System and network security engineer at Central Bank of Nigeria
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Easy to use, especially for retrieving keys and self-service model
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup is very straightforward. It only took a few minutes."
  • "There's room for improvement in cross-platform compatibility."

What is our primary use case?

I only work with Azure Defender for Key Vault because I'm on the security team.

So, it's currently used for passwords and secrets.

What is most valuable?

It's quite easy to use. That's one very important feature.

For additional features, you can always bring your own key (BYOK) or use your own key instead of Azure Key Vault.

What needs improvement?

There's room for improvement in cross-platform compatibility.

It would be helpful if Azure Key Vault could be used with other cloud platforms besides Azure.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for three to four years now. 

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would give it an eight out of ten for scalability. There's room for improvement in cross-platform compatibility.

It's mainly used by administrators. There are less than 12 administrators using it.

How are customer service and support?

I haven't used technical support for Azure Key Vault. However, we did use advisory services once.

We were working on a specific use case that involved blockchain technology. We wanted to know if Azure Key Vault could be used to store private keys for blockchain nodes. We spoke to Microsoft, and they were able to help us.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward. It only took a few minutes.

What about the implementation team?

You can deploy it yourself. It's a self-service model. Just a single Azure administrator is enough.

What was our ROI?

We have definitely seen a return on investment from using Azure Key Vault. It has helped us to improve the security of our organization.

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

You don't need to pay for a license for Azure Key Vault. It is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.

What other advice do I have?

I would definitely recommend Azure Key Vault. It is very easy to use, especially for retrieving keys and creating secrets.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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MICHEL RACT-MUGNEROT - PeerSpot reviewer
Personal business manager at La Mairic
Real User
Top 5
A centralized and highly secure solution for managing cryptographic keys and certificates while offering seamless integration with Azure services
Pros and Cons
  • "It provides a secure and centralized location for managing and protecting sensitive information, making it an essential component for enhancing the security."
  • "While it is reliable, enhancing security and protection should always be the priority."

What is our primary use case?

We use it to secure passwords and conceal various types of information within documents and data.

What is most valuable?

It provides a secure and centralized location for managing and protecting sensitive information, making it an essential component for enhancing the security.

What needs improvement?

While it is reliable, enhancing security and protection should always be the priority.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate its stability capabilities ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability depends on the availability mechanisms established at the data center level, specifically through the use of availability zone regions.

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

We have been using Cisco Secure and CyberArk. It's not a simple switch; rather, we encountered specific situations that necessitated the use of Key Vault.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

It takes about an hour or less to complete the deployment internally with our in-house team.

What other advice do I have?

I would advise to construct the global scenario in alignment with their specific requirements. Overall, I would rate it ten out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Azure Key Vault
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Azure Key Vault. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
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RajGohel - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Simple initial setup, easy to use, but more enhanced security needed
Pros and Cons
  • "One of the most valuable features of Microsoft Azure Key Vault is its ease of use."
  • "Microsoft Azure Key Vault could improve by enhancing the security of credentials. Without the security or the use of key vaults, we would have to configure our credentials into the source code as plain text without the encryption or security."

What is our primary use case?

We use Microsoft Azure Key Vault to store encrypted credentials.

What is most valuable?

One of the most valuable features of Microsoft Azure Key Vault is its ease of use.

What needs improvement?

Microsoft Azure Key Vault could improve by enhancing the security of credentials. Without the security or the use of key vaults, we would have to configure our credentials into the source code as plain text without the encryption or security.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Azure Key Vault for approximately seven months.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I didn't explore scalability very much, I had limited configurations with Microsoft Azure Key Vault. In the future, if I need to add a few more properties I could do it within the scale.

How are customer service and support?

I used the Microsoft support that they have online at MSDN. I found most of the requirements and answers to my questions needed.

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

I have not used other solutions previously.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Microsoft Azure Key Vault was easy. The time it took for the implementation was appropriately one hour.

The solution does not require maintenance, there is no maintenance team needed.

What other advice do I have?

The solution is simple to use, but there are now many more wallets that are available in the market. I haven't explored other solutions. I would advise others to look at other solutions to have an overview of what features the others are providing before choosing.

I rate Microsoft Azure Key Vault a six 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?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Subba Rao Puvvada - PeerSpot reviewer
VP - Global Delivery Head at Enhops
Real User
Top 5
Seamlessly integrates with other services
Pros and Cons
  • "We use Azure Key Vault for securing secret connection streams, like API secrets, Azure services Secret Key, and AD Client Secret."
  • "Azure Key Vault is only available for Microsoft services, and it should be exposed to non-Microsoft cloud services, like GCP and Amazon."

What is most valuable?

We use Azure Key Vault for securing secret connection streams, like API secrets, Azure services Secret Key, and AD Client Secret. Azure Key Vault is a stable solution that seamlessly integrates with other services.

What needs improvement?

Azure Key Vault is only available for Microsoft services, and it should be exposed to non-Microsoft cloud services, like GCP and Amazon.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Azure Key Vault for a few years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Azure Key Vault is a stable solution.

I rate the solution a nine out of ten for stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We've never had any scalability issues with Azure Key Vault. More than 30 customers are working with the solution.

I rate the solution a nine out of ten for scalability.

How are customer service and support?

The solution’s technical support team is knowledgeable.

How was the initial setup?

The solution’s initial setup is easy. We use Microsoft's templates and PowerShell scripts for the solution's seamless deployment.

What about the implementation team?

Azure Key Vault has an automated deployment, which does not take more than five minutes. We create the Azure Key Vault service and set up its lifetime and client secrets. Then, we create a secret and its text and values and update the solution. We then configured Azure Key Vault so that we could access it. We use mostly dot NET APIs and integrated this into the application setup. We inject the service whenever required, and we'll create the keys.

What was our ROI?

Azure Key Vault provides a single source of truth and a secure database for all my secrets.

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

We use a pay-as-you-go license for the solution, which is not very expensive.

What other advice do I have?

Azure Key Vault is a cloud-based solution.

Overall, I rate Azure Key Vault a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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Piyush_Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Cosultant at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Top 10
Good features, advanced data protection, and reasonably priced
Pros and Cons
  • "There is advanced data protection available. We're working in a highly regulated environment, and this is essential to us."
  • "There are additional charges for data transfers. However, the pricing is mostly reasonable for the licensing overall."

What is our primary use case?

We are working with a lot of our clients who use the solution to protect sensitive information and to store it in the key vault within their infrastructure.

How has it helped my organization?

The sensitivity of the data needed to be kept in a secure environment so that only people who had proper access would be authorized to access it.

We are using infrastructure as code. So any of the services which require sensitive data can directly use service principles, manage identities, and access key items and then retrieve information from the Key Vault.

Since we are partners of Microsoft, we don't implement it for ourselves. We implement it for our clients. For our clients, many were using on-premises solutions and had connectivity from on-premises to the cloud. With this solution, they get the same level of data protection (or more) on the cloud.

What is most valuable?

The features on offer are very good.

We are using Key Vault as an optical store for the sensitive data and then retrieve the data and use access policies. So access to policies is quite valuable for us based on the regulations and compliance requirements that we are working with.

There is advanced data protection available. We're working in a highly regulated environment, and this is essential to us.

Perforamnce-wise, it's very good. We haven't had any issues in the past three years. There are no errors or downtime. It's always been available to us.

Microsoft's Key Vault availability is around 99%.

A lot of new features have been added, and it has nice regional availability as well. 

It is stable and scales well.

Technical support has been fine overall. 

What needs improvement?

It's currently very self-sufficient and doesn't need improvements. It's already a good service. 

We haven't faced any problems with the solution as such. The only issue we are facing is around the comparability with TerraForm, which we use to code the infrastructure. Sometimes there are issues there, even though it's not directly related to Microsoft. 

So far, it's served all of the client's purposes. We haven't come across a use case the solution could not handle. 

There are additional charges for data transfers. However, the pricing is mostly reasonable for the licensing overall. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for three or four years at this point. I've used it for a while. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is quite stable. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have 60 different teams that deploy their own Key Vault. They are purely developers that make applications for users. Those users may be from anywhere and may use the application portals.

I'm not sure, behind the scenes, what Microsoft does. However, I've found it to be scalable across regions. If we wanted to use 100 Key Vaults, we could do so.

We do not have plans to increase usage at this time.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is pretty good. I haven't had any issues with them over the past three years. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

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

The client has used other on-premises versions in the past. Many needed a cloud option, and we helped them move to Key Vault. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. We do not deploy it as it is a SaaS. We simply configure it for clients. There are APIs available, and we use them within Key Vault to implement.

We require the business use case and strategy in order to implement the product. For example, if we are in energy or health care, we need to know what is the area that is sensitive and where they are being used. Then, once we have that, we can protect those items.

The only maintenance that is required is service access. For example, if we need to add authorized personnel, we would do that. 

What about the implementation team?

We can handle the implementation for clients. 

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

The cost is quite cheap. There are no extra costs beyond the standard fees, beyond maybe data transfer charges. It's $0.025 per 10,000 data transactions, so it is quite cheap.

What other advice do I have?

We are a partner of Microsoft.

We haven't exported or imported information in Key Vault.

This solution is worth the cost and is useful to use. 

It's a service that can be used in multiple regions in Azure. They are mostly deployed in UK South and UK West. It can be deployed and used in other regions as well; however, we have data constraints. 

I'd rate her solution eight out of ten overall. 

Potential new users should consider the types of sensitive information they want to store and how they want to retrieve the information, and from where. These are critical to understanding as they will govern the configuration of Key Vault.

You can deploy Key Vault both publicly and privately. For example, if you do it privately, you can ensure you will ensure it can only be accessed from within your environment, and that ensures a very high level of security.

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?

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
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Senior Manager at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Reasonably priced, stable, and easy to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution can scale up as needed."
  • "The solution does not allow you to integrate with XML parties if it is not inside Azure itself."

What is our primary use case?

We were using the solution to store our keys that includes secrets, passwords, and also application properties.

What is most valuable?

The application properties and the ability to store our certificates too have been great aspects of the solution. 

Mainly, having the application properties where all our applications' configurations were stored in the key vault was very useful.

The initial setup is pretty simple. 

The stability is very good.

The solution can scale up as needed. 

The solution offers very reasonable pricing. 

What needs improvement?

I can't recall coming across any missing features or elements. 

The solution does not allow you to integrate with XML parties if it is not inside Azure itself.

For how long have I used the solution?

I used the solution during my previous project that I handled last year. I used it for a full year, from January to December.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. I never had issues, for example, with stability, bugs or glitches, or crashing. It's reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution can scale. It is already a platform as a service, and therefore, it's already scaled up.

Our entire company is currently using the product.

How are customer service and support?

I did not use technical support when I worked with the product. Therefore, I cannot speak to how helpful or responsive they are. 

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

We did use HashiCorp Vault. We used to use it, and then we moved to Azure Key Vault due to the fact that it's a cloud platform as a solution and it is easy to implement.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward, however, we never used the console. We always used to use the Azure CLIs to set everything up.

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

The pricing is very reasonable. It's not overly expensive.

What other advice do I have?

We're a Microsoft partner.

I cannot recall which version of the solution I used for the project I worked on.

Overall, it's a great product.

There's nothing I dislike about the solution. I would rate the solution at a ten 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?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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Krishnanunni M - PeerSpot reviewer
Dev Ops Engineer at a wellness & fitness company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 10
Affordable, easy to maintain, and offers decent integration
Pros and Cons
  • "Considering the features provided by the product, I would say that the solution is available at a good price point."
  • "If the region where the Azure Key Vault data center is hosted goes down, it would be a cumbersome task since our company will have to come up with a different Azure Key Vault and migrate all the secrets or keys into it."

What is our primary use case?

I use the solution in my company to store secrets and certificates.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of the solution in our company stems from the fact that it is easy to integrate with our codes. The support and SLAs provided by Microsoft for Azure Key Vault are good. The aforementioned areas consist of some of the basic advantages of Azure Key Vault. Azure Key Vault is nice to store the secrets of in a concealed manner.

What needs improvement?

One of the drawbacks I think is the single-point failure of our products. If the region where the Azure Key Vault data center is hosted goes down, it would be a cumbersome task since our company will have to come up with a different Azure Key Vault and migrate all the secrets or keys into it. Basically, improvements are required in the product to deal with disaster scenarios. Maybe there are some ways to deal with the solution's issues about which our company might not have researched thoroughly.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Azure Key Vault for 2-3 years. My company is a customer of Microsoft.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight to nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution as seven out of ten.

Around 500 people in my company use the product.

How are customer service and support?

I rate the technical support 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?

The PoC phase of Microsoft Defender is in the pipeline.

How was the initial setup?

I rate the product's initial setup process as an eight on a scale of one to ten, where ten means it is a very easy phase.

I have not faced any issues during the product's installation and configuration processes.

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

Considering the features provided by the product, I would say that the solution is available at a good price point.

The payment is made as a whole for all the Microsoft products used in our companies. I don't remember the exact price of Azure Key Vault. The product is affordable, in my opinion.

What other advice do I have?

The most beneficial component related to cryptographic graphic key management stems from the auto-rotation functionality.

The product comes with two types of access policies. The tool provides a conventional policy and Azure RBAC. My company mostly, you say, the conventional access policy and it has been working great so far.

The product plays a crucial role in our company's security strategy.

The product is easy to maintain.

The product helps ensure compliance with our industry regulations since it meets most of the auditing and compliance rules. It is a secure solution that needs to have most of the policies and compliance rules. I would say that Azure Key Vault is a good solution, considering the security part.

I rate the overall tool a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Oleksandr Tymoshyk - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of IT Security Division at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 5
Stable product with a valuable integration feature
Pros and Cons
  • "The product’s advantageous feature is integration."
  • "It is complicated to use different services and products along with Azure Key Vault."

What is most valuable?

The product’s advantageous feature is integration.

What needs improvement?

It is complicated to use different services and products along with Azure Key Vault. There should be a single vault for virtual servers, containers, and other services. It could be universal with the possibility to use all types of technologies. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Azure Key Vault for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is stable as it is cloud-based.

How are customer service and support?

We have an enterprise agreement for support services. We encountered difficulties in communicating with the first-line support team.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

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

We use other products in parallel, including ARIS, AWS, HashiCorp, etc.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Azure Key Vault an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Azure Key Vault Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Azure Key Vault Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.