Enterprise password management: what IAM teams need to change

TL;DR: Consumer password tools break down in enterprise settings because they lack the governance, auditing, and third-party access controls needed for shared accounts, service accounts, and vendor credentials, according to Imprivata. The real issue is not password storage alone but whether access can be brokered, rotated, and revoked without creating new operational risk.

NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Imprivata: enterprise password management and why consumer tools fall short

By the numbers:

• Only 20% have formal processes for offboarding and revoking API keys, and even fewer have procedures for rotating them.
• 96% of organisations store secrets outside of secrets managers in vulnerable locations including code, config files, and CI/CD tools.
• 97% of NHIs carry excessive privileges, increasing unauthorised access and broadening the attack surface.

Questions worth separating out

Q: How should security teams manage shared and privileged passwords in the enterprise?

A: Security teams should treat shared and privileged passwords as centrally governed secrets, not as user convenience items.

Q: Why do consumer password managers create risk in business environments?

A: Consumer password managers create risk because they assume one person owns one vault, while enterprises need shared control, lifecycle governance, and provable revocation.

Q: What breaks when vendor credentials are handled like employee passwords?

A: Vendor credentials lose their governance boundary when they are treated like employee passwords.

Practitioner guidance

• Separate personal vaults from enterprise secret handling Disallow consumer password tools for shared accounts, vendor access, and service accounts.
• Require just-in-time checkout for privileged credentials Issue time-bound access for admins, contractors, and shared operational accounts, and revoke it automatically at task completion.
• Broaden offboarding to cover non-human credentials Add service accounts, API keys, and vendor accounts to leaver workflows so access ends when the relationship ends.

What's in the full article

Imprivata's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:

• A side-by-side explanation of consumer password tools versus enterprise credential vaulting.
• The six-step decision rubric the vendor uses to evaluate business password management.
• Operational examples of how just-in-time access, session recording, and vendor brokering work in practice.
• How the vendor positions its own privileged access capabilities for employees, vendors, and customers.

👉 Read Imprivata's analysis of enterprise password management for employees and vendors →

Enterprise password management: what IAM teams need to change?

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