Practical tips for a smoother first PAM deployment

For many SMBs, PAM still feels like something that belongs on a future roadmap. It sounds important, but also time-consuming, complex, and harder to stand up than teams can realistically take on. That’s exactly why an IT-led approach matters.

Our new deployment video is designed to show what getting started with Devolutions PAM looks like in practice. It follows a self-hosted deployment, but the same rollout logic also applies to cloud-hosted vault: get the platform ready, connect identities and providers, validate a first workflow, then bring privileged accounts under control in RDM.

This isn’t a theoretical overview, but a real first deployment path: preparing the environment, configuring the right components, importing identities, setting up the provider, and moving toward just-in-time access and privileged account discovery before those accounts are brought into RDM.

Want to deploy Devolutions PAM as quickly as shown above? Download the cloud or self-hosted version and try it out!

Before you start

Prepare the right accounts and permissions

Before deploying Devolutions PAM, there is a small amount of preparation required to ensure the installation and configuration go smoothly.

For a self-hosted deployment, admins should plan for three service accounts:

• Owner account
  This account requires administrative permissions on the host machine. It is used to install the software and configure components such as IIS.
• Runner account
  This account is used to run the PAM web application. The required permissions are assigned automatically during installation.
• Scheduler account
  This account is responsible for executing scheduled operations, including PAM tasks and background processes. Permissions are also configured during setup.

These accounts can be either Active Directory or SQL accounts, depending on your environment and security policies.

For a cloud-hosted deployment, requirements are lighter but still important:

• Administrative permissions to install the Devolutions Hub services on your infrastructure
• Or access to the Azure tenant to deploy and configure PAM using the provided Azure template

Taking a few minutes to prepare these accounts in advance helps avoid permission issues during installation and keeps the deployment process straightforward. More information in our documentation.

Build around one PAM workflow first

One of the fastest ways to stall a PAM project is to make the first deployment too broad.

The best approach is to focus on one practical workflow. Import users and groups, configure the provider, and validate a single PAM scenario. That means getting identities into scope, confirming the provider connection, and taking the first steps toward just-in-time access before moving into discovery.

This is where Devolutions PAM becomes easier to adopt. Instead of trying to govern everything at once, teams can prove value with one operational workflow and build confidence from there.

Want to see how this can fit your environment? Schedule a PAM demo with a specialist!

Bring privileged accounts under control early

Discovery is often the point where PAM starts to feel immediately useful.

Rather than relying on a manual inventory project, teams can identify privileged accounts already present in their environment, review what matters most, and start bringing those accounts under policy. Once imported into a vault and connected to the right controls, those accounts become easier to govern, monitor, and use more safely.

For SMBs, that is where momentum builds. PAM stops feeling like a major standalone initiative and starts becoming part of everyday IT operations.

That’s the real value of Devolutions PAM: practical guardrails, better visibility, and a faster path to least privilege without enterprise overhead. Try it today!