Implemented and Operated by Identity Security Specialists
Deploy, integrate, and continuously operate privileged session management across CyberArk PSM, BeyondTrust, and Delinea – without losing the audit thread back to your broader PAM and identity program. Presidium has spent 18+ years governing privileged access at enterprise scale. We bring the same discipline to every session your admins, engineers, and vendors initiate.
Your sessions aren't.
Most enterprises have invested in credential vaulting – but privileged session management is where programs stall. Passwords are locked down; the sessions those passwords launch are not. Every privileged connection your administrators, vendors, and automated services make is a window of exposure that, without PSM, goes unmonitored, unrecorded, and uncontrolled.
The reality looks like this:
Buying a PAM platform is the easy part. Deploying its PSM component correctly – scoped, integrated, and continuously operated – is where most programs fall short. That’s where Presidium comes in.
Whether you’re starting fresh or fixing a stalled PSM deployment, we provide the expertise to move forward with confidence.
Privileged session management (PSM) is the practice of controlling, monitoring, and recording the sessions that privileged users – administrators, engineers, DBAs, and third-party vendors – initiate when accessing sensitive systems, applications, and infrastructure. Where credential vaulting governs who can authenticate, PSM governs what happens after authentication: what commands are run, what data is accessed, and whether the session should continue.
PSM vs. PAM vs. PASM: PSM is a component of Privileged Account and Session Management (PASM), which is itself one of the core pillars of Privileged Access Management (PAM). PAM controls who gets access. PASM manages the credentials and the sessions. PSM is the controls-and-visibility layer for the sessions specifically. Mature programs integrate all three under a single identity security strategy – which is how Presidium designs and operates them.
PSM is not simply toggling on session recording in CyberArk or BeyondTrust. Deployed without intent and integration, session management creates storage overhead without security value. The organizations that get it right treat PSM as an operational program, not a feature flag.
RDP, SSH, SQL, VNC, and web-based sessions each require different capture and brokering approaches. Credential injection (passing managed credentials to a session without exposing them to the user) is the security win – but only when the proxy architecture is correctly configured for each target system type.
Remote vendors represent some of the highest-risk privileged sessions in the enterprise. They connect from outside your perimeter, often on unmanaged devices, and their access must be provisioned, scoped, time-bound, and recorded without creating friction that pushes them to shadow IT. Getting this right requires workflow design, not just tool deployment.
Video and keystroke recordings are only valuable if they’re indexed, searchable, retained correctly, and integrated with your SIEM. An unindexed archive of recordings is a storage cost, not a security control. PSM programs need a governance layer – alert rules, search policies, retention schedules, and forensic workflows – to turn capture into control.
How Presidium Delivers
Every Presidium engagement follows the same four-stage lifecycle we’ve refined across 18+ years of enterprise PAM delivery. We don’t install a session manager and hand you the keys.
We begin with a structured discovery: which systems carry privileged sessions today, which protocols are in use, which third-party connections exist, what your CyberArk or BeyondTrust deployment actually covers versus what it’s licensed to cover, and where your current program leaves compliance gaps. Output: a PSM readiness report with prioritized remediation, mapped to your regulatory obligations.
We define the target architecture together. Platform choice is driven by your environment – existing PAM investment, identity provider, cloud mix, and compliance regime. We produce proxy architecture designs, credential injection patterns, session recording policies, retention schedules, alert rule frameworks, SIEM integration specifications, and a vendor-access workflow model.
Implementation is phased: session manager platform configuration first, then high-priority target systems (production servers, databases, network devices), then progressive onboarding of the third-party and vendor access perimeter. Throughout, we deliver runbooks, training, integration test suites, and audit-ready evidence from day one.
24×7 monitoring of session manager health, alert-rule tuning, recording storage management, incident response for suspicious sessions, quarterly governance reviews, platform upgrades, and compliance evidence generation. Available fully managed, co-managed, or on-demand.
The privileged session management platforms we implement and operate.
We are tool-agnostic by design and certified specialists by practice.
The PSM component within CyberArk PAM – the market’s most deployed enterprise session manager. Best for organizations already invested in CyberArk Vault and PAM. Presidium configures and operates PSM, PSM for SSH, and PSM for Web, integrates with the CyberArk Vault credential injection model, and tunes alert rules and connection components for your target system estate.
Best for organizations managing remote vendor access and Windows-heavy environments. Presidium deploys Password Safe’s session management capabilities alongside Privileged Remote Access for external vendor sessions, configured as a single integrated program.
Best for mid-market and Microsoft-centric environments. Presidium implements Delinea’s session recording, connection manager, and workflow components, with SIEM integration and compliance reporting built in from the start.
Purpose-built Privileged Access Suite with strong session management capabilities. Presidium designs and deploys Safeguard for Privileged Sessions (SPS), including protocol proxying, session recording, and content-based alerting.
Because Presidium also operates CyberArk PAM, SailPoint IGA, and cloud identity environments, we connect PSM into your broader identity governance model – so session oversight, credential rotation, and access certification run as a single program, not three silos.
Every secrets management program looks slightly different. These are the scenarios where our identity-led approach changes the outcome.
Session recording is on, but no one is reviewing it. Alert rules are generic. Connection components are misconfigured for half your target systems. We tune, extend, and operationalize what you’ve already bought.
External contractors, MSPs, and outsourced IT staff need privileged remote access. We design JIT provisioning workflows, time-bounded session grants, full recording, and auto-termination – with no VPN dependency.
Your auditors are asking for session logs by user, by system, and by date range. We deploy PSM programs that produce exactly this evidence, indexed and searchable, from day one.
Privileged sessions hitting AWS EC2 instances, Azure VMs, GCP compute, and cloud consoles need the same controls as on-prem. We extend PSM coverage to cloud targets without creating architectural exceptions.
PSM is a foundational control for Zero Trust: sessions are proxied, credentials are injected, and every connection is time-bounded by policy. We integrate PSM with your JIT access framework and identity provider.
After a breach, session recordings are the single most valuable forensic artifact. We ensure your program produces tamper-proof, indexed, and retained recordings that hold up in investigation and legal review.
Built for auditors and engineers alike
A PSM program is only as good as the audit story it produces. Presidium delivers deployments that satisfy the session-control requirements of every major framework your organization faces.
Control Area | Frameworks Addressed |
|---|---|
Monitoring and recording of privileged user sessions | PCI DSS 4.0 (10.2, 10.3), SOC 2 (CC6.3, CC7.2), HIPAA (164.312(b)), FISMA/NIST 800-53 (AU-9, AU-12) |
Third-party and vendor access controls | PCI DSS 4.0 (8.6, 12.6.3), ISO 27001 (A.5.15, A.8.2), NIS2 (Art. 21) |
Session termination and real-time controls | FedRAMP Rev 5 (AC-12, SC-10), DORA (Art. 9), NIST 800-53 (AC-17) |
Credential injection and non-exposure of passwords | PCI DSS 4.0 (8.3), NIST 800-53 (IA-5), CIS Controls (v8, Control 5) |
Immutable audit trail with forensic playback | SOC 2 (CC7.3), PCI DSS 4.0 (10.5), HIPAA (164.312(b)), DORA (Art. 9) |
Separation of duties for session oversight | ISO 27001 (A.5.3), SOC 2 (CC6.7), NIS2 (Art. 21) |
Because Presidium also operates your CyberArk PAM and SailPoint IAM environments, we connect privileged session controls into a single audit story – instead of separate evidence packages for each auditor request.
why us?
PSM is a component of identity security, not a standalone tool category. 18+ years of enterprise PAM and IAM delivery means every PSM program we design is built to connect with the rest of your identity stack.
Accredited across CyberArk, BeyondTrust, Delinea, and One Identity. We recommend what fits your environment – not what carries the highest margin.
Assess, design, deploy, and operate. From first whiteboard session through fifth-year audit evidence.
Our PAM environments include deployments with 60+ production servers and 10,000+ end users. Same operational discipline, applied to PSM.
When the same firm operates your credential vaulting, your session management, and your identity governance, the integration work is seamless – and the audit story becomes one story.
San Francisco and Vancouver offices. No offshore-only handoffs. Senior consultants on every engagement.
Whether you’re starting a PSM program from scratch, fixing a stalled CyberArk deployment, or looking for managed session oversight, we can help you take the next concrete step.
FAQ
Privileged session management is the practice of controlling, monitoring, and recording the sessions initiated by users with elevated access – administrators, DBAs, engineers, and third-party vendors. It goes beyond credential vaulting to govern what happens during a privileged connection: what systems are accessed, what commands are run, and whether the session should be allowed to continue.
PAM (Privileged Access Management) is the broader program: credential vaulting, access governance, MFA, and policy enforcement. PSM (Privileged Session Management) is a component of PAM specifically focused on the session itself – the period between authentication and logout. Mature programs need both. PSM without credential vaulting is incomplete; credential vaulting without PSM leaves the session itself uncontrolled.
Privileged Account and Session Management (PASM) is Gartner’s defined category that combines privileged credential management with session management. CyberArk PAM, BeyondTrust Password Safe, and Delinea Secret Server are all PASM platforms. PSM is the session-oversight component within a PASM deployment.
Almost certainly. CyberArk’s Privileged Session Manager is a powerful component, but it requires deliberate configuration: connection component setup for each target system type, credential injection patterns, session recording policy, SIEM integration, and alert rules. Most enterprises that “have CyberArk PSM” have configured a fraction of what it can do. Presidium specializes in this exact gap.
Yes – and third-party access is often the highest-priority use case. External vendors connecting remotely to your systems represent significant risk: they may use unmanaged devices, have broad access scopes, and no internal oversight. PSM provides the monitoring, recording, and session termination layer for vendor access. Presidium designs JIT provisioning workflows and time-bound session grants that satisfy both security and vendor productivity requirements.
PCI DSS 4.0, HIPAA, SOC 2, NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, ISO 27001, DORA, and NIS2 all include requirements for monitoring, logging, or recording privileged user activity. Cyber insurers increasingly require session recording as a qualifying control. Presidium builds PSM programs that produce compliance evidence from day one.
Typical Presidium engagements run 10–16 weeks: 2–3 weeks of discovery and design, 6–10 weeks of platform configuration and priority system onboarding, and ongoing waves for the full system estate. Managed services begin at or before go-live.
Presidium’s managed service covers 24×7 platform health monitoring, alert-rule tuning, recording storage management, session incident response, platform upgrades, new system onboarding, SIEM integration maintenance, compliance evidence generation, and quarterly governance reviews. Available fully managed, co-managed, or on-demand.
Yes. PSM coverage for cloud-hosted infrastructure – AWS EC2, Azure VMs, GCP compute, cloud consoles – requires adapted proxy and recording architectures, but the same principles apply. Presidium designs PSM programs that extend consistently from on-premises infrastructure to cloud workloads, avoiding the compliance gap that comes from treating cloud sessions differently.