PAM Meets CIEM: The Convergence Trend Defining Modern Identity Security

This article examines the growth of cloud PAM, the role of CIEM in security and compliance - and the convergence of PAM, CIEM, and Identity Governance.

In this article

Privileged Access Management (PAM) is shifting as enterprises move to the cloud, while Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) becomes vital to control entitlement sprawl in multi-cloud environments.

This article examines the growth of cloud PAM, the role of CIEM in security and compliance, the convergence of PAM, CIEM, and Identity Governance, increasing regulatory demands under GDPR and NIS2, and how Cloudcomputing helps organizations migrate, integrate, and govern access with confidence.

 

The Cloud Shift in PAM

Privileged Access Management has always been a cornerstone of enterprise security. What’s changing is where and how it’s deployed.

The global PAM market is growing strongly, driven not just by security maturity but by regulatory requirements and infrastructure modernization. According to ExpertInsights, demand for cloud-based PAM is outpacing on-premises deployments as organizations prioritize agility, SaaS maturity, and integration capabilities (ExpertInsights, 2025).

Analysts indicate that cloud-based PAM adoption is accelerating, driven by demands for agility, regulatory compliance, and reduced on-premises overhead. For security leaders, this means that legacy PAM deployments – while still critical – are quickly losing relevance in hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures.

 

CIEM: A New Frontline Against Entitlement Sprawl

If PAM is about controlling privileged sessions, CIEM is about bringing order to the chaotic world of cloud entitlements.

As organizations scale cloud adoption, they accumulate thousands of roles, entitlements, and permissions across AWS, Azure, GCP, and SaaS platforms. This entitlement sprawl creates hidden risks: dormant accounts, over-privileged users, and a lack of visibility into who can do what.

Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) is emerging as the answer. It provides:

  • Visibility: A full inventory of entitlements across multi-cloud.
  • Auditability: Mapping entitlements to regulatory frameworks.
  • Automated remediation: Enforcing least privilege, right-sizing roles, and eliminating excess.

For CISOs and CTOs, the value is clear: without CIEM, multi-cloud becomes a blind spot in identity security strategy.

 

Convergence: PAM, CIEM, and Identity Governance

Security leaders no longer want siloed tools. They want integrated identity governance.

  • PAM protects how privileged accounts are used.
  • CIEM governs what entitlements exist in cloud.
  • Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) ensures policies are enforced consistently.

Together, they create defense in depth: visibility, control, and compliance across the full identity lifecycle. Vendors are responding: SailPoint now integrates entitlement discovery with governance workflows, while PAM leaders like Delinea are extending capabilities into SaaS and IaaS contexts.

The market is converging because the problem has converged: attackers exploit both weak entitlements and unmanaged privileged accounts.

 

Compliance Pressures: From Optional to Obligatory

If security risk doesn’t get leadership’s attention, compliance certainly will.

The NIS2 Directive requires critical sectors to prove effective identity and access control. GDPR demands traceable, auditable controls on data access. Regulators now expect:

  • Evidence of least-privilege enforcement.
  • Audit-ready reporting of privileged activity.
  • Proof that excessive entitlements are remediated.

 

What This Means for Security Leaders

CISOs, CTOs, and IAM leaders face three pressing realities:

  1. Fragmentation is unsustainable. Stitching together legacy PAM with point CIEM tools creates complexity, higher costs, and audit headaches.
  2. Migration is inevitable. On-premises PAM needs to evolve into cloud-first, SaaS-delivered platforms.
  3. Governance must be embedded. CIEM is not an add-on – it must be woven into the IAM strategy alongside IGA.

The opportunity: a unified identity governance approach that reduces complexity, ensures compliance, and strengthens resilience.

 

Cloudcomputing’s Perspective

At Cloudcomputing, we see PAM and CIEM not as separate silos, but as strategic layers of trust.

  • We help enterprises migrate legacy PAM into modern, cloud-ready solutions.
  • We integrate CIEM capabilities to provide visibility and entitlement rightsizing across multi-cloud.
  • We align PAM, CIEM, and IGA into one cohesive IAM strategy, ensuring compliance by design.

Our partnerships with leaders like SailPoint and Delinea, combined with our hands-on expertise, allow us to eliminate entitlement blind spots and secure privileged access at scale.

 

Conclusion

The future of privileged security is clear:

  • PAM is shifting decisively to the cloud.
  • CIEM is rising as the necessary guardrail against entitlement sprawl.
  • Compliance mandates are tightening, making governance unavoidable.

For security leaders, the path forward is about integrating tools them into a unified, proactive identity governance strategy.

Cloudcomputing helps you build that strategy. So your organization can operate with confidence, compliance, and resilience – no matter how complex the cloud becomes.