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reviewer2139282 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Security Consultant at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Consultant
Mar 31, 2023
It helps our clients have full confidence in their security
Pros and Cons
  • "With CyberArk, you can be fully confident that your existing accounts are secure. You will be 100 percent"
  • "PAM could be more user-friendly and CyberArk could update the documentation to include more real-world examples. You have to learn it yourself through trial and error. In particular, the online documentation should have more information about troubleshooting."

What is our primary use case?

I'm a security solutions architect. I design solutions and hand them over to the client once they're implemented. We educate the users on how the solution works or turn it over to our managed services department

CyberArk PAM is an identity management solution used to manage privileged accounts on domains and local servers, including admin accounts in Windows environments and root users in Unix. 

How has it helped my organization?

With CyberArk, you can be fully confident that your existing accounts are secure. You will be 100 percent secure against attacks if you have all the right policies in place.

What needs improvement?

PAM could be more user-friendly and CyberArk could update the documentation to include more real-world examples. You have to learn it yourself through trial and error. In particular, the online documentation should have more information about troubleshooting.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used CyberArk PAM for two years. 

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Idira Privileged Access Manager
September 2026
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

CyberArk PAM is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

CyberArk PAM is scalable. Managing 80,000 accounts is almost as easy as managing a thousand. 

How are customer service and support?

CyberArk has a solid community. It's easy to get support and feedback from the forums. However, it can be difficult to access official technical support if you don't have a CyberArk certification because they have a process to limit unnecessary calls. You get excellent support once you're certified. 

How was the initial setup?

Deploying CyberARK is complicated, but it is relatively easy for me because I have excellent scripts for implementing the prerequisites. It might be challenging for the average end user. It would be ideal to educate them in a demo environment because hard to explain this to a user without them. I would need to build an environment to show them. A simulated lab environment is one thing CyberArk PAM lacks.

We set up the prerequisites and discover the privileged accounts in the environment. CyberArk has a tool that scans the servers and detects accounts. This works best in a Microsoft environment. It's more difficult without Active Directory because you have to rely on the information the customer provides. You can begin the onboarding process once you've identified the accounts. 

It takes a month to set up the prerequisites and two or three days to install CyberArk PAM. Once it is deployed, it takes eight months to a year to tie up some loose ends. You may need to identify some accounts that you missed. The total time depends on the size and complexity of the user's environment. If you've configured everything correctly, it's simple to maintain. 

What was our ROI?

The ROI for CyberArk PAM is difficult to measure because the benefit is a reduction in risk. If CyberArk can eliminate most of the customer's security risks, then it's worth what they paid. 

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

CyberArk isn't cheap, but it's the best. You have to pay for quality. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate CyberArk Privileged Access Manager 10 out of 10. CyberArk is the leader in Gartner's quadrant. I tell my customers that they need to be 100 percent secure—99 percent isn't good enough. The top hackers will exploit that 1 percent hole, and you're finished. You need 100 percent, or else you're wasting your money.  

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?

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
PeerSpot user
Technical Manager at Gulf IT
Reseller
Oct 20, 2022
Lots of features with a great performance and the ability to expand
Pros and Cons
  • "Performance-wise, it is excellent."
  • "CyberArk has the biggest number of features available when you compare it to other PAN solutions like BeyondTrust, Thycotic, and Delinea."
  • "Sometimes the infrastructure team is hesitant to provide more resources."

What is our primary use case?

The concern on our end was separating the components, including the password storage component, and having everything completely separated. 

What is most valuable?

The scalability is very easy.

The most valuable aspect was being to be able to manage it through multiple mediums. We can manage it through its command line interface, web view, and directly logging into the digital environment with permission. You have multiple mediums. You don't have to give direct access to the world every time you want to limit what admins should do and what they should not do.

CyberArk has the biggest number of features available when you compare it to other PAN solutions like BeyondTrust, Thycotic, and Delinea. They tend to have a lot of separate components.

Performance-wise, it is excellent. 

What needs improvement?

The components of their web view, policy manager, and session manager, most of them are separated. We need something which can unify those components into a single appliance. Sometimes the infrastructure team is hesitant to provide more resources. 

They have a lot of out-of-the-box integrations with a lot of other products. However, I would want them to bring on some kind of similar platform. If they can bring up the SSO on-prem, that would be ideal, as they don't have those things on-premises. They only provide that for the cloud. If they can do that, it would actually help a lot of us and keep us from trying to acquire multiple technologies for solutions.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for six or seven years at this point. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We are very stringent on the performance metrics and would rate the solution very high. It's stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We found that scalability was much easier in CyberArk. In BeyondTrust, scalability required purchasing extra virtual machines every time we wanted to scale it up. However, in CyberArk, we don't need to purchase extra components. It comes along with the line.

Currently, we have around 78 to 80 admins, and there are around 200 underlying accounts. 

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

We previously used BeyondTrust.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I haven't compared it to Thycotic yet, however, from what I have read, it looks like CyberArk is better. I've also looked into Delinea.

What other advice do I have?

We are reselling the solution to customers.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. It's quite a good product.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Idira Privileged Access Manager
September 2026
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913,076 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Iordanidis Iordanis - PeerSpot reviewer
Procurement Manager at OTE Group
Reseller
Oct 13, 2022
Easy to set up and fairly priced with helpful support
Pros and Cons
  • "We found the initial setup to be easy."
  • "This is a stable, reasonably priced product, and it has good security features as well."
  • "We would, of course, always prefer it if the pricing was cheaper."

What is most valuable?

The product is fairly priced. 

It's stable.

The solution is scalable. 

People are quite satisfied with the way it's working and the support we receive. 

The security is good. 

The interface is fine, although I'm not directly using it too much. 

We found the initial setup to be easy.

What needs improvement?

We would, of course, always prefer it if the pricing was cheaper. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for four or five years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It's reliable. It does not crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have more than 100 people on the solution right now. 20 to 30 are likely admins. 

The solution is scalable. We can increase licenses as needed. 

How are customer service and support?

Technical support has been helpful and responsive. We are happy with their support. 

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

I can't speak to what solutions, if any, we used previously. 

How was the initial setup?

The solution is very simple and straightforward. It's not complex at all. 

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

I know that CyberArk is now changing the pricing model to subscription-based. My understanding is renewals will be done on the subscription-based models. The pricing is reasonable. We pay annually.

The costs depend on if you were talking about the access of internal or external users. There is also an extra external fee for supporting the licensing.

What other advice do I have?

We are end-users and customers. 

This is a stable, reasonably priced product. It has good security features as well. Since we received the renewal request, it's been working very well. 

I'd rate the product eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Furqan Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at Pronet
Real User
Sep 29, 2022
Works well and is easy to set up but support needs a faster response time
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is stable."
  • "The session manager is the most critical part of CyberArk's PAM solution and it works perfectly well."
  • "The support services could act faster when people reach out to resolve issues."

What is our primary use case?

It is a PAM solution, in which we provide privileged access to CyberArk and the users who are using to try to access their devices. They onboard on the CyberArk and then, whenever they need to access the devices, they get access to CyberArk which means they have to log in on CyberArk.

What is most valuable?

The models as a whole are great. I'm not sure if I can pull out specific features. I like that if we execute the user can't access their devices. If you remove the session manager, the user can't access their devices. It helps ensure we can protect our organization and data. The session manager is the most critical part of CyberArk's PAM solution. 

It works perfectly well. 

The solution is pretty easy to set up. 

The solution is stable.

It's scalable. 

What needs improvement?

The support services could act faster when people reach out to resolve issues. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for the last two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable product. 

We have deployed CyberArk for two years, and so far, we haven't received any issues regarding any bugs or anything like that. We haven't faced any issues. There are some challenges regarding user access. We have to explain to users who are not familiar with the PAM solution what to do, however, regarding stability, or regarding bugs we haven't faced any issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's a scalable product. For example, in my scenario, the deployment that I have done, if I want to scale it up or if I want to extend it, I can easily add the next module in that. There are no challenges regarding scalability.

I have only one deployment in Pakistan. It is at one of the largest banks in Pakistan here which has thousands of users on CyberArk.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is good. I haven't faced any issues. If you're looking at the response time, I will say that it's quite a long wait. 

How was the initial setup?

The setup process of CyberArk is quite typical. Once you understand the process, it is very easy for you. That said, for a newbie, it may be a bit difficult. For example, for the PSM module, we have to make changes in the registry of the devices. You have to collaborate with your system team to make a configuration. I can get complex. That said, once you know, it's very easy.

What about the implementation team?

I have been through the process of implementing the solution for clients. 

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

The licensing can be yearly or over a couple of years. Support needs to be renewed every year. 

What other advice do I have?

We have four models which we are using. 

The first one has a wall that which we have deployed on the particular server. The next one is the CPM which is the Central Policy Manager through which we enforce the password policy and password rotation policies. 

I'd recommend the solution to others. 

We have conducted a POC in Pakistan on multiple sites with different customers. CyberArk is a quite typical product and can be a bit expensive, so it's a good idea to try it out first and make sure it is what you need.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Muamer Riza Gani - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Vice President for Cyber Security Project at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Sep 9, 2022
Plenty of features, scalable, and responsive support
Pros and Cons
  • "All of the features of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager are valuable."
  • "One of the benefits of using CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is we have an audit trail that fits the requirements of our organization and we are more secure using the features of the solution, such as investigating and tracking."
  • "The initial setup of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager difficulty depends on the environment that you are implementing it into. However, it typically is simple."
  • "However, there is still room for improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We are using CyberArk Privileged Access Manager for securing access to the host or the server. The solution has the capability to record activity on the server, rotate the passwords, kick out an active user, and complete an action if suspicious activity is triggered on the server. We typically only use the solution for accessing the target server and for password rotations.

How has it helped my organization?

One of the benefits of using CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is we have an audit trail that fits the requirements of our organization and we are more secure using the features of the solution, such as investigating and tracking.

What is most valuable?

All of the features of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager are valuable.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using CyberArk Privileged Access Manager for approximately six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is very good.

We have approximately 300 users using the solution.

How are customer service and support?

The partner support we have in Indonesia is fast and responsive to our needs. They are available if we are facing a problem. However, there is still room for improvement.

I rate the support from CyberArk Privileged Access Manager an eight out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

I was previously using MEGA HOPEX.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager difficulty depends on the environment that you are implementing it into. However, it typically is simple.

I rate the initial setup of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager a five out of ten.

What about the implementation team?

We use a third party to do the implementation of the solution. We purchased preventive and corrective maintenance from our partner.

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

There are additional features added to our CyberArk Privileged Access Manager license. For example, features that allow us to integrate into various kinds of platforms.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others. It has great value and it ensures your environment is secure and it is most important in production. If your company is a financial institution it is a lot of times mandatory to have a solution similar to this in operation because of cyber security concerns. We need to have preventive or professional action and one of those elements is to have a secure platform.

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

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Meo Ist - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Product Manager and Technology Consultant at Barikat
Reseller
Aug 14, 2022
Greta digital vault, very robust, and offers great integration capabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a robust product."
  • "CyberArk is a more secure product - much better than Thycotic."
  • "It is very complex and difficult to set up the solution."
  • "The implementation and integration process is very, very complex."

What is our primary use case?

I use CyberArk as a password vault and session recordings and to connect the server sites. I use some critical systems if I can access them, including workflows and mechanisms. 

What is most valuable?

It's really good. 

The digital vault is great. It protects our passwords and manages those passwords and changing periods.

There is some third-party access to our system's recording process. It's very, very important for us and we're glad they allow it.

It is a robust product. It's very stable and reliable.

The solution can scale well. 

What needs improvement?

The interface could be updated a bit. Right now, it's not very good. 

It is very complex and difficult to set up the solution. 

Maybe some customers have a lot of systems. For example, we have 1000 Windows systems and 500 Linux systems. I need a remote desktop management solution for the CyberArk. I'd like to be able to change desktops with one click. We'd like the next release to have remote desktop management tools. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for the last five years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable.

We no have had no performance issues; it's a really robust product. If I need more performance, I use another server, install another server, and improve our performance.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very easily scalable. 

We have 50 admins on this solution. 

We are using the solution to 70% capacity. We do plan to increase usage. 

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

We did use Delinea, formally Thycotic. That solution is really good, however, not fully secure. CyberArk is a more secure product - much better than Thycotic. Thycotic may be better in terms of its admin-friendly interface and integration, however, CyberArk offers more than vendor integration. It has massive integration capabilities.

How was the initial setup?

The implementation and integration process is very, very complex. It is a robust product, however. I don't have to do a lot of setups, luckily. However, when you first set it up, it's very difficult as you don't really know what you're doing. 

The first 27% of the implementation took us maybe three months, however, for more than 95% of installation, it took us over one year. We had all the features up and running, however. 

We started with connection and session recording features, however, items such as password changing and other integrations, for example, firewall connection and switch interface connection were rolled out over the year.

You only need one person to maintain the solution. 

What about the implementation team?

We had a third party help us with the implementation process. 

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

It's a yearly license that we pay. It is more expensive than other options. There are competitive products that are cheaper. 

I can't speak to the exact price. On a scale of one to five, with one being the most expensive, I would rate it a one. The license covers five servers. If you need more servers, you pay more. The same is true with disaster sites. If you need a disaster site, you are fine. It is included. If you need more, you need to pay for it. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We did look at multi-factor authentification options and zero-trust network access. 

What other advice do I have?

I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using. It's likely the latest version.

This is a fully secure product and integrates with a lot of different systems. I'd recommend the product to others. 

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. ex-partner, changed companies a month ago
PeerSpot user
Aakash Chakraborty - PeerSpot reviewer
IEM Consultant at iC Consult GmbH
MSP
Aug 10, 2022
Great password storage, very reliable, and pretty much issue-free
Pros and Cons
  • "In terms of stability, there are no complaints."
  • "In terms of stability, there are no complaints; CyberArk, I would say, is an industry leader in this portfolio, especially in Privileged Access Management."
  • "The initial setup can get complex."
  • "CyberArk is not friendly in terms of having a Community Edition. It's a very, very costly app."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution as a vault for whatever passwords we use for connecting to an API or job services. The admin passwords we store in Password Vault. Via CyberArk, we have made a use case where we can track the session, keep a record, and log it, to whoever is logging into the servers.

How has it helped my organization?

CyberArk is basically used for privilege access management. It used to be hard to control security from internal employees. For products, and production servers, tracking used to be very difficult. 

Although One Identity Manager also provides similar services that CyberArk provides, they are no match to CyberArk basically. The amount of details and logging that CyberArk provides is command level. That really streamlines the process of tracking those internal servers. That's one significant advantage, I would say.

What is most valuable?

CyberArk's best aspect is it lets you store the password, and it allows you to connect to those connected systems' passwords. For example, there is an AD in your organization, and you have stored the AD password. Say you want to change the AD password; you just have to change it in CyberArk. CyberArk itself will change the password in the connected system. That's one nice feature they have introduced in the latest features. 

What needs improvement?

CyberArk is not friendly in terms of having a Community Edition. It's enterprise software. They could maybe give a Community Edition that you can just play around with and see how the software is. It's a very, very costly app. 

Therefore, they can definitely give a demo version or some sort of a Community Edition with partial features at least to help potential users understand its capabilities. 

The initial setup can get complex. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for about four and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In terms of stability, there are no complaints. CyberArk, I would say, is an industry leader in this portfolio, especially in Privileged Access Management. There are so many identity access management tools, and almost all of them say that they are both IAM and PAM service providers. However, CyberArk is the only one that is specifically for Privileged Access Management, and they really do mean it. With CyberArk, the PAM is really too good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have 5,000 users at least on the solution. 

For Privileged Access Management, it's been used extensively.

How are customer service and support?

I've never dealt with technical support. I'm more of an end user in this case. We rarely have to literally dig down into the implementation. There is a different team that exclusively works on CyberArk, and that's the team that basically deals with day-to-day CyberArk operations.

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

In both organizations I have worked, they've used identity access management as Dell One Identity Manager, and for Privileged Access Management, CyberArk.

We basically used to have a separate Password Vault that was KeePass. 

With KeePass, there was a security incident in our organization where a few of the passwords got leaked, and then it was challenging to track how the leak happened. With all that considered, G-PAM or CyberArk Password Vault was considered the next solution to prevent these sorts of things from happening again.

How was the initial setup?

The implementation process is a bit complex. If you know this software or the product very well, then setting it up is not that big a deal. However, if you're a newcomer, then of course, it's not a piece of cake. As a new user, I'd rate it 2.5 out of five in terms of ease of setup.

We started from the development stage, where the maximum amount of time was spent. In a live environment, you can't have that much downtime. Roughly you are allowed for one and half hours, or a maximum of three to four hours for downtime. In a live environment, once we could identify the clicks and hacks of the software in the lower environment, it was pretty easy to do. There, it took roughly one to one and a half hours to do, and that part was pretty smooth.

CyberArk is such a stable product that either they launch a new version, which you have to latch onto very quickly as they censored the support for older versions, and with these security products, you can't really stay along with the older versions. Usually, the products are very stable. They don't need multiple patches or updates. One version itself is self-sufficient. At least in my four and a half years of experience with this product, I have seen fewer intermittent updates. Once they launch a new version, that's a different thing. However, from a maintenance point of view, it's very user-friendly and lightweight. Even usage of the tool is very speedy. It doesn't lag one bit.

What about the implementation team?

We handled the initial setup completely in-house.

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

This is very costly software. However, I haven't really dug into the licensing. My organization gives all its employees a free license and therefore I don't have to worry about pricing. My organization is a partner with CyberArk also. Even so, we just have one instance as a practice instance. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I did not choose this solution, and I'm unsure if other options were considered. 

The hired architect chose it. I just had the opportunity to implement it. If he evaluated other options first, I have no knowledge of them. 

What other advice do I have?

My company has various levels of partnership with CyberArk.

I'm typically using the latest version of the solution. CyberArk sunsets their older versions very quickly. They won't let you use the old versions.

CyberArk has many components. Password Vault is one of the components. Then there is the CyberArk for server monitoring and logging. These are the two components that we have used extensively. However, apart from that, there are many more applications for CyberArk also, which I haven't used at the moment.

To those considering the solution, I would say when you do the installation, to get on a call with technical support. Keep them on hold. If you are really doing it for the first time and are not aware of the software, you may run into issues.  The public forum of CyberArk is not that good. Their documentation is not that great, and it's not that well maintained. The problems that you may face are seldom covered. Therefore, when you are paying that much money for high-quality software, you can at least ask for better help from them.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Aakash Chakraborty - PeerSpot reviewer
IEM Consultant at iC Consult GmbH
MSP
Aug 9, 2022
Bug-free, reliable, and pretty straightforward
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a scalable product."
  • "The solution is stable and reliable."
  • "I would love them to improve their UI customizing features."
  • "They should allow further customization as it's really hard to do any further customizations over CyberArk."

What is our primary use case?

Privileged Access Management is basically used to just keep track and log. We have to provision those accesses. If a newcomer comes, they have to be identified to ensure they are the correct users. So for those, there is a web implementation where there are some products that you can order, then they're approved. Depending on that mechanism, it's been decided, oh, this is a valid user. That's how it's been managed.

How has it helped my organization?

Privileged Access Management in CyberArk is one of the very first features that was implemented as part of Privileged Access Management. Then came Endpoint Manage and finally the Password Vault. From the very beginning, once Identity Access Management as a service started, with Dell One Identity Manager as the first service. Then came CyberArk. I don't think there is an additional benefit that it has brought. It's sort of an essential commodity in the entire Identity Access Management infrastructure.

What is most valuable?

For me, Privileged Access Manager and One Identity sort of merge together. For me, the best part of CyberArk is Password Vault and Endpoint, basically. If you ask me what's there that, it's that everything is pretty straightforward. There is no confusion. It's a pretty straightforward application to work on.

It is a scalable product.

The solution is stable. 

What needs improvement?

They should allow further customization as it's really hard to do any further customizations over CyberArk. We do have a wrapper of customization. However, it's very difficult, especially their web implementation. That's one thing I would say they can improve. With Angular and everything on the market, they still have their in-house web implementation tool, which is sort of a headache. 

I would love them to improve their UI customizing features. 

You simply cannot install the demo UI in every customer, basically. They would always ask for something to make their UI look a little different -  simple things like their logo or some sort of additional information pertaining to their particular customer. Even doing the smallest of changes takes a lot to do. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable and reliable. 

I haven't been faced with intermittent bugs like I do on One Identity.

With CyberArk, we rarely get those situations. It's a very, very stable software. You rarely need to raise any bug or service request with them.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's pretty scalable. Although we haven't increased our infrastructure once, we have installed the latest version. Even then, adding other infrastructure items into the portfolio is not a big deal once you have done the initial installation.

Our organization is more than 30,000 to 35,000 people. However, only a handful of them are entitled to Privileged Access Management. There might be only 5,000 users. It is used quite extensively.

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

It sort of was implemented with One Identity Manager when Identity Access Management came into the picture. In early times when there was simply Excel as an identity access manager, and then there was nothing basically. Once there was the onset of proper identity access management without in-house custom tools or proper streamlining process, this solution was added. Initially, One Identity was sort of used as a Privileged Access Management also. However, soon they realized that it lacked in a lot of places for Privileged Access Management. That's when we went to CyberArk. That was way before my time.

How was the initial setup?

I have been part of the initial implementation. However, the day-to-day operational tasks are being handled by a different team.

I was part of a migrational project. When I joined this organization, they were just migrating from the last stable version to the present stable version. It was pretty straightforward. There was, in my organization at least, documentation that was a bit more thorough to follow. That helped me a lot.

The implementation takes quite some time. Even in production, we have to instantiate the service. We had to take a special weekend, which means downtime since this is a critical application. Therefore, moving this takes some time. It's not that there are glitches and all. It's such a heavy application that requires moving so many things. For us, it took around nine to nine and a half hours roughly to deploy. This is considering if I take off all the in-between stoppages and breaks.

Privileged Access Management is a complex topic. I won't say that any of the tools are straightforward. That said, if you are thorough, then it's pretty straightforward for people who are in this industry.

I'd rate the setup process a four out of five in terms of ease of implementation.

What other advice do I have?

With every security tool, new users learning by themselves is a bit difficult since the material isn't openly released. It's released if you have a partnership or if you pay for the software. That makes learning the tool a bit difficult. If you are interested in learning, the only thing is to get a job in that field. If your company is using it, it's like learning by doing. That's the only way you can learn about this product.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1628910 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at a recruiting/HR firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Jul 29, 2022
Reliable and great for securing environments but could be more user-friendly
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is scalable."
  • "The main, most valuable aspect is its capability to secure our environment."
  • "It can be made user-friendly, in the sense of the console is pretty outdated."

What is our primary use case?

CyberArk is for Privileged Access Management, so we secure our privileged accounts using CyberArk.

What is most valuable?

The main, most valuable aspect is its capability to secure our environment. That's the main reason why we are using it.

What needs improvement?

It can be made user-friendly, in the sense of the console is pretty outdated. They could add more enhancements, et cetera.

They could add more built-in connection components to support various other application platforms. The built-in connection components available are mostly not fit for our purpose. We need to do additional customization to make it work.

For how long have I used the solution?

I’ve used the solution for almost two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability is fine so far, other than a couple of phishes every once in a while.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

25 people are using the solution.

The solution is scalable. It’s on the cloud, which makes it simple.

How are customer service and support?

We have enterprise support from the vendors.

The response time could be a bit better. Some people don’t have the access to be able to jump in right away. Sometimes we need someone from the development team who has access to help.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

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

I’ve never had experience with any other vendors.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was not that straightforward. However, we had vendor support, and we were able to fix all the issues.

It took us almost a month to deploy the solution.

I’d rate the solution a three out of five in terms of ease of setup.

In terms of maintenance, some of the components are not in the cloud, so we handle these aspects ourselves. We have a dedicated team for it.

What about the implementation team?

We initiated the setup with the help of the vendor.

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

I don’t deal with the licensing. That said, my understanding is that it is on the higher side.

When we need enhancements, we do have to pay more.

What other advice do I have?

We are CyberArk partners. I’m a consultant.

We’re always using the most up-to-date solution version, as we are utilizing the cloud.

We use it mostly to secure our privileged accounts. We don't actively use any other products of CyberArk.

I’d recommend the solution. It’s ideal for smaller organizations.

I would rate it seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Salif Bereh - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Mar 9, 2022
Remote desktop manager can register connections, making it easy to connect to machines through the virtual IP
Pros and Cons
  • "All the features of CyberArk are useful for me, but the biggest one is that CyberArk has logs for all the features. That is important when there is a problem. You know where to look and you have the information. In cyber security, the most important aspect is information."
  • "CyberArk is one of the best PAM solutions and one of the most expensive, but it works better than the others, so the pricing is fair."
  • "The PTA could be improved. Currently, companies often have multiple domains and sometimes it's difficult to implement CyberArk in this kind of infrastructure. For example, you can add CPM (Central Policy Manager) and PSM (Privileged Session Manager and PVWA (Password Vault Web Access) for access, but if you want to add PTA (Privileged Threat Analysis) to scan Vault logs, it is difficult because this component may be adding multiple domain environments."

What is our primary use case?

There are many possible use cases, but in general, CyberArk permits users to target machines and rotate their passwords, and to record decisions. It is used to create security through PTA and to forward Vault logs and investigate events. It also enables users to access passwords in dev code without actually knowing the passwords. There are a lot of advantages to CyberArk.

As a consultant, I have seen a lot of CyberArk configurations. Sometimes we use the CyberArk Cluster Vaults with one DR. I also worked for a company that used only one vault, without a cluster, but they switched data centers when there was an incident.

How has it helped my organization?

I used to be a Windows and Linux administrator before I used CyberArk. The difference is that now it is simple for me to connect to my target machines. I can add them to my favorites, making access to the servers simple. 

CyberArk enables confidentiality. The passwords are stored in a fully secured Vault. If you want, you can access target machines without using PVWA. If you act as a remote desktop manager, you can register your connections and connect your target machines through the virtual IP and easily connect to your machines. Your connections and commands would all be registered to the Vault.

What is most valuable?

All the features of CyberArk are useful for me, but the biggest one is that CyberArk has logs for all the features. That is important when there is a problem. You know where to look and you have the information. In cyber security, the most important aspect is information.

Another valuable feature is that if you don't have access to a machine, you can see the machine in CyberArk. It's the management capabilities that CyberArk enables for a company that are very useful.

Other useful features are optional, such as recording decisions or rotating passwords.

What needs improvement?

The PTA could be improved. Currently, companies often have multiple domains and sometimes it's difficult to implement CyberArk in this kind of infrastructure. For example, you can add CPM (Central Policy Manager) and PSM (Privileged Session Manager and PVWA (Password Vault Web Access) for access, but if you want to add PTA (Privileged Threat Analysis) to scan Vault logs, it is difficult because this component may be adding multiple domain environments. 

CyberArk, as a solution, can easily adapt to a lot of environments, and you can add a lot of components to different zones, and that will work with the Vault. But not all the components, such as the PTA, can do so.

Also, it would be helpful if CyberArk added some features for monitoring machines when we access them. For example, they need to improve the PVWA. In general, when we don't use the PVWA, we don't have a lot of problems. For me, the PVWA is not perfect. I would like to see more features in the PVWA to administer our machines and to improve the transfer of data.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using CyberArk Privileged Access Manager for more than three years.

I have implemented and maintained CyberArk solutions for clients, including creating administration functionality, such as platforms and support for users, so that everybody has 24/7 access to the account. 

I have also been involved in enhancing the solution by installing useful components and testing them. I would help analyze if a component could be of interest to the client and then implement it in production.

In general, I would help maintain the solutions and make sure that everybody can access the accounts, and that password rotation works.

How are customer service and support?

I would rate WALLIX support at six out of ten, while CyberArk's support is a seven. The reason it's a seven is that we always have to send them the logs. Of course, we do get some response and they work on things, but sometimes we lose time on little tickets.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

If you have some experience, it is not complex to implement CyberArk. For me, the preparation is more difficult than the installation. Because CyberArk uses binaries, if you add good information, it will work. But if you miss something at the preparation stage, like the opening of the flows that you need, of course, it will be difficult. I know how the solution works, so it's not difficult.

First, you have to install the Vaults, and after installing them you can add PVWA to access the information. After that, you can install the PSM and then the CPM for the rotation, and that's it.

The time it takes to implement depends on the environment. Sometimes we work with complex environments and we have to adapt and collect all the information that we will need. We need to look out how the machines should be set up for the installation. It really depends on the size of CyberArk you want to install, including how many computers will be onboarded to CyberArk. There are technical and functional variables.

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

CyberArk is one of the best PAM solutions and one of the most expensive, but it works better than the others, so the pricing is fair.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I used to work on WALLIX Bastion, but CyberArk works better than WALLIX. WALLIX is a PAM solution, a French version, but when I was at another job I was a consultant on both WALLIX and CyberArk at the same time. That's when I saw that CyberArk is better.

It is simpler to upgrade the CyberArk environment and components than WALLIX. CyberArk has a user interface but WALLIX does not because WALLIX is installed on Linux while CyberArk is installed on Windows, making it user-friendly. Connecting is also simple with CyberArk. When a user connects to the PVWA, there aren't a lot of buttons. When users see the icon, they click "Connect" and connect. It is simple for them.

CyberArk can adapt easily to environments. For example, when we talk about connectors, CyberArk can easily connect to all the target machines these days. CyberArk can onboard network machines, Windows Servers, Linux servers, and Oracle Databases.

Web application passwords can be rotated. With its PSM and Selenium features, it enables the connection of a web application to CyberArk and rotation of passwords, so that it's not system accounts all the time. We can manage the web application accounts as well. CyberArk can also connect to the cloud.

What other advice do I have?

When you work on CyberArk, you have to have more than one skill set. You are not just a PAM consultant because you manage passwords for all kinds of systems. You have to have skills in Windows, Linux, databases, and security because you manage those kinds of accounts. If you don't have those kinds of prerequisites, you can't work with CyberArk.

I started working on CyberArk when it was version 10.x and at this moment it is at 12 and more. The interface has changed and a lot of features have been added over that time. It's a good solution.

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.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Idira Privileged Access Manager Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: September 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Idira Privileged Access Manager Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.