Gartner recently released its annual Magic Quadrant for Privileged Access Management (PAM), offering insights into the leading solutions in the PAM space. While Gartner’s list is comprehensive and a good resource for those looking into PAM solutions, organizations will have varying preferences and requirements depending on their infrastructural nuances and security needs. 

In this post, we specifically delve into the top cloud PAM providers, each catering to distinct organizational team structures and needs.

1. Apono: New kid on the block

Best For: Hyper-modern organizations with a strong emphasis on DevOps and managing sensitive, regulation-heavy data.

Highlights:

• Granularity: Apono leverages native integrations across the major cloud providers, data repositories and additional applications, enabling users to control, automate and audit access down to the specific cloud resource or database or Kubernetes namespace.
• Ease of deployment: Apono’s architecture allows for instant adoption as it has   a proxy-less approach that allows users to integrate it without changing network architecture.
• Developer friendly: Apono connects with existing stacks via API and Terraform, allowing organizations to add custom integrations and leverage a self-serve approach, so engineers can seamlessly receive privileges they need for elevated permission tasks.

Why Apono? Apono is a PAM solution specifically tailored for the modern organization: cloud environments, fast deployment, extreme granularity, and top-grade security with a strong emphasis on user experience.

2. CyberArk: Pay for what you get

Best For: Organizations with deep pockets and a technical team experienced in implementing complex solutions for uncompromising security.

Highlights:

• Comprehensive Management: CyberArk is a long-time leader in the PAM space with its multiple offerings ranging from credential management, session, and reporting, ensuring a holistic approach to security.
• Strong Password Vault: CyberArk offers a robust password vault system that ensures compliance, with features such as automatic password rotation and logging.
• Customization: CyberArk provides custom plugins for session and password management, allowing organizations to tailor the solution to their specific needs.

Why CyberArk? CyberArk is a well-known name in the PAM space for its password vault system and customization capabilities. While implementation can be complex and lengthy, organizations can also expect uncompromising security.

3. Delinea: Master of none

Best For: Organizations with limited implementation teams or bandwidth but still require some customization for their environment.

Highlights:

• Extensive Discovery: Delinea boasts powerful out-of-the-box discovery capabilities, highlighted by the rare ability to ensure that secrets remain managed and in sync after password rotation.
• Integration Flexibility: Delinea doesn’t offer a direct integration with other common security applications but can leverage custom scripts for integration.
• User-Friendly Interface: Delinea’s out-of-the-box capabilities feature a common-sense UI, making it easy for users to navigate and manage, while still not sacrificing on customizability.

Why Delinea? For those who are adverse to long, complicated implementations and constant stress over numerous customizations and adjustments, Delinea offers a quick solution to proactive privileged access management.

4. HashiCorp: Restomod fans 

Best For: Organizations that don’t mind a DIY approach to implementation and maintenance for full-scale automation and specifically-tailored performance to their needs.

Highlights:

• Robust Automation: HashiCorp is a build-it-yourself solution. By sacrificing deployment efficiency, HashiCorp enables organizations to build automations workflows and security features specifically tailored to their needs.
• Open Source: HashiCorp leverages an open source community to help with implementation, troubleshooting, and innovating new protocols and features – allowing organizations to benefit from collective knowledge and experience.
• Strong APIs: HashiCorp has powerful APIs which allow everything from integrating with rancher kubernetes clusters to reading or writing secrets.

Why HashiCorp? HashiCorp offers limitless opportunities when it comes to your PAM solution – with lots of time, effort, and work. But once up and running, HashiCorp requires little to no upkeep compared to other solutions.

5. Teleport: The skeptic

Best For: Modern organizations who want to go all in on identity-based access.

Highlights:

• Identity-Based Access: Teleport focuses on “true identity” by replacing passwords, keys, and tokens for biometrics and security modules. It also allows organizations to completely replace their existing identity management tools.
• Open Source / DIY: Like HashiCorp, Teleport is open source to allow collective innovation and troubleshooting.
• DIY: Again, similar to HashiCorp, Teleport sacrifices deployment efficiency in favor of customization.

Why Teleport? Organizations that believe identity-based access should be enforced across all connections and requires the won’t find another solution that incorporates this security principle across all of its functionality.

Learn more about Apono’s PAM solution.

Conclusion

Selecting the right PAM solution is a critical decision that organizations must make based on their unique needs, infrastructure, and security requirements. Some key factors to consider include the level of customizability your organization requires, technical experience, ease of implementation, integration capabilities, and more. A PAM solution that is the right fit can strengthen your security while making your teams’ lives easier.