Delinea → CyberArk PAM migration playbook
Migrate privileged access management from Delinea to CyberArk — typically driven by enterprise scale, deeper Tier-1 PAM capabilities, or regulatory expectations.
TL;DR
Delinea works well for mid-market PAM; some enterprises outgrow it for very-large-scale or highly regulated environments and move to CyberArk. Migration is delicate — privileged credentials must remain accessible throughout the transition.
Delinea (Secret Server / Privilege Manager)
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager
Typical timeline
9-18 months — must not lose access to vaulted credentials
Why teams move
- Enterprise scale requirements (50K+ privileged accounts)
- Deeper session monitoring + threat analytics in CyberArk
- Regulatory + audit expectations favoring CyberArk for FedRAMP / financial-services contexts
- Multi-cloud PAM with broader cloud-native integrations
The migration in 4 phases.
1. Phase 1 — Discovery
8-10 weeks
- Delinea Secret Server inventory
- Privilege Manager endpoint inventory
- Custom integration scripts inventory
2. Phase 2 — CyberArk foundation
12-16 weeks
- CyberArk Vault deployed
- Policies + safes designed
- CPM (Central Policy Manager) + PVWA + PSM live
3. Phase 3 — Credential migration
6-12 months
- Credentials migrated in batches with rotation
- Session policies transitioned
- Privilege Manager endpoints re-managed
4. Phase 4 — Decommission Delinea
2-3 months
- Final credential rotation
- Delinea retired
What lives where.
| Capability | Source (Delinea) | Target (CyberArk) |
|---|---|---|
| Credential vault | Delinea Secret Server | CyberArk Vault |
| Session monitoring | Delinea SS Session Recording | CyberArk PSM |
| Endpoint privilege | Delinea Privilege Manager | CyberArk EPM |
| JIT | Delinea Server PAM | CyberArk JIT modules |
What moves, what doesn’t.
Secret export + rotation
Don't directly migrate secret values. Export the inventory; provision new secrets in CyberArk; rotate each secret as it transitions. The migration is a perfect time to rotate every credential.
Session recordings
Historical session recordings stay in Delinea (read-only) for audit lookback. New sessions record into CyberArk PSM.
The 7-step cutover.
- 01Coexistence window — both vaults operational
- 02Per-system credential migration with rotation
- 03Audit log continuity preserved during transition
- 04Final secret rotation before Delinea retirement
- 05Delinea kept read-only for audit lookback
What teams find out the hard way.
Don't lose access during migration
The cardinal rule of PAM migration: every privileged credential must be retrievable from somewhere at all times. Plan rotation windows carefully; have break-glass procedures ready.
Custom integrations
Both Delinea + CyberArk have rich custom-integration ecosystems. Custom scripts need re-implementation, not direct migration.
Questions we get on this migration.
Why move from Delinea to CyberArk?
Usually enterprise scale + regulatory requirements. Delinea is excellent mid-market PAM; CyberArk dominates very-large enterprise + regulated industries.
We’ve led this migration. More than once.
Engagement starts with a 90-minute discovery call — we tell you what we’d actually do, with timeline + risk register. No commitment.