Legacy PAM alternative
Privileged access without the vault complexity tax
Traditional PAM suites were built for credential storage. Ixiea was built for session brokering, identity-bound policy, protocol termination, and evidence that ships audit-ready.
Gateway vs. traditional PAM
Legacy suites excel at credential vaulting. Ixiea excels at being the front door, every privileged path flows through one enforceable, observable choke point.
| Capability | Ixiea | Traditional PAM suite |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Gateway-first, protocols terminate at the broker | Agent-heavy vaults with per-target integration |
| Time to first session | Days with Helm or Compose; shadow mode in parallel | Months of discovery, agent rollout, and credential rotation |
| Operator experience | Same SSH/RDP/DB clients, gateway is transparent | New portals, jump workflows, and credential checkout steps |
| Evidence model | Recorded at gateway with signed export bundles | Distributed logs; GRC packaging often manual |
| Third-party access | Time-bound, approval-gated, fully attributed | Shared vault accounts or standing vendor VPN paths |
| Total cost | Self-host free tier; enterprise scales with connectors | Per-seat licensing plus professional services |
When teams switch
Signs Ixiea is the better fit
- Your PAM rollout stalled after the pilot because agents would not cover the estate.
- Auditors want session proof, not policy PDFs and ticket screenshots.
- Operators bypass the vault because checkout adds friction to incident response.
- You need RDP, SSH, databases, and Kubernetes under one policy engine.
Replacing a legacy suite?
Map your current controls to a gateway model
Bring your policy requirements and compliance scope. We will show what transfers, what simplifies, and what your operators will actually feel day to day.