Compete

Identity Security
Battle Cards

Idira (formerly CyberArk, now Palo Alto Networks) vs BeyondTrust, Delinea, SailPoint, and Okta. PAM, IGA, machine identity, and platform integration compared. Idira GA'd May 12, 2026 at IMPACT 2026 — use the Idira name in every compete conversation. New: Idira Workforce Identity vs Okta is now a dedicated head-to-head page — we sell a direct IdP alternative, not just a complement.

Post-Acquisition Integration Advantage (Feb 11, 2026)

The ~$25B CyberArk acquisition — closed Feb 11, 2026 and rebranded Idira, GA May 12, 2026 — creates what Palo Alto calls a "Unified Identity Security Platform" for the AI enterprise. No competitor can match this native integration across security pillars.

Idira + Prisma Access SASE Privileged session initiation requires both ZTNA authentication AND PAM credential checkout. Eliminates standing VPN-based admin access.
Idira + Cortex XSIAM (ITDR) Identity threat signals flow directly into XSIAM as correlated incidents. Idira Endpoint Privilege Manager integrates with XSIAM via Cortex Marketplace — shipped in XSIAM 3.5, May 2026. SOC teams see the full identity attack chain without switching consoles.
Idira + Cortex Cloud Privileged access to cloud workloads enforced via Idira Privileged Access Manager; CIEM visible in Cortex Cloud; JIT access for cloud admin roles.
AI Agent Security Idira Secure AI Agents manages privileged credentials for autonomous AI agents. Cortex XSIAM monitors agent behavior. Real-time revocation if anomaly detected.

Feature Comparison

Identity Security Matrix

Idira (PANW) across PAM, IGA, workforce identity, and machine identity capabilities.

Capability Idira (PANW) BeyondTrust Delinea SailPoint Okta
PAM MQ Leader MQ Leader Challenger Limited Limited
Secrets Management Idira Secrets Hub Good Good None None
Machine Identity Leader Some Limited Limited Limited
IGA Zilla Growing Limited Limited Leader Maturing
Workforce Identity Growing Limited Limited Good Leader
AI Analytics XSIAM ITDR Basic Basic AI Recs AI Assist
Platform Integration 6-Pillar None None None None

Battle Cards

Competitor Deep Dives

BeyondTrust

Strong endpoint privilege management, popular in mid-market and Windows-heavy environments. Gartner MQ Leader for PAM. Solid credential vaulting and remote access security, but no platform integration with SASE, SOC, or cloud security.

Privilege Manager Password Safe Remote Support Endpoint Privilege Mgmt

Where PAN Wins

  • Platform integration is unique: Idira + Prisma Access + XSIAM + Cortex Cloud creates a closed-loop identity security platform. BeyondTrust is PAM-only with no equivalent integration.
  • Machine identity leadership: Idira Secrets Hub for secrets management and Idira Certificate Manager for certificate lifecycle are more mature — and machine identity now feeds Next-Generation Trust Security, launched Mar 23, 2026.
  • AI agent identity (first-mover): Idira Secure AI Agents manages privileged credentials for autonomous AI agents. No BeyondTrust equivalent.
  • Enterprise scale: Idira carries the CyberArk install base — the highest enterprise PAM adoption globally in banking, healthcare, and government.

Where They're Strong

  • Endpoint privilege management: Privilege Manager for endpoint privilege removal is strong in Windows-heavy environments.
  • Mid-market adoption: Simpler deployment model for mid-market organizations.

Key Objections

BeyondTrust is simpler and cheaper for our PAM needs.

Response: BeyondTrust is a solid PAM tool. But PAM in isolation is incomplete. When a privileged credential is compromised, who detects it? How fast can you revoke it across all systems? With Idira + XSIAM, identity anomalies trigger automatic credential revocation in milliseconds — that's the difference between a breach and a blocked attack.

Delinea

Cloud-first PAM with fast SaaS deployment. Popular for organizations wanting modular, easy-to-deploy credential vaulting. However, limited machine identity focus, no agentic AI identity capability, and no security platform integration.

Secret Server Server Suite Privilege Manager Connection Manager

Where PAN Wins

  • Enterprise maturity: Idira's vault architecture is hardened for the most demanding enterprise environments. Delinea targets simplicity, not enterprise depth.
  • Machine identity: Idira Secrets Hub for secrets management, Kubernetes identity, and DevOps pipeline integration. Delinea has limited focus here.
  • Zero Standing Privileges (ZSP): Idira's JIT access model eliminates standing privileges. Delinea is more basic.
  • XSIAM ITDR integration: Real-time identity threat detection and automated remediation. No Delinea equivalent.

Where They're Strong

  • Fastest SaaS deployment: Simplest deployment model for cloud-first PAM. Great for SaaS-first organizations.
  • Modular approach: Customers can buy just Secret Server without a full PAM deployment.

Key Objections

Delinea is cloud-native and easier to deploy than Idira.

Response: Delinea wins on deployment speed. But machine identities now outnumber human identities 80:1, and AI agents create entirely new privileged access paths. Delinea doesn't address machine identity or agentic AI security. If your PAM strategy needs to be future-proof, Idira + PANW is the only platform that covers human, machine, AND AI agent identities.

SailPoint

Purpose-built IGA leader. Manages 100M+ identities in production with 5B entitlements. 250+ bidirectional governance connectors. Best-in-class compliance (PCI, HIPAA, SOX, GDPR). However, PAM capabilities are limited, and no security platform integration.

SailPoint IdentityNow Identity Governance Access Intelligence AI-Driven IGA

Where PAN Wins

  • End of identity silos: Before the acquisition, customers managed PAM (CyberArk, now Idira), IGA (SailPoint), IAM (Okta), and ITDR (XSIAM) separately. PANW now delivers all four with native integration.
  • PAM depth: SailPoint doesn't do PAM. Customers still need Idira or BeyondTrust alongside SailPoint, adding another vendor.
  • ITDR native: Identity threat signals flow into XSIAM for real-time correlation with network and endpoint data. SailPoint has no SOC integration.
  • AI agent identity: New category of privileged access for autonomous AI agents. SailPoint doesn't address this.

Where They're Strong

  • IGA depth is unmatched: 250+ bidirectional connectors, deep compliance workflows, and AI-powered access recommendations. Idira's Zilla-based IGA is growing but not yet at this depth.
  • Enterprise scale: 100M+ identities managed in production. Proven at massive scale.
  • Compliance maturity: Best-in-class for regulated industries needing PCI, HIPAA, SOX, GDPR compliance reporting.

Key Objections

SailPoint is the IGA leader — Idira/Zilla can't match their governance depth.

Response: Today, you're right — SailPoint has deeper IGA. But governance alone doesn't stop identity-based attacks. The question is: when a compromised identity is detected, how fast can you revoke access across PAM, SASE, and cloud? With PANW, XSIAM triggers Idira + Prisma Access revocation in milliseconds. SailPoint requires manual integration with every enforcement point.

Okta

Workforce identity leader with strong SSO, MFA, and app integration via the Okta Integration Network. IGA capabilities maturing. However, PAM is limited, secrets management is absent, and the Okta breach (2023) raised questions about security posture of the identity provider itself.

Okta SSO Okta MFA Okta IGA Okta Integration Network

Where PAN Wins

  • We now have a direct IdP alternative: Idira Workforce Identity covers FIDO2-certified SSO, adaptive phishing-resistant MFA at NIST AAL3, passwordless, Secure Web Sessions, Workforce Password Management, B2B Identity and identity lifecycle management. Displacement is on the table when there is a funded event.
  • Post-login control: an IdP authenticates and issues a token, then stops. Secure Web Sessions keeps supervising — in-app action visibility, session binding to user, device and location, and re-authentication as context changes.
  • PAM depth: Okta has no PAM. Customers use Okta for SSO/MFA but still need Idira or BeyondTrust for privileged access management.
  • Machine + AI identity: Okta focuses on workforce identity. Machine identities (80:1 vs. human) and AI agents are unaddressed.
  • Security platform integration: Idira + XSIAM creates a closed-loop identity detection and response system. Okta provides identity, but detection and response require separate tools.
  • Compete against Microsoft Entra: Microsoft's Entra ID + Defender + Sentinel is the incumbent identity-to-SOC stack. PANW + Idira is the multi-cloud, multi-vendor alternative.

Where They're Strong

  • Workforce identity leader: SSO, MFA, and the Okta Integration Network provide the widest app integration ecosystem.
  • Developer-friendly: Auth0 platform for customer identity and app-level authentication is strong.

Key Objections

We already use Okta for SSO/MFA — why add Idira?

Response: You may not need to change it. Two of the three ways we do this leave your IdP in place — Idira adds PAM, Endpoint Privilege Manager, Workforce Password Management, machine identity and agentic identity on top of your Okta foundation, and with XSIAM you get identity threat detection across both signal sets. The third way is a full replacement with Idira Workforce Identity, and that only makes sense when there is a funded event: an SSO renewal, a breach, an audit finding, a merger, or a legacy IdP that has to go. Find the event before you propose the migration. Full Okta head-to-head →

Migration off an IdP is too risky.

Response: Bring numbers, not reassurance. Optiv replaced its legacy SSO with FIDO2-certified Idira SSO in three weeks, onboarded all business-critical applications within 30 days — double the number added in the previous eight months on the legacy system — across 2,500 employees, and logged roughly 80 support tickets against about 250 expected, half of which were end-user error rather than system error. Staged rollout starting with power users representing a cross-section.

Identity Selling Tips

Machine identities 80:1: Machine identities outnumber humans 80:1 and are largely unmanaged. This stat alone opens the conversation about why traditional IAM is insufficient.
Say Idira, not CyberArk: The brand changed at GA on May 12, 2026. Idira Secure AI Agents is first-to-market for AI agent credential management. Use this as a forward-looking differentiator with CISOs focused on AI security.
80% faster breach response: Organizations with identity-driven security controls accelerate breach response by up to 80%. Cite this in every identity conversation.
Real-Time Privilege Revocation: XSIAM detects anomaly → Idira revokes credential in milliseconds across all systems. Demo this integration flow — it's the most powerful proof point.