Report by Bitwarden

The problem with PAM: Why organizations are skipping this essential solution

15 FINDINGSPublished Sep 16, 2026
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Key Findings

11% of Bitwarden customers are unsure whether their organization experienced a security incident tied to overprivileged access.

Security IncidentsOverprivileged AccessPAM

40% of Bitwarden customers without a PAM solution cite cost as the most frequently cited barrier to adopting PAM.

PAM AdoptionPAM

30% of Bitwarden customers without a PAM solution say management does not see a need for PAM.

PAM AdoptionOrganizational PrioritiesPAM

20% of Bitwarden customers without a PAM solution cite required IT resources as a barrier to adopting PAM.

PAM AdoptionIT ResourcesPAM

25% of Bitwarden customers using PAM identify cost as the most significant challenge with their current PAM solution.

PAM ChallengesPAM

16% of Bitwarden customers using PAM cite complexity as the most significant challenge with their current PAM solution, and 16% cite slow deployment.

PAM ChallengesDeploymentPAM

65% of Bitwarden customers cite compliance requirements as a leading factor influencing PAM adoption decisions.

CompliancePAM AdoptionPAM

67% of mid-market Bitwarden customers report having 20 or fewer privileged accounts to secure.

Privileged AccountsMid-MarketPAM

71% of Bitwarden customers rate compliance-ready audit logs as extremely or very valuable.

Audit LogsCompliancePAM

67% of Bitwarden customers rate credential access rules as extremely or very valuable.

Access ControlsCredential ManagementPAM

65% of Bitwarden customers rate credential rotation as extremely or very valuable.

Credential RotationCredentialsPAM

57% of Bitwarden customers rank secrets management as a top-three PAM capability need.

Secrets ManagementPAM FeaturesPAM

38% of Bitwarden customers rank credential rotation as a top-three PAM capability need.

Credential RotationPAM FeaturesPAM

20% of Bitwarden customers report that their organization experienced a security incident tied to overprivileged access.

Security IncidentsOverprivileged AccessPAM

55% of Bitwarden customers report that their organizations have no privileged access management (PAM) solution in place.

Privileged AccessPAM AdoptionPAM