Choosing the right access management tool has a significant impact on your business’s IT security risks, management capabilities, and IT workload.
At Prialto, our virtual assistants access the systems of our clients in industries ranging from cybersecurity to manufacturing to law. While we have our preferred access management tool, many of our clients have their own software that they use to provision their assistants access into their businesses.
As a result, we've worked with a wide variety of secure collaboration tools and have learned which one best meet different kinds of business needs. Here are the top six software our clients use along with the pros and cons of each.
1) Bitium
Bitium is Prialto’s preferred access management tool thanks to its comprehensive customization and admin features.
Pros:
- Bitium has robust management capabilities that make it easy to provision and deprovision access to both individual employees and teams.
- You can easily create custom apps to provision access to internal tools and other software that Bitium doesn’t have an integration for.
- It has a secure vault that enables you to store and provision access to sensitive, non-credential information including building access codes, credit card information, sensitive business processes, and other confidential information.
Cons:
- It has fewer app integrations than some of the other tools listed here so you have to invest more time in creating custom integrations.
- Standard users cannot add their own credentials so your admin has to provision access to all of your tools. This gives your IT management greater control but can slow things down.
Final Verdict: Bitium is an effective access management solution for businesses who want robust control over who is able to access various kinds of confidential information.
2) One Time Secret
One Time Secret is an information-sharing tool that lets you send confidential messages via unique links. As the name suggests, the message is only available one time. After it's viewed, it automatically deletes itself.
Pros:
- You don’t have to create an account to use it which makes it super easy to securely share information with external parties and others who don’t have the same remote collaboration tools that you do.
- The information is automatically deleted after the recipient opens it or 7-14 days (depending on if you have an account or not) after it is sent, whichever comes first. Since it only allows a single viewing, there is no risk of your information being forwarded to others.
- Your secrets are not stored on their servers therefore it cannot be hacked and it uses an encryption method that even the tool’s creators cannot hack.
Cons:
- You can’t store information so it’s not an efficient tool if you need to provide long-term access to information or share information with multiple people.
- You can’t share files or images so it only works for plain-text information.
Final Verdict: One Time Secret is an effective tool to quickly share confidential information with internal and external parties. Since it lacks storage capabilities, its’ best used alongside one of the other tools in this list.
3) LastPass
LastPass is one of the most popular password management apps since its user-friendly features make it easy to use as both a single sign-on and password-sharing tool.
Pros:
- It’s browser extension makes it easy to create complex passwords and quickly access all of your cloud-based tools.
- It has the ability to store other sensitive information such as credit card numbers and building access codes.
- You can share login credentials without others ever knowing your passwords and you can easily revoke access whenever needed.
Cons:
- You can only share information with other people who have a LastPass Account.
- It has limited features compared to some of the other options on this list.
- If you forget your LastPass password or the device you use for two-factor authentication, it can be time-consuming or impossible to recover your information.
Final Verdict: LastPass is an effective password management tool for both individuals and small businesses who don’t require additional identity management features.
4) Passpack
Passpack is an affordable password management tool that’s a good fit for individuals and businesses with minimal access management needs.
Pros:
- The cost of monthly premium plans ranges from only $18 to $480 per year, per account. Each account allows 3 to 1,000 users.
- Its password organization tools are comparable to more expensive tools
Cons:
- It doesn’t offer any security compliance features like the rest of the tools in this list.
- Its management capabilities are very limited.
- It doesn’t offer adaptive authentication.
Final Verdict: Passpack is an affordable password management tool for individuals and small businesses who have very low IT security risks.
5) Okta
Okta is one of the most robust identity and access management software solutions. A large portion of Fortune 500 companies trust Okta to keep their systems secure.
Pros:
- As the industry leader, you can trust Okta’s solution to work well and provide the highest level of security.
- The cost of individual features such as single sign-on is comparable to other competitors on this list.
- It offers larger organizations the advanced features that they need to comply with strict security policies.
Cons:
- Their comprehensive solutions are significantly more expensive than the other competitors on this list.
- Most of its features are too robust for medium-sized businesses.
- Their packages don’t meet the needs and budgets of most small businesses.
Final Verdict: Okta is the best identity and access management solution for large companies but may be too costly and robust for most small and medium-sized businesses.
Have a remote or dispersed team? Check out The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Offices to learn more about additional resources to help you manage your business.
About the Author: Emily formerly led Prialto's content production and distribution team with a special passion for helping people realize success. Her work and collaborations have appeared in Entrepreneur, Inc. and the Observer among others.