Volodymir Kolisnyk - PeerSpot reviewer
Security specialist at Kavitech
Real User
Top 20
A stable and profitable solution for privileged access

What is our primary use case?

CyberArk is a good, profitable, and most valuable solution.

What is most valuable?

While testing the functionality of PAM, we weren't merely conducting a standard PAM evaluation. We aimed to establish a connection and successfully received a response from the target PAM component.

What needs improvement?

The product’s pricing could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using CyberArk Privileged Access Manager as a partner and implementor.

Buyer's Guide
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager
June 2024
Learn what your peers think about CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2024.
772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is stable. If you make some changes or something, it's stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. We cater it to enterprise businesses.

How are customer service and support?

Customer support takes too much time to provide some response. When you open some cases, sometimes it takes one or two weeks to get some people to know the problem and how they will help us.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup takes a few days to complete.

I rate the initial setup a six out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

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

The product is expensive.

I rate the product’s pricing a seven out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I rate the solution a 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
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ProbalThakurta - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Partner at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Integrates well, flexible, but custom connectors
Pros and Cons
  • "The integrations are the most valuable aspect of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. The software offers pre-built integrations, and our team can also create custom connectors. This flexibility allows us to integrate with systems that we previously didn't consider integrating with, making it a significant advantage for us."
  • "There is room for improvement in the availability of custom connectors on the marketplace for this solution. Additionally, their services for the CICD pipeline and ease of integration could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is used for identity and privilege access management.

What is most valuable?

The integrations are the most valuable aspect of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. The software offers pre-built integrations, and our team can also create custom connectors. This flexibility allows us to integrate with systems that we previously didn't consider integrating with, making it a significant advantage for us.

What needs improvement?

There is room for improvement in the availability of custom connectors on the marketplace for this solution. Additionally, their services for the CICD pipeline and ease of integration could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

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

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Once the implementation is completed and the solution is hardened, I consider it to be stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is scalable on-premise but not on the cloud.

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

How was the initial setup?

The time it took for the deployment was approximately two years. It was not a simple process for the vendor. It should have been completed in one year, it took too long.

Our process steps for deployment involve specific stages, starting with onboarding Windows and Linux devices, and concluding with the onboarding of application service accounts and related components.

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

What about the implementation team?

The solution's deployment was completed by the vendor. 

A team of two to three people was required for the deployment of our solution. One of them had a high level of expertise in architecture and a thorough understanding of the solution. The remaining team members were junior-level personnel in charge of activities including connection development, data collection, and deployment. The vendor was also used by the team to help with data collection, planning, and execution.

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

The license CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is on an annual basis.

What other advice do I have?

A team of five to six people would be sufficient to maintain 24/7 operations.

I would recommend reducing the fee for cancellations, but when it comes to cloud services, there are superior options available in the market.

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

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager
June 2024
Learn what your peers think about CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2024.
772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.
PeerSpot user
Senior Specialist Identity System Support at Roche
Real User
The master policy allows us to establish a security baseline for our privileged accounts

What is our primary use case?

We are using CyberArk to store credentials of privileged assets in a secure way. In addition, CyberArk helps us to meet our security policy effortlessly, defining the complexity of the passwords, rotation period, etc.

We are also using the Privileged Session Manager to provide remote access to servers with security controls in place (session isolated and recorded).

How has it helped my organization?

With CyberArk, we can meet our compliance requirements reducing security risks without introducing additional operational complexity. This is very valuable for our company because we have regular audits where we have to provide evidence about the use of our privileged accounts (password use, password rotation, etc.)

In addition, we have several third parties that need access to our infrastructure. CyberArk PAS helps us to provide this access in a quick and secure way.

What is most valuable?

  • Master policy: allows us to establish a security baseline for our privileged accounts.
  • CPM: allows us to rotate passwords following the policy defined.
  • PSM: allows us to provide isolated sessions to the customer with additional controls (real-time monitoring, session isolation, and session recording).

What needs improvement?

  • We would like to have more flexibility in the RBAC model and have more options to define who should have access to what, not only based on safe membership. 
  • In addition, the user interface could be improved. When a team manages thousands of accounts, advanced filters are very valuable to search the accounts.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user585702 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Consultant
Allows secure, logged access to highly sensitive servers and services
Pros and Cons
  • "Allows secure, logged access to highly sensitive servers and services."
  • "​It's hard to find competent resellers/support."
  • "Initial setup is complex. Lots of architecture, lots of planning, and lots of education and training are needed."
  • "it manages creds based on Organizational Units. That is, a "safe" is limited to specific OUs. That makes for very elaborate OU structure, or you risk exposing too many devices by putting most of them in fewer OUs."

How has it helped my organization?

It has made things more complex, but has eliminated the possibility of Pass The Hash.

What is most valuable?

Allows secure, logged access to highly sensitive servers and services.

What needs improvement?

Perhaps by design, but it manages creds based on Organizational Units. That is, a "safe" is limited to specific OUs. That makes for very elaborate OU structure, or you risk exposing too many devices by putting most of them in fewer OUs.

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No scalability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Yes. The OU limitations, noted above.

How is customer service and technical support?

It's hard to find competent resellers/support.

How was the initial setup?

Complex. Lots of architecture, lots of planning, and lots of education and training are needed. Technically, roll-out isn’t bad. It’s the support, training, education, philosophy, and integration within existing ways of doing things that are challenging.

What other advice do I have?

I’m a consultant. I help implement and train others on how to use it in a highly secure environment.

I’d give it a nine out of 10. It is very, very secure.

Plan for major culture change, especially in non-progressive shops. This is a necessary evil to endure for the sake of real security.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Senior Consultant - Information Security Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Can provide transparent connection to targeted systems and record activities
Pros and Cons
  • "Rather than multiple tools for maintaining regulatory compliance around passwords and privileged accounts, we have centralized as much as possible with CyberArk. This is now a one stop shop for end users to access their elevated credentials."
  • "You can gradually implement CyberArk, starting with more easily attainable goals."

    What is our primary use case?

    We proactively vault and manage all elevated accounts across multiple platforms. 

    For especially sensitive business units, we additionally leverage Privilege Session Manager to provide transparent connection to targeted systems and record activities.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Rather than multiple tools for maintaining regulatory compliance around passwords and privileged accounts, we have centralized as much as possible with CyberArk. This is now a one stop shop for end users to access their elevated credentials.

    What is most valuable?

    You can gradually implement CyberArk, starting with more easily attainable goals, such as basic vaulting and password rotation and build on that with additional modules, such as Privileged Session Manager and Application Identity Manager.

    What needs improvement?

    While in the past, administration required several tools and multiple screens/options in those products, v10 is moving towards a single pane of glass with common functions easily found and information regarding privileged accounts given to users in plain, easy to understand terms, now enhanced with graphics.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    Three to five years.
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Senior Security Manager at SMU
    Real User
    Reliable, scalable, and easy to install but the pricing could be better as it's expensive
    Pros and Cons
    • "Its' quite stable."
    • "They need to provide better training for the System Integrator."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use this solution for ID purposes. When we remove a user from the server, we need a privileged ID password.

    We are a University. It's a large organization.

    What is most valuable?

    It's not very different when compared with other products.

    What needs improvement?

    From what I can see, the Systems Integrator is useless. When I ask for the information, nothing is given to me. They need to provide better training for the System Integrator.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with this solution for two years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Its' quite stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It's a scalable solution but could be improved. On a scale of one to five, I would rate it a four.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    I have not used technical support.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is pretty easy. It is not complex.

    What about the implementation team?

    We used a reseller, integrators, but they were useless to me.

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

    Pricing is quite high and it could be improved.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate CyberArk Privileged Access Security a six out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Cyber Security Manager at a hospitality company with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Improved our processes in terms of efficiency when it comes to creating accounts
    Pros and Cons
    • "CyberArk has been easy for us to implement and the adoption has been good. We've been able to standardize a bunch of things. We've been able to standardize relatively easily with the use of the platforms and managing the policies."
    • "There is a bit of a learning curve, but it's a pretty complex solution."

    What is our primary use case?

    So far, CyberArk has done everything that we've needed it to. We are growing and moving into the cloud. We have a pretty complex environment. Everything that we've needed it to do in terms of managing our privileged accounts, it has done.

    How has it helped my organization?

    We have been able to really transform how all of our sysadmins manage all our infrastructure. Before, it was like the Wild West. Everybody was way over privileged and had access to everything all the time. Now, we finally have everybody into least privileged and auditing through PSM, which has been fantastic. We also have implemented dual control and just-in-time. So, it's moved the ability to manage a lot of our privileged users to where we need them to be.

    CyberArk has been easy for us to implement and the adoption has been good. We've been able to standardize a bunch of things. We've been able to standardize relatively easily with the use of the platforms and managing the policies.

    What is most valuable?

    I like how thorough and complex it is. We have a solution, and it meets the needs that we need.

    The most recent improvement with the user interface upgrade was really nice. It makes the end users very happy. It is way more intuitive. The information that they need to have is now available to them. So, I appreciate that as an update.

    What needs improvement?

    The user interface was a previous problem that has been overcome. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    We have implemented our own redundancy into the product. That has worked for us very well.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We have been able to find a nice process for implementing CyberArk in terms of user adoption and onboarding. It's been pretty slick, and it works very well for us.

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

    We were lucky to have a board of directors who really embraced security. With their support, we were able to establish the need for a PAM solution. 

    How was the initial setup?

    When we originally implemented CyberArk, we did so incorrectly. With the help of CyberArk Professional Services, we were able to reorganize, reinstall, and upgrade within a week, then apply best practices to the implementation of CyberArk. So, I would say that it took us about a week to get setup correctly.

    At first, the integration of CyberArk into our IT environment was a bit rough. People didn't want to give up the rights and privileges that they had. But, we were able to show them how easy it was for them. We even layered in multi-factor authentication to access the accounts that they needed, which were privileges for appropriate functions. Once we were able to show them how they could quickly and smoothly get the access that they needed, it was not a bad thing, as they found out.

    What was our ROI?

    The return of investment for the CyberArk implementation within our organization has come from the reduction of risk. That is a little tricky to quantify, but it's definitely there. 

    We have improved our processes in terms of efficiency when it comes to creating accounts, managing the privileged ones and providing the correct access at the right time.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    After evaluating several vendors, we found that CyberArk met our needs.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate CyberArk an eight point five on a scale of one to 10 because it has done everything that we have asked of it. There is a bit of a learning curve, but it's a pretty complex solution. They do have ways to make it easier, but it's easy to fall down the rabbit hole when you're going into a deep dive. However, if you follow the trail, you will find some pretty cool stuff.

    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
    Technical consultant at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Consultant
    Gives us the flexibility to integrate with other technologies and applications
    Pros and Cons
    • "The flexibility of integrating with other technologies is important because of a lot of applications - a lot of COTS products - are not supported when we are bringing the application IDs. The CyberArk platform provides a lot of opportunities to do customization."
    • "CyberArk has a lot on the privileged access side but they have to concentrate more on the application side as well."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use it for all application IDs to onboard into CyberArk. So far, the performance is good because we have onboarded more than 40,000 accounts, and it's growing every day.

    We plan to utilize CyberArk's secure infrastructure application running in the cloud. We are conducting workshops with CyberArk on this. So it is planned but not yet confirmed. We are not using CyberArk's secure application credentials and endpoints.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Previously, we didn't have any password rotation policy for application IDs. Once we implemented CyberArk, we created a policy. It's good to rotate the passwords every two weeks. That is the biggest value for us.

    It gives us one place to store the keys to the kingdom, so if there is any breach we know where it is and what to do.

    What is most valuable?

    The flexibility of integrating with other technologies is important because of a lot of applications - a lot of COTS products - are not supported when we are bringing the application IDs. The CyberArk platform provides a lot of opportunities to do customization.

    What needs improvement?

    CyberArk has a lot on the privileged access side but they have to concentrate more on the application side as well.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    More than five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    So far, we haven't seen any major hurdles. We haven't had any downtime because of CyberArk.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    I would rate scalability at seven or eight out of 10. There is a need to improve the usage on for the consumer side. I hope in the upcoming product, the version may fulfill this.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Technical support is good but the problem is when we are using the application side. The support people have a security background, so they may not know the application technology, so it's a challenge right now. Once they understand, then they make progress but, until then, we have to educate them.

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

    Before CyberArk we had a number of solutions, CA and IBM products, but CyberArk meets our requirements regarding application password management.

    How was the initial setup?

    I was involved in the initial setup and I actually used CyberArk's Professional Services. It was straightforward. We didn't have any hurdles during the setup.

    What was our ROI?

    It's very hard to quantify because previously we didn't have anything like this. You can imagine, there was a policy not to rotate the passwords, but now after implementing CyberArk, every two weeks we are rotating the password without business impact, so that is the biggest ROI, even though we cannot quantify it.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We evaluated Thycotic and one other.

    What other advice do I have?

    If you want to use it as an application password management cloud solution, think about it not as a security person but as an application person. If CyberArk does not meet your requirements, it has a way to meet them through customization.

    Our most important criteria when selecting a vendor include scalability and stability as well meeting our security requirements for applications

    From the application perspective, I would rate it at eight out of 10 because it's very easy to use and stable.

    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 CyberArk Privileged Access Manager Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: June 2024
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free CyberArk Privileged Access Manager Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.