform some activities, all actions are recorded. It is a video recording.

It can integrate with Splunk, SNMP, and other solutions and technologies. We have integrated it with Splunk for the audit logs.

What needs improvement?

Its price might be high for some people, but the quality is top-notch.

Their support can be better. Their SLA timings are higher than others. If Delinea has an SLA time of three days, CyberArk is going to have an SLA time of five days. They do not breach the SLA. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with this solution for around eight years.

How are customer service and support?

Support is available through different models, depending on the license agreement. Dedicated customer support personnel can be assigned to specific clients. Additionally, professional service hours are available for purchase.

Typical case resolution can take between a week and two weeks, although priority cases may be resolved in a day. There are different levels of support. Initially, a case goes to a level one engineer. If unresolved, it escalates to level two and then to R&D if needed.

CyberArk has a large number of customers. If you compare it to other vendors, they are doing better than CyberArk because their numbers are less, so they are able to support in a better way. With CyberArk, we have a longer waiting time.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

There are two models: on-premises and cloud. For on-premises, we have virtual machines hosted on Hyper-V, but physical servers are recommended by CyberArk. Installation requires technical expertise.

SaaS deployment is faster than on-premises because most of the components are handled by CyberArk. The deployment is faster in SaaS, but the cost of SaaS is a bit high. They have different licensing costs.

What was our ROI?

From my perspective, the capabilities the tool provides match the investment. For small businesses, the price is fair compared to other tools. While the cost may be higher, I believe it is a top-tier solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is a leading solution and one of the best SaaS solutions in the market. CyberArk is good at what they do, and the price reflects that. You have to pay the price for the same.

The price can vary based on the capabilities you need. We are paying a fair price for our environment. Compared to other solutions, its price can be high, but you are getting the best solution available in the market.

For 1,000 SaaS licenses, 100K euros might be required.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free CyberArk Privileged Access Manager Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: May 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free CyberArk Privileged Access Manager Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.