Identity security vendors – compare the differences

Delinea vs. Cisco

Authorizing an action is not the same as controlling it.

Delinea enforces privileged and AI agent access in the data path. It brokers the connection so the credential never reaches the user or the agent, manages secrets, records, monitors and controls activity during the session. Cisco determines who can access the resource.

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Delinea seamless security		Cisco
Traditional PAM buyer
Privileged credential vaulting	Available	Not offered
Privileged session recording and control	Available	Not offered
Endpoint privilege management	Available	Not offered
MFA and single sign-on	Integrates with existing identity provider	Native
Modern workload access buyer
Native protocol access (SSH, RDP, database, Kubernetes)	Available	MCP layer only
Credential separation (never reaches the user)	Available	Not offered
Just-in-time access and zero standing privilege	Available	Partial, authorization policy
Secrets management	Available	Not offered
AI agent identity
Per-tool-call MCP authorization	Available	Available, gateway-agnostic
Agent vs. human identity identification at the proxy	Available	MCP layer only
Credential separation for agents (never holds the credential)	Available	Agent authenticates with a scoped OAuth token; no proxy-based credential injection
Data-path enforcement on native protocols	Available	MCP tool calls only
Deployment and ecosystem
Self-hosted or air-gapped deployment	Available	SaaS only
Works alongside your identity provider	Integrates, including Cisco	Native

Faster to deploy: Easier to use

Delinea is consistently recognized for requiring fewer resources to manage and less time to achieve full functionality.

• 99.995% uptime SLA
• No multi-year commitment required to start

Zero standing privilege—available now

Delinea ships ephemeral access with proxy injection, JIT entitlement, and full session recording for human, machine, and AI agent identities - today.

• Native tools, broker invisible
• Time to value in weeks

Identity security built for the AI era

Delinea centralizes authorization with runtime enforcement across every AI agent in your stack.

• MCP-native connectivity
• Customers are using this in production today

Authorizing an action is not controlling the credential

Cisco verifies the identity of the agent and authorizes each tool call at the gateway, but the agent still authenticates directly, using a credential that hasn’t been brokered by a proxy. Delinea brokers the connection so the credential never reaches the user or the agent so it cannot be misused.

Cisco allows or blocks each tool call. Either way, the agent holds its own credential. Delinea never lets the credential reach the agent at all.
Delinea brokers the connection and injects the credential at the proxy, so it never reaches the user or the agent, and there is nothing on the endpoint to steal.

The gateway sees tool calls; the session still needs control

An MCP gateway can allow or block an agent tool call, but it does not record or stop a live privileged session on infrastructure.

Cisco enforces at the gateway for agent tool calls.
Delinea records, monitors and can terminate privileged sessions across SSH, RDP, databases, and Kubernetes, enforcing policy throughout the session, not just at the point of access.

Identity is not a vault

Cisco covers identity, MFA and agent discovery, and Delinea integrates and complements those capabilities with credential protection and privileged access controls.

Cisco authorizes who and what gets in.
Delinea protects the credentials and privileged accounts behind those identities, adding the vault, secrets management, endpoint least privilege and air-gapped deployment that Cisco does not provide.

Two layers: authorizing the action, and controlling it

Cisco operates at the identity and decision layer. Its gateway sits outside the connection and makes an allow-or-block decision when an agent calls a tool and then stops. The credential still reaches the user or the agent, the privileged session runs without control once it is open, and the secret behind it is neither vaulted nor managed.

Delinea operates inside the connection, where the risk actually lives. It brokers the connection and injects the credential at the proxy, so the credential never reaches the user or the agent. It authorizes each action before it runs and keeps doing so throughout the session. Identity and agent authorization are table stakes. Access is only safe when the credential, the session and the secret behind it are controlled too, and that is the layer Cisco leaves open.

Cisco calls PAM partial; here is what authorization leaves on the table

Cisco calls PAM a partial approach and positions identity plus network as the broader play. The gap in that argument is enforcement. Authorizing a tool call is a decision made outside the session, so it cannot hold the credentials away from the user or the agent, record or terminate a live privileged session, manage secrets, or enforce access at the protocol level for SSH, RDP, databases, and Kubernetes.

Delinea provides what a tool-call decision leaves exposed. It vaults and rotates the credential, records and can terminate the live session, enforces least privilege on the endpoint and controls access down to the protocol, so a stolen session or a compromised agent has nothing to take. Authorizing the call is the easy half. Enforcing what the credential can do once access is granted is the harder half, and it is the one Cisco's argument leaves out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Delinea replace Cisco?

Many organizations run both. Most customers keep Cisco for MFA, single sign-on and identity, and for discovering agents and non-human identities across the environment. Delinea adds the credential, session and secrets control Cisco does not provide, and integrates with Cisco identity solutions.

We already use Cisco for agent authorization. Why add Delinea?

Cisco authorizes an agent tool call at the gateway and assigns the agent an identity. It does not vault credentials, broker the connection, record and terminate privileged sessions, manage secrets, or enforce least privilege on the endpoint. Delinea does all of that from inside the connection, authorizing each action before it runs and keeping the credential off the user and the agent. Delinea is available today across on-premise, multi-cloud and ephemeral infrastructures.

How does Delinea secure AI agents differently from Cisco?

Cisco authorizes each agent tool call through a gateway, using a decision made outside the connection. Delinea authorizes agent actions from inside the connection, at the network layer, so the credential never reaches the agent. That coverage extends beyond MCP tool calls to native infrastructure protocols like SSH, RDP, databases, and Kubernetes, where Delinea can also record and terminate a live session. Cisco's enforcement is scoped to MCP and AI traffic and doesn't record or control sessions on that infrastructure.

Can Delinea run where Cisco cannot?

Delinea offers self-hosted and air-gapped deployment. Cisco AI Defense supports on-premise and VPC deployment, but not confirmed air-gapped operation unless used with the Cisco Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA and AI pods.

Identity security vendors – compare the differences

Identity security vendors – compare the differences

The Delinea Platform stops unauthorized access without slowing teams down

Delinea seamless security

Cisco

Traditional PAM buyer

Privileged credential vaulting

Privileged session recording and control

Endpoint privilege management

MFA and single sign-on

Modern workload access buyer

Native protocol access (SSH, RDP, database, Kubernetes)

Credential separation (never reaches the user)

Just-in-time access and zero standing privilege

Secrets management

AI agent identity

Per-tool-call MCP authorization

Agent vs. human identity identification at the proxy

Credential separation for agents (never holds the credential)

Data-path enforcement on native protocols

Deployment and ecosystem

Self-hosted or air-gapped deployment

Works alongside your identity provider

Why the differences between Delinea and CyberArk matter

Faster to deploy: Easier to use

Zero standing privilege—available now

Identity security built for the AI era

Why the differences between Delinea and Cisco matter

Thousands of customers. One easy choice.

Two layers: authorizing the action, and controlling it

Cisco calls PAM partial; here is what authorization leaves on the table

See the Platform in action

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Delinea replace Cisco?

We already use Cisco for agent authorization. Why add Delinea?

How does Delinea secure AI agents differently from Cisco?

Can Delinea run where Cisco cannot?