Common PAM Implementation Pitfalls and How To Avoid Them

Implementing a Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution is an important step toward protecting your organization’s most sensitive data and systems. When executed correctly, PAM helps enforce the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP), reduces your attack surface and gives security teams control over who can access what and when. However, how effective a PAM solution is depends on how it’s implemented. When integrating a PAM solution into your organization, some common pitfalls you’ll want to avoid include underestimating integration complexity, overlooking user experience and failing to define clear access policies.

Continue reading to learn common PAM implementation pitfalls and strategies to ensure your organization’s PAM solution is implemented successfully.

1. Lack of a clear strategy

A common mistake in PAM implementation is moving forward without a clear plan. Without first understanding your environment – including the number and types of privileged accounts, systems in use (on-premises, hybrid and cloud) and your compliance requirements – you risk choosing a solution that doesn’t align with your organization’s unique needs. Having an unclear PAM strategy can result in unnecessary complexity, missed coverage or failure to meet regulatory standards.

A strategic approach to PAM starts with a strong understanding of your organization’s risk profile and access needs. Since every environment is different, a critical system in one organization may not be as high-risk in another. Before defining key objectives like secure remote access or Just-in-Time (JIT) access, it’s important to evaluate how privileged access is being used across your organization and where the most significant security vulnerabilities lie. By laying this groundwork, your organization ensures its PAM deployment addresses relevant security risks and delivers meaningful improvements through a phased rollout.

2. Poor user adoption and change management

Even the most technically sound PAM solution can fail if users don’t understand or accept it. When a new tool interrupts daily workflows or adds complexity without clear benefits, organizations risk facing pushback from the very users PAM is configured to protect – especially frontline teams like IT administrators or DevOps teams. According to ConductorOne’s Identity Security Outlook Report, 38% of organizations claim their employees are resistant to change when implementing PAM solutions. Common pushback points include unintuitive interfaces, disruptions to daily workflows and a lack of perceived benefit.

To prevent this, organizations should engage key stakeholders early and communicate not only how the PAM solution works but also why it’s being implemented. It’s better to prepare users for changes early through hands-on demos and phased rollouts, which can build more trust in the PAM solution and reduce friction to adopting it. Waiting until deployment to address users’ concerns usually leads to workarounds that can undermine your security goals.

3. Incomplete PAM due to unscalable agent-based deployments

Maintaining and updating agents across hundreds or even thousands of endpoints can be unrealistic and can introduce security vulnerabilities due to inadequate coverage. Agents may not support all software types or cloud-native resources, which can lead to blind spots when recording privileged sessions and tracking privileged activity. 

In contrast, agentless PAM solutions leverage Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and native platform integrations to enforce policies without requiring software to be installed on every system. This approach is more scalable and adaptable in hybrid and remote environments, and it helps reduce the risk of security gaps.

4. Insufficient integration with existing systems

For a PAM solution to reach its full potential, it has to integrate seamlessly into broader security and IT ecosystems. PAM shouldn’t be configured to operate in isolation because organizations can end up with disconnected tools, manual workflows and incomplete audit trails. Effective PAM deployments integrate with essential systems, including:

• Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): for centralizing audit logging and real-time threat detection.
• Identity and Access Management (IAM): to enforce consistent policies and streamline user provisioning.
• IT Service Management (ITSM): to connect access requests and approvals to existing workflows.
• DevOps Toolchains: for secure access to CI/CD pipelines.

Without these integrations, organizations struggle to maintain full visibility and enforce compliance policies. Ensuring that your PAM solution works within your organization’s existing ecosystem should be a top priority.

5. Choosing the wrong PAM vendor

Selecting a PAM vendor solely based on brand recognition or an extensive feature list is a common pitfall that can jeopardize the success of an organization’s PAM implementation. Based on Keeper Security’s Privileged Access Management Survey Report, 68% of surveyed IT managers said their current PAM solution has too many unnecessary features for their organizations’ needs. 

A platform that doesn’t align with your organization’s existing architecture, workflows or plans can create more problems. Instead of choosing the wrong PAM vendor, organizations should assess vendors based on how well a solution fits into their environment. 

Look for a PAM solution that:

• Fits your current and future on-prem, hybrid or cloud infrastructure
• Supports your use cases, like remote access or DevOps automation
• Integrates with your existing tools
• Offers quick time-to-value and is easy to adopt

Also, evaluate the vendor’s documentation and product roadmap. Avoid a PAM solution that requires heavy customization, lacks flexibility or makes it difficult to scale over time. The right vendor will be a long-term partner, not just a product provider.

6. Treating PAM as a one-time project

Many organizations make the mistake of viewing PAM as a one-time deployment instead of an ongoing security solution. Ongoing maintenance, including regular access reviews and audits, is essential to ensure that the correct users have privileged access and to detect suspicious activity. As cybercriminals develop more sophisticated attacks, your PAM solution must also adapt and integrate new threat detection to protect your sensitive data. These ongoing tasks may include adjusting privilege levels, conducting regular audits, updating policies to reflect new risks and monitoring sessions for suspicious activity.

Neglecting these tasks can lead to outdated configurations, unused accounts or policy drift – all of which introduce significant security vulnerabilities. Organizations must treat PAM as a living program and ensure it evolves alongside their growing organization.

How to avoid these PAM implementation pitfalls

To avoid common PAM implementation pitfalls, organizations should follow the steps below.

Start with a comprehensive assessment and clear strategy

Your organization can successfully implement PAM by first conducting a thorough assessment of its current state. This means identifying all privileged accounts, workflows, infrastructure and compliance requirements. Skipping this step typically leads to misaligned tools, scope creep and incomplete coverage. By setting measurable goals like reducing standing access and enabling JIT access, you can improve your organization’s audit readiness and adopt a phased rollout approach, starting with the most critical systems.

Prioritize change management and user engagement

Beyond technical execution, the success of any PAM solution also requires user cooperation. If administrators and other privileged users don’t understand a PAM solution, they may resist adopting it, leading to workarounds or policy violations. Involve IT teams and developers in planning how to address user concerns, gather feedback and ensure the PAM solution fits the organization’s existing workflows. By offering thorough training sessions and ongoing support to build confidence, you can demonstrate to users that PAM will enhance their work instead of hindering it.

Choose the right PAM vendor

Selecting the right PAM vendor is an important decision that impacts scalability, integration and long-term success. The solution must align with an organization’s current architecture, whether it’s on-prem, hybrid or cloud-native. Your organization should prioritize a platform that integrates easily with existing ecosystems, including IAM, SIEM, ITSM and DevOps tools. Also, consider time-to-value and how quickly a PAM solution can be rolled out. Both administrators and end users should find the PAM solution intuitive and efficient. Your organization should look for vendors with strong support, clear roadmaps and a detailed record of regular updates. Avoid choosing a PAM vendor whose solution requires heavy customization or lacks flexibility.

Treat PAM as a living program

Implementing a PAM solution is just the beginning of an ongoing security journey for any organization. As your organization evolves and grows, its PAM strategy needs to adapt to remain effective. Establish clear governance from the outset, including assigning program ownership, defining KPIs and scheduling regular audit reviews. Treating PAM as a living program ensures it continues to deliver value, strengthen the security posture and support compliance over time.

Secure your organization with PAM

By avoiding common pitfalls like a lack of a clear strategy, poor user adoption and improper integration, your organization can unlock PAM’s full potential and build a strong foundation for long-term security. As you evaluate PAM solutions, consider a solution like KeeperPAM^®, which is designed for scalability, ease of use and seamless integration across modern IT infrastructures.

Request a demo of KeeperPAM today to implement a modern, zero-trust PAM solution in your organization.

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