Password management deployment strategy: A guide for the C-suite and beyond

Password management is people management. The most successful company-wide deployments for password managers involve a curated rollout that works for all parties, originating with leadership and applied from the top of the organization down to every employee. To administer a password manager solution at your company, consider the following phased deployment strategies that have proven successful at companies worldwide.

Password management involves deploying password management tools, setting up robust password policies, and ensuring compliance with these policies across all users and systems. Effective deployment starts with identifying the organization's specific needs, selecting the most suitable password management solutions, and deploying them to minimize disruption.

This deployment strategy prioritizes users with potentially higher risk profiles, including anyone in ownership or upper management or those with access to sensitive data. Supporting the executive team's need for a password management solution provides them with security and an understanding of employee credential management, awareness, and adoption of good password management practices. This will help secure accounts and drive faster adoption across the company.

Password managers with flexible sharing capabilities allow executives to conveniently share credentials with assistants and other staff while maintaining robust security.

Knowledge workers (engineers, scientists, designers, accountants, lawyers, etc.) tend to interact most with online services, deal with sensitive data, and need to share credentials with colleagues securely. A solid deployment strategy will focus on this group, lead to adoption across various use cases, and set an example for others within the company. 

Companies with device-specific approaches to laptops or smartphones might align their deployment strategy to one of these groups. It is imperative to remember this if your company empowers employees to use their own devices for work. Should that be the case, they must store credentials related to business devices, applications, and workflows. A password manager will ensure those credentials remain end-to-end encrypted to protect your business across all devices.

If your business employs field technicians, a sound deployment strategy for password managers should be a top priority since their work often relies on convenient access to client credentials. Those clients might be other businesses, individuals, APIs, and various services they depend on. Field workers also help maintain and repair mission-critical equipment at operational facilities. In these cases, resolving issues quickly has to take precedence. While you want to ensure those field technicians have easy access to various types of credentials, it's also imperative that this access maintains enterprise-grade security.

Empowering service technicians with a password manager ensures they can safely retain client credentials with end-to-end encryption. Clients who do not have the ability to share encrypted credentials with service technicians could also use the capabilities of direct secure transmissions with Bitwarden Send.

Employees who manage physical equipment and/or machinery may require credential logins for access. A password manager can safely store and share those credentials within a team and ensure that the machinery's credentials are only accessible to certain permitted individuals.

One example might be an access code for a server rack or other powerful systems that cannot be used without first entering access credentials. You may have several buildings on your campus that must be tightly secured, such as a data center. You might even have an air-gapped server that houses the most sensitive data within your company or unique passwords that need to be updated occasionally. With a password manager, administrators can ensure only authorized users, such as operational technicians, have access, potentially using a passphrase, which would be easy to enter manually.

Certain departments may need more secure storage and sharing of credentials. In these cases, a departmental-first deployment strategy might make sense. Often, companies begin with IT or engineering teams, but other departments, such as finance and marketing, may have similar requirements for password management.

Building security-minded champions across the company helps jumpstart a larger effort. For example, begin with a wide announcement of the deployment, but a staggered rollout starting with opt-in champions first. These champions will help facilitate broader company adoption.

Consider injecting a bit of fun to make this deployment strategy even more effective. Bitwarden has a variety of videos to help build enthusiasm for the product, including a playlist of Bitwarden videos to introduce employee training.

When deploying Bitwarden, customers discover an initiative that positively impacts all aspects of the business, from the company executives to IT teams to employees. Deploying a password manager helps make everyone's jobs more secure and more convenient at the same time.

C-level executives appreciate that employees can access password management and cybersecurity best practices. They also want to protect themselves and the businesses they've built while sharing and managing secure credentials. Finally, C-level executives welcome an initiative that their IT teams and employees already believe in.

IT teams appreciate open source architecture and the engaged community around Bitwarden. To help IT fit password management into their existing workflows, Bitwarden supports a range of programmatic options through a fully featured command line interface and a powerful API. Bitwarden also develops on GitHub, where IT teams can see detailed software specifics. Furthering a commitment to openness and transparency, all Bitwarden documentation is available at bitwarden.com/help. Your IT team can also deploy an in-house Bitwarden server for customized security. This deployment strategy will bolster your company's security and give the IT team an engaging challenge.

Employees appreciate a solution that helps them be more secure and productive while making their jobs easier. In particular, many users are happy to know that Bitwarden has a global community with an application translated into more than 50 languages. Bitwarden users value the overall company mission to bring password security to everyone, including a free version that individuals can use at home. When employees use a solution they love for their personal accounts, it becomes natural to carry those behaviors into the workplace, bringing security full circle for everyone on your team. 

Ensuring that deployments are secure and compliant with relevant regulations means implementing robust mechanisms to authenticate and authorize users and systems accessing the solutions. Companies must use strong encryption to protect data from unauthorized access during and after deployment. Throughout the deployment process and beyond, continuously monitor and log activities to detect and respond to security incidents promptly. When selecting a solution and a deployment strategy, verify the deployment will comply with relevant regulations and standards, such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and GDPR. By addressing these security considerations, you can safeguard your deployments and ensure compliance with industry standards.

Choosing the right deployment strategy can set your team up for success during the password management implementation. When selecting a path, assess how much downtime your organization can tolerate and the acceptable risk during deployment. Include comprehensive testing and validation in the plan to ensure the new solution works correctly before deployment. Lastly, ensure the deployment strategy supports scalability and maintains optimal performance. By carefully evaluating these factors, you can select the most appropriate deployment strategy, ensuring a smooth and effective implementation of your password management solution.

Whether you are ready to jump into a free Enterprise or Teams trial or want to get started yourself, visit bitwarden.com to get going today.