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Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management vs Symantec Privileged Access Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Microsoft Purview Privilege...
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
15th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Symantec Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
16th
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 October 2025, in the Privileged Access Management (PAM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management is 1.9%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Privileged Access Manager is 1.4%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Privileged Access Management (PAM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management1.9%
Symantec Privileged Access Manager1.4%
Other96.7%
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
 

Featured Reviews

Mayeen Uddin - PeerSpot reviewer
Security features have increased satisfaction while implementation is seamless
I use Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management primarily for Outlook, Microsoft Word, and Excel Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management is easy to understand, particularly its menu. I am satisfied with its security features provided through Microsoft Security. However, my company…
Muzi Lubisi - PeerSpot reviewer
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

"The ability to provide just-in-time privileged access and set specific parameters for access duration is highly beneficial."
"The integration with Azure Identity is a significant advantage, as it allows for seamless automation and power app integration."
"The integration with other Microsoft solutions is a standout feature of Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management."
"Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management is easy to understand, particularly its menu."
"The integration with Azure Identity is a significant advantage, as it allows for seamless automation and power app integration."
"Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management is easy to understand, particularly its menu."
"We found that the architecture is scalable and very resilient."
"It will provide us with more security."
"We know we can scale up with what we have, and we probably will not need to buy any further appliances down the road."
"The two factor authentication, and the single most important capability was it supported PIV and CAC as one of the two factors. That was pretty huge for us."
"The interface is very friendly, colorful, and bold."
"The DB clustering is a really good benefit of using CA PAM."
"The agent-based credential management solution allows clients to programmatically use the agent to collect passwords during runtime from Symantec Privileged Access Manager."
"The credential injection feature is highly valued, particularly for RDP sessions."
 

Cons

"Sometimes, its functions, like XLOOKUP in Microsoft Excel, do not find situations properly, especially without the use of pivot tables."
"Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management could improve integration with multiple cloud environments."
"Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management has made progress in providing insights into generative AI tools being used within organizations, but customers need to further track where sensitive information is being used within AI tooling."
"Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management could improve integration with multiple cloud environments."
"There's room for improvement in Microsoft's documentation, as it often lacks clarity."
"I do not see any financial benefit after implementing Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management, however, this question would be better answered by my manager."
"Bring more technology into the portfolio and being able to collapse those products into a much more integrated way."
"We have to do a lot of manual work to automate features."
"They need to have zero tier and active-active setup ​with zero minimum downtime, which they are working on it. ​"
"I wish it could create local accounts on desktops."
"It'd be great if you just stuck in your PIV card and Windows popped up, asked you for your password. You typed it in, then it remembered your credentials."
"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."
"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 handled well by the system."
"Broadcom has neglected product development since acquiring Symantec, and nothing major has been added to PAM."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Don’t go with an agent model. Don’t go with a model that has you buying a thousand different parts. Go with PAM that gives you everything, or you’ll just be paying costs of implementing another tool that PAM would have just given you up front."
"It is reasonably priced."
"It is more expensive than other solutions on the market."
"Appliances are relatively cheap, don’t skimp. Make sure you have redundancy, high availability, and enough appliances to manage the concurrent workload."
"The licensing is simple and scalable."
"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 prices are not low, but one can ask for a discount. It’s not the cheapest PAM solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Healthcare Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
16%
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise30
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management?
The ability to provide just-in-time privileged access and set specific parameters for access duration is highly beneficial.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management?
Regarding improvements for Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management, there are still some challenges. Purview contains numerous predefined sensitive information types, which sometimes makes i...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management?
We are a company offering solutions to other customers, and Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management provides great helping features and solutions. It is not the only thing needed to prevent ...
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

Microsoft Privileged Access Management (PAM)
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 Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management vs. Symantec Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,202 professionals have used our research since 2012.