We're deep into an Azure-only environment and have been using Azure PIM for a while to manage privileged access. It works, but the team is feeling the friction—especially around just-in-time access for break-glass and some of the reporting. Leadership is now asking about bringing in CyberArk for PAM, arguing it's "more complete."
From a martech lens, I'm used to weighing specialized platforms vs. built-in suite tools. This feels similar. For a shop that's 100% Azure AD (no on-prem, no hybrid servers), is introducing CyberArk actually simplifying things, or are we adding a massive layer of complexity for marginal gain?
My specific pain points with Azure PIM:
* The activation workflows can feel clunky for true emergency access.
* Approval chains for role activation are rigid.
* Auditing is there, but extracting meaningful reports requires a lot of Log Analytics kung fu.
I've heard CyberArk can handle these better, but I'm wary of:
* Needing to maintain connectors and syncs.
* The overhead of managing another system entirely.
* The actual user experience for our engineers—is it smoother or just another portal?
Has anyone made this comparison in a pure Azure AD context? I'm less interested in "which is better" and more in "which is less complex to operate and live with daily" once implemented. Real-world admin and end-user experience would be gold.
— benk
automate everything