Technical Manager at Gulf IT
Reseller
Top 5
Lots of features with a great performance and the ability to expand
Pros and Cons
  • "Performance-wise, it is excellent."
  • "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. 

Buyer's Guide
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

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
Jan Strnad - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Architect at AutoCont CZ a. s.
Reseller
Top 10
Protects accounts and has a password rotation feature that thwarts hackers; technical support was good
Pros and Cons
  • "What I found most valuable in CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is the Session Manager as it allows you to split the connection between the administrator site and the target site. I also found the Password Manager valuable as it lets you rotate the passwords of privileged users."
  • "In the beginning, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager didn't have a multifactor authentication feature, so that was an area for improvement, but now it's part of the solution. Having just one console for two CyberArk products would be good, particularly for the CyberArk Privileged Access Manager and the CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager, with the latter being a product for endpoint management that supports the workstations and allows you to manage workstations. In the next update of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, it would be good to have a local agent where you can manage all users and processes, and have an agent on the servers such as Linux and Windows."

What is our primary use case?

We use CyberArk Privileged Access Manager for our customers who want to monitor and protect the access from the vendor side or the partner side. These customers want to cover external users who want to gain access.

What is most valuable?

What I found most valuable in CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is the Session Manager as it allows you to split the connection between the administrator site and the target site. I also found the Password Manager valuable as it lets you rotate the passwords of privileged users.

What needs improvement?

In the beginning, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager didn't have a multifactor authentication feature, so that was an area for improvement, but now it's part of the solution.

Having just one console for two CyberArk products would be good, particularly for the CyberArk Privileged Access Manager and the CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager, with the latter being a product for endpoint management that supports the workstations and allows you to manage workstations.

In the next update of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, it would be good to have a local agent where you can manage all users and processes, and have an agent on the servers such as Linux and Windows.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with CyberArk Privileged Access Manager for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is easy to scale. You can divide the solution into different parts and connect them, then you can add a new feature, a new appliance, or a new system. The solution works.

How are customer service and support?

In terms of the technical support for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, I sometimes contact the service engineer in this region. I also have access to the support portal which I use in some issues, but it's not so often. I found the technical support team very professional and I would rate support for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager five out of five.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager was complex because, in the beginning, you must get the information from the customer such as how he wants to install it, how he wants to protect privileged accounts, how password rotation would work, etc., before you can install the solution.

The time it takes to deploy CyberArk Privileged Access Manager depends on several factors such as how many admins a customer has, how many devices, and the types of devices, for example, does the customer have servers such as Windows or Linux, some other network solution, or some applications, etc.? It could take between ten, fifteen, or one hundred days. My company needs to analyze at the beginning to define how long the process will take.

On a scale of one to five, with one being complex and five being very easy, I would rate the initial setup for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager four out of five.

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

I'm a technician so I don't handle the licensing for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, but I know that the price for the core license is about €140 per year. There's another type of license, the external vendor license, and that's about €600 and you can manage twenty devices. From what I know, the price for one device in a subscription is about €65 per year.

You can buy the CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager too, or you can buy some other application or application license with CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, but all other features, such as the Analytics Server is included in the basic CyberArk license. With WALLIX, you need to buy separate licenses for the features.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I've evaluated WALLIX, apart from CyberArk Privileged Access Manager.

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is a global solution that applies to all customers, from small scale to enterprise businesses, but the solution has a little bit more servers that you need for the installation. WALLIX, on the other hand, is just one appliance that focuses on small-scale customers. Its deployment is much easier because you just install one appliance with all the features inside. Deployment is easier with WALLIX versus CyberArk Privileged Access Manager which has a complex deployment. In the end, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager has more features that you can define or set up, while WALLIX has some limitations.

What other advice do I have?

I'm working for a company that sells privileged access management solutions, including CyberArk Privileged Access Manager.

The version of the solution which I'm dealing with is an old version. Most of the deployment is on-premises, but my company will start cloud deployment for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager as well.

My company resells, implements, and also provides support for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager for the customers.

The solution requires upgrading regularly, and if there's a new system or application, you need to set it up for privileged access management on CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, so maintenance is important. Currently, in my company, five people work with the solution where there are about two hundred devices with fifty administrators. In the beginning, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager was for large-sized businesses. Nowadays, it's also used by medium-sized businesses.

I would recommend CyberArk Privileged Access Manager to others looking into implementing it because it's very important to protect privileged accounts in the company and do password rotation, so the hackers won't have a chance to detect and find the real passwords in the system. You can also use CyberArk Privileged Access Manager to protect external users and the admins from the direct connection to the server and after that, you can see what the users and admins do because the system makes video recordings and session logs. It's important to see what the admins do from time to time.

For me, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is the best product, and even Gartner says the same, so I would rate it a ten out of ten.

My company is a partner and reseller of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager.

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
Buyer's Guide
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Security Architect at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
With Privileged Session Manager, you can control the password management in a centralized way
Pros and Cons
  • "The automatic change of the password and Privileged Session Manager (PSM) are the most valuable features. With Privileged Session Manager, you can control the password management in a centralized way. You can activate these features in a session; the session isolation and recording. You apply the full intermediation principle. So, you must pass through CyberArk PAM to get access to the target system. You don't need to know the password, and everything that you do is registered and auditable. In this case, no one gets to touch the password directly. Also, you can implement detection and response behavior in case of a breach."
  • "Some aspects of the administration need improvement, though they have recently made improvements to the API. However, the management with the interface and configuration are not so user-friendly. It has not changed much during all the years that CyberArk has been on the market. The management part, like platform management as well as PSM connectors definition and management, could be improved, even if it has already been done with the API."

What is our primary use case?

We have clients that ask us to implement CyberArk PAM. There are two kinds:

  1. Greenfield installation and setup. 
  2. They already have CyberArk and want to extend their usage to protect different types of accounts and passwords.

CyberArk PAM protects privileged accounts and passwords. Privileged account means that those accounts have particular authorization that can span all the features of the system. For example, usually on network devices, they come out out-of-the-box with administrator accounts. Windows has an administrator account built-in so you need to protect that. Also, Active Directory has some accounts, like domain administrators, who can do whatever on the platform. These accounts are used for administration.

CyberArk stores and rotates the password/credential. They can rotate SSH keys as well. This protects the attack surface. By way of CyberArk, you can allow sessions, isolation, and recording. The main aim is to protect privileged accounts and their credentials.

I started with version 9.7, and now I am working with version 10.10, but the latest version is 12.

What is most valuable?

The automatic change of the password and Privileged Session Manager (PSM) are the most valuable features. With Privileged Session Manager, you can control the password management in a centralized way. You can activate these features in a session; the session isolation and recording. You apply the full intermediation principle. So, you must pass through CyberArk PAM to get access to the target system. You don't need to know the password, and everything that you do is registered and auditable. In this case, no one gets to touch the password directly. Also, you can implement detection and response behavior in case of a breach.

With CyberArk, you have a centralized store. With Privileged Session Manager, you can just look by the browser, looking through the name of the account, the name of the system, and the host name. In this case, you get the password and can then get through. Therefore, it is easier to get access to the system because it is easier to search the system for what you want using the user interface/browser of CyberArk. You also have an auditable action because the password is unknown to the administrator.

What needs improvement?

Some aspects of the administration need improvement, though they have recently made improvements to the API. However, the management with the interface and configuration are not so user-friendly. It has not changed much during all the years that CyberArk has been on the market. The management part, like platform management as well as PSM connectors definition and management, could be improved, even if it has already been done with the API.

Onboarding is always a difficult path for every PAM solution. It is not immediate.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using it for six years, usually in delivery projects.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is very good. There are no problems with it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It has good scalability. Though, because the architecture is modular, you must plan a bit. In terms of performance, it is very scalable, but you need to pay attention to the architecture because it is not like having Kubernetes that moves laterally. While you can deploy it in a second, you need to be careful. 

How are customer service and support?

They have a good response time. 

Sometimes, on the development side, for some components, it does not respond for PSM connectors and CPM plugins. They don't tend to take responsibility for those. While clients tend to develop some PSM connector and CPM plugin, I would like a more flexible response on these types of issues being raised. Because while I am developing those components, I am developing on their product.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

We had clients who had quite a lot of SAP systems, something like 900. At first, their change management practice, i.e., the changing of the administrators' passwords was not so frequent, e.g., once a year instead of once a month or every two months. Their password management was usually done by storing those passwords on an Excel. Therefore, if they needed to connect to a system, they had to access the Excel file to find the machine and accounts to then receive the passwords for access to the system. This was unwieldy since they needed to look through an Excel spreadsheet with more than 900 entries. This is also not very secure since you have an Excel file with a clear password on your workstation. 

How was the initial setup?

It was a bit complex because the architecture is complex. At the same time, this is also an advantage in relation to other competitors in the market because CyberArk's architecture is inherently secure. So, while it is a bit more complex to set up initially, it is necessary for reaching the security that other solutions do not give you.

The installation can easily be done. It is the architecture part that is complex, possibly because you need to size the machines. 

It depends greatly on the project. Usually, the best approach is a modular one. You start with a set of users, then move on to expanding the solution with size in mind. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

CyberArk's architecture is peculiar. It is the most secure on the market because they have a hard-end computer out of the domain that stores passwords with multiple cryptography. Then, there are the default components that dialogue with Password Vaults. Only CyberArk has this. The other solutions usually give you an encrypted database on an appliance, and this is a very different scenario. Therefore, CyberArk has an inherently secure architecture.

Broadcom PAM is not as stable versus CyberArk. 

What other advice do I have?

Plan wisely and you will have a very good product. The approach should be modular and step by step. Start with the UNIX administrators, network device administrator, Windows administrator, and Active Directory administrator, then move onto more complex scenarios, like web server administrators, sub-administrators, etc. 

I would rate CyberArk PAM as nine out of 10. It could be more manageable.

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
Iordanidis Iordanis - PeerSpot reviewer
Procurement Manager at OTE Group
Reseller
Top 10
Easy to set up and fairly priced with helpful support
Pros and Cons
  • "We found the initial setup to be easy."
  • "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: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Corporate Vice President at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
PSM has taken care of all the deficiencies that we had
Pros and Cons
  • "When we started with RPA, there was a requirement that every credential and the bots themselves be protected through the PAM system. From the get-go, we've had CyberArk in the middle... We've got a pretty robust RPA implementation with our PAM platform. Users, bots, the credentials — everything is managed via our PAM solution."
  • "The one place where we found that this product really needs to improve is the cloud. Simple integrations don't exist, even today. We don't have anything specific on CyberArk for managing, SaaS products, SaaS vendors, SaaS credentials. I understand it's a vendor-based thing and that they have to coordinate with the other vendors to be able to do that, and there are integrations coming. But these are the major places where CyberArk definitely needs to invest some more time."

How has it helped my organization?

An example of one of the ways CyberArk has benefited our company is one of the simplest. And this one is something that a lot of companies struggle with: domain administrators and server administrators. These are among the top accounts that most companies need to protect. As part of our deployment, we decided to go with these first when we deployed PSM.

What we found out was that there's always that friction with operational teams where they don't want to do this kind of work because it is another thing they have to do. But once the product was deployed and we were able to give them all the tools that they have today, and they did not have to go through attestations and audits anymore and, when team members were coming in and leaving, all they had to do was put in a ServiceNow request to complete all the work, it was just something so different for them that all that friction just went away. It was one of those simplest things, but one of the biggest things that you can do in your company to protect it.

I don't know if CyberArk really helps with meeting our availability requirements, but it definitely helps a lot with managing the accounts and managing the credentials. Availability? It helps to an extent. If there is an event of some sort, yes, you can always go back and look at the logs and you can figure out through recordings what happened. But it's more about manageability than availability.

In addition, when we started with RPA, there was a requirement that every credential and the bots themselves be protected through the PAM system. From the get-go, we've had CyberArk in the middle. We use standard products for RPA and all credentials are managed through CyberArk. All bots are protected via CyberArk, through PSM, and also through CCP calls. We've got a pretty robust RPA implementation with our PAM platform. Users, bots, the credentials — everything is managed via our PAM solution. From a cost perspective, this was something that was a requirement, so cost was never really an issue here.

The solution's ability to secure robots’ privileged access is pretty good. We've been able to secure our bots. In fact, we take care of our bots right from a development environment, using our development instances. So when our developers are building the scripts around those bots, they're already aware of what's going to happen when things finally go into production. Obviously, the level of security doesn't need to be the same, but we do it through the complete lifecycle.

What is most valuable?

PSM has been one of the most valuable features. We started on this journey a while back. Initially, when we did not have PSM, we started with AIM and that was our first use case. But an audit came along and we had to go towards something a little bit better and we had to migrate more applications. PSM came along and did exactly what we needed it to do. To take care of all the deficiencies that we had, PSM was the right thing to do.

What needs improvement?

We work with CyberArk's customer success team and we work with its engineering team back in Israel. We've been doing things on CyberArk which a lot of its customers, we know, have not been doing.

The one place where we found that this product really needs to improve is the cloud. Simple integrations don't exist, even today. We don't have anything specific on CyberArk for managing SaaS products, SaaS vendors, and SaaS credentials. I understand it's a vendor-based thing and that they have to coordinate with the other vendors to be able to do that, and there are integrations coming, but these are the major places where CyberArk definitely needs to invest some more time. Because this is what the future is. You're not going to have a lot of on-prem applications. Most stuff is going to the cloud.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Not every product is 100 percent stable. CyberArk does have some issues once in a while. But the core product, the vault system, has been extremely stable. We haven't had a single problem since we got this thing deployed, and it's been more than six years now. We've not had a single problem with the vault. 

Related to the software, there are other things that can cause problems. You could have clusters going down or you could have issues with hardware, but the product itself has been very stable. 

There are the usual quirks you have sometimes with PSM, but it's been a very stable product for what we need it to be.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of the product's ability to manage all our access requirements at scale, about 80 percent of it can be managed. There is no product in the market which can say, "We can do 100 percent, we can do everything." Or, they say that they can, but when it comes to it, it doesn't really happen. But with CyberArk, we've had the benefit of it being a little scalable, plus very easy to configure for the different use cases we have. So we can cover around 80 percent. But then we have to put some compensating controls around the other 20 percent.

It has scaled for our use cases. We built it according to the very large specification and it has scaled. It has done exactly what we need it to do. We've not yet had a performance issue to date.

How are customer service and technical support?

We've had good relationships with their technical department. My team usually does more engineering. We work with CyberArk's customer success team more often than the regular technical support. My operations team usually deals more with tech support.

When it has really come down to major issues, if we've ever had a Sev 1, they've been on point. They have picked up the phone, they've called us and they've helped us.

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

We did not use a different product. We had an in-built vaulting system for managing our own credentials. We've been a CyberArk customer for a while. We had the document vault. Privileged Access had just come out and CyberArk was one of the easiest choices we could make at that time. That's how we decided to go with it.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was not straightforward. The very first setup that we did was specifically for AIM, which was obviously simpler. We had an in-built vault which we replaced with the AIM setup. 

Our PSM setup was very complex. We had about 450 applications that we had to onboard over a period of one year, and we had to remove close to 16,000 accounts. It was a very complicated setup. We built close to 35 different connection components to get this product in.

What was our ROI?

The total cost of ownership, over credentials, is definitely something that goes down if you have a vaulting system. But if you have deployed it correctly, that's the only time you can get that. We've definitely seen some improvements. There are additional costs associated with getting every application onboarded, but in the long run, it keeps the company secure and I don't think you can put a price on that.

What other advice do I have?

We use the solution with AWS. In fact, we set up a custom setup for AWS. We worked with the CyberArk engineering team to get it working, to come up with a custom solution to integrate our AWS EC2 instances. There were some limitations, as I mentioned earlier, with how the product integrates with AWS, so we had to make some major changes to how the integration works. As far as monitoring is concerned, it's standard CyberArk monitoring. We don't see anything specific to AWS, as far as the monitoring is concerned. This is the one place where CyberArk can improve.

Privileged access management is one part of IM. Anything that goes through has to get approved through the IM team, and our product of choice for privilege access is CyberArk. When we decided to go to the cloud, this was the natural choice because this was the product that the enterprise uses. We've had challenges. We've had to customize the product to meet our requirements. It might not be the same for every customer because our requirements are a little unique. But it eventually worked out. We've been able to meet most of our use cases.

CyberArk is an eight out of 10. It can do a lot. But there is definitely scope for improvement.

I come from the IM world, but I was more into access management. CyberArk was just one of those products which was thrust on me. Now I'm head of privileged access management, so CyberArk has been pretty good for me, going from the access management space to privileged access management. It's definitely had an impact on my career.

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
Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Beneficial secure server assess, useful user log access, and good support
Pros and Cons
  • "CyberArk Privileged Access Manager's main benefit is it provides secure access to our servers. There are features to capture the user activity, it provides video recording processing. If the users are logged in to the server, we can see what activities they are performing. It's a very nice tool for Privileged Access Management. They have plenty of useful services and the solution has fulfilled our needs."
  • "The solution could improve by adding more connectors."

What is our primary use case?

I am using CyberArk Privileged Access Manager to protect our servers. It can be either a Windows or Linux Server. Additionally, we have some network devices, and databases, such as Oracle and MySQL Server being protected.

How has it helped my organization?

It's improved our organization a lot. It has fulfilled some guidelines from the Indian government. There is some Indian government guideline for anonymity and access management. Similarly, there are guidelines for GDPR, and where we have vendor's control. CyberArk Privileged Access Manager has helped us to meet all the requirements.

What is most valuable?

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager's main benefit is it provides secure access to our servers. There are features to capture the user activity, it provides video recording processing. If the users are logged in to the server, we can see what activities they are performing. It's a very nice tool for Privileged Access Management. They have plenty of useful services and the solution has fulfilled our needs.

What needs improvement?

The solution could improve by adding more connectors. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using CyberArk Privileged Access Manager for two and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is a stable and reliable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have approximately 200 people using this solution.

How are customer service and support?

The support team from CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is very good.

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

I have not used other solutions.

How was the initial setup?

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager's initial setup is straightforward. However, it can depend on many factors, such as architecture.

What about the implementation team?

I used a partner for the implementation of the CyberArk Privileged Access Manager.

The number of people required for the implementation of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager depends on the number of applications. However, for my team, we have two to four people who were involved in the development of our architecture. 

What was our ROI?

From a technology perspective, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager has helped us to improve our services. It helped us to meet our requirements or guidelines. Whether it's audit perspective, internal, or external, whatever the guideline is, it meets our needs. If there are any independent agencies that need to be involved we meet those requirements.

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

The price of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is expensive. There are no other fees other than the standard licensing fees.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

As part of our company's policies, we have to evaluate other solutions.

What other advice do I have?

I would advise others that requirements should be discussed properly with all the stakeholders to understand their expectations. Additionally, it is important to explore our tool limitations. We should more focus on solution designing.

I rate CyberArk Privileged Access Manager a nine 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
it_user519366 - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Advisor at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
It verifies accounts on a regular basis. It reconciles the account if it has been checked out and used.

What is most valuable?

Account discovery, account rotation, and account management features make it a well-rounded application.

Account discovery allows for auto-detection to search for new accounts in a specific environment such as an LDAP domain. This allows CyberArk to automatically vault workstations, heightened IDs, servers, and other accounts. Once the account is automatically vaulted, the system then manages the account by verifying the account on a regular basis or reconciling the account if it has been checked out and used. The settings for the window that account is using is configurable to the type of account being used.

CyberArk is constantly coming up with new ways to perform auditing, bulk loading accounts, quicker access between accounts and live connections, as well as different ways to monitor account usage and look for outliers.

As companies move further toward a “least privilege” account structure, CyberArk sets the bar for heightened account management.

How has it helped my organization?

In the past, standard practice was to assign role-based rights to standard accounts. Moving away from this structure allows us to require that all heightened access accounts be “checked out” and only operate within a set window. CyberArk analytics provide real-time monitoring to ensure accounts are only used by the correct people at the correct time.

What needs improvement?

Like any software, improvements and upgrades are a necessity. As CyberArk is used by many Fortune 100 and Global 2000 companies, they offer custom solutions that need to be continuously improved as the company changes. I am looking forward to new ways to utilize accounts within the current CyberArk system allowing a more seamless flow for technicians.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used it for 19 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Beyond the servers and security devices necessary to run CyberArk, it maintains surprisingly few dependencies. It is capable of secure hardening with the capacity for multiple failovers that can exist and work without the use of LDAPs or external databases. CyberArk has been the most stable platform I have ever worked on and our redundancies allow for 100% uptime.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability has not been a problem. I have worked on multiple improvements and increases, as we continuously increase the number of domains and types of accounts CyberArk manages. There is not currently an end in sight for the number and types of accounts we are adding.

How are customer service and technical support?

CyberArk technical support is top notch. They provide ticketing and immediate escalation of issues, as well as direct resources for more immediate problems. CyberArk R&D has also provided valued updates to custom applications we use internally.

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

With data breaches and ransomware becoming the standard that companies now face, a more elegant solution was desired from standard network and physical security. Accounts that can be found or socially engineered out of people has been a long-standing tradition for criminals and bored teenagers. Reducing the window any account can be used provides a more secure network.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up and learning a new platform is always a complex undertaking. This is why CyberArk provides local hands-on support to get the system set up and the company’s techs trained. The base setup will differ from company to company, based on their immediate needs and what they wish to accomplish immediately. Heightened IDs, local workstation IDs, off-network server accounts, service IDs… the list goes on and on.

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

There are a handful of options out there providing similar services. However, none of them are as far along or provide as much stability and innovation as CyberArk. Pricing and licensing are going to depend on a great many factors and can be split up from when the system is originally implemented, and upgrades and new software down the line. All that being said, the money in question was not a deterrent in picking CyberArk for our solution.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We have tested a great deal of products, many of which are being used in the company for various other purposes; Avecto, Dell, Thycotic, to name a few. Centrify was the other primary system that we really carefully reviewed. In the end, the features and interface of CyberArk won out.

What other advice do I have?

CyberArk is an innovative set of tools that are easily learned. Getting deeper into the product allows for a great deal of complex settings that can be learned via high level implementation guides as well as a CyberArk certification.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user519366 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user519366Information Security Advisor at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor

Account discovery as opposed to system (servers, workstations) discovery is a little more complex. This functionality comes down to scripting. Set up scripts that search your chosen domains looking for heightened accounts. To automatically add new accounts, your script will need to match the heightened account to the bind account used in the login domain. Then search for current safes, and either update them or create them. System Discovery is a simple setting in CyberArk that can be configured as you go.

See all 2 comments
Iordanidis Iordanis - PeerSpot reviewer
Procurement Manager at OTE Group
Reseller
Top 10
A robust solution that provides good security support
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution helps our developers access internal systems. It also helps us in Privilege Access Management."
  • "The tool’s pricing and scalability can be better."

What is our primary use case?

The solution helps our developers access internal systems. It also helps us in Privilege Access Management.

What needs improvement?

The tool’s pricing and scalability can be better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the tool’s stability a ten out of ten. It is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the tool’s scalability an eight out of ten. The tool is scalable.

How was the initial setup?

I would rate the tool’s setup a nine out of ten. The solution’s setup is easy. We have a good internal implementation team who completed the deployment in a few days. About five to six engineers worked on the tool’s deployment.

What about the implementation team?

We have an internal integrator for the tool.

What was our ROI?

We have seen ROI with the tool’s use.

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

I would rate the tool’s pricing a six out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

The tool is robust and our IT team is happy with it. It provides you with strong security.

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