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IBM Security Secret Server vs Symantec Privileged Access Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 6, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Security Secret Server
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
28th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Symantec Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
17th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Privileged Access Management (PAM) category, the mindshare of IBM Security Secret Server is 1.2%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Privileged Access Manager is 1.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Privileged Access Management (PAM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Symantec Privileged Access Manager1.7%
IBM Security Secret Server1.2%
Other97.1%
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
 

Featured Reviews

AsifIqbal - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Information Security Officer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Easy to set up and manage and has good scalability and stability, but its technical support team needs to be more aggressive in solving issues
What needs improvement in IBM Security Secret Server is support. The local partner provides good support, but IBM itself doesn't. Most of the time, the IBM support team does not aggressively resolve issues reported through chat or the IBM website. In the next version of IBM Security Secret Server, I want to see more lightweight recording, architecture, or infrastructure requirements. Currently, it's heavy, so I want it reduced to make adapting IBM Security Secret Server much more effortless.
Muzi Lubisi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior technical Consultant at CA Africa
Secure management of sensitive servers and seamless applications with direct linking
The credential injection feature is highly valued, particularly for RDP sessions. A majority of customers use it for RDP, and a couple for Linux servers. The broader capabilities, including access to multiple systems, web-based applications, and clustering, have never posed an issue. The threat analytics aspect is also a robust feature that analyzes all pertinent information.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"What I like best about IBM Security Secret Server is its single-access console. It's also easy to manage and fulfills the requirements with the least resistance."
"Stability-wise, I think it is a very good solution."
"As a PAM solution, Secret Server performs all the use cases in our environment."
"One of the most valuable features is scalability, and how it allows you to scale it without affecting the underlying core components."
"The live recording is a very useful feature."
"The system is very stable."
"We can check the activities in the server for fragile files and documents in case of any issues."
"For me, it is the robust API which is the most valuable feature. This allows for low maintenance costs and allows applications to automatically connect. This is great to automate security of the DevOps pipeline for shared secrets across environments. Also, being on Linux and a virtual appliance is great."
"We found that the architecture is scalable and very resilient."
"We can enforce complicated password policies and very important frequent password changes."
"CA PAM is working well for us."
"Symantec PAM is easier to deploy compared to its competitors, such as BeyondTrust."
"The RDP-gateway: For limiting which server an operator can access."
 

Cons

"What needs improvement in IBM Security Secret Server is support. The local partner provides good support, but IBM itself doesn't. Most of the time, the IBM support team does not aggressively resolve issues reported through chat or the IBM website."
"Secret Server should have the ability to discover privileged accounts in the servers, like the administrator or users, from SQL and Oracle without having to import a script."
"The nonclustered index is working in an area with a problem that needs improvement."
"The newer interface is more difficult to use than the previous one, and consequently, new users might need more training."
"It would be preferable if the full proxy was included in the IBM Security Secret Server."
"It's difficult to locate the reports, there are limits on what reports can be run from the GUI, and the report formats are lacking."
"The response time for support could be faster. Some features should be added: cloud-based, VPN-less, more secure, and it should be adjusted in a hybrid environment."
"Broadcom has neglected product development since acquiring Symantec, and nothing major has been added to PAM."
"Technical support was good when CA handled it. After Broadcom took over, it's not as good."
"They need to have zero tier and active-active setup ​with zero minimum downtime, which they are working on it. ​"
"Instead of just giving passwords to the user based on job function, from auditing perspective, turn that cycle around. That would really help from an auditing standpoint."
"They should include some assignments in the test environment to explore the product's features."
"They need to do a little bit more on the mainframe side.​"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My rating for the IBM Security Secret Server pricing is seven out of ten. It could be cheaper."
"I believe that we paid 35,000 or 40,000 US dollars for it."
"The price could be better. I think it's a good price for the on-premises environment and the high availability for enterprises the solution provides."
"It is reasonably priced."
"The version we are using is affordable compared to BeyondTrust, which is maybe three to four times as expensive, but it depends on the features."
"The prices are not low, but one can ask for a discount. It’s not the cheapest PAM solution."
"It is more expensive than other solutions on the market."
"I would prefer better licensing options for the 20-100 users we have at a given time."
"They offer per-device, per-user, or monthly and yearly licensing models."
"The licensing is simple and scalable."
"Pricing is fair compared to other top vendors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Performing Arts
11%
Insurance Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise30
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Privileged Access Manager?
Due to the nature of the solution, it is hard to gauge, but compared to competitors, the pricing is very good. I would rate it as an eight and a half out of ten.
What needs improvement with Symantec Privileged Access Manager?
Recent releases need improvement in webpage management. For instance, navigating through a webpage that acts like a wizard, where I proceed to the next page and enter more information, is not handl...
What is your primary use case for Symantec Privileged Access Manager?
With the customers that I have so far, I help them broker RDP sessions to sensitive servers, particularly those that manage aspects like physical access. I have also done it for backend databases, ...
 

Also Known As

IBM Secret Server, Secret Server, IBM Security Privileged Identity Manager
CA PAM, Xceedium Xsuite, CA Privileged Access Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
NEOVERA, Telesis, eSoft
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security Secret Server vs. Symantec Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,889 professionals have used our research since 2012.