Quick Start Guide

Imprivata Vendor Privileged Access Management (VPAM) is a software system that enables you to grant your vendors access to your systems. On a high-level, VPAM works with the following components:

  • Vendors and Vendor Representatives: Companies (vendors) and their employees (vendor representatives) that receive access to your systems through applications.

  • Applications: A collection of services on various hosts and ports on which you configure custom access rules and functions.

These components interact through a session. Sessions are the monitored and secure connections between a Vendor Rep and an application.

The goal of VPAM is to limit your vendor's access to your systems by only providing access to the applications, systems, and servers to which they provide support. Ultimately, increasing security to all your infrastructure, and enforcing auditability of your Vendor's actions in your platforms.

Where Do I Start?

The two high-level components of VPAM are simultaneously connected and independent from one another. You can start by uploading your Vendors to the VPAM server or by configuring the applications in your platforms.

Read the Vendor Management documentation to start by uploading your Vendors.

Read the Applications documentation to start by configuring the services your vendor requires to provide you with support.

Common Questions and Concerns

Regardless of where you begin to make use of your VPAM server, there are some common questions that arise in either process:

VPAM works by having you install a Gateway system and a Gatekeeper system on your assets (software, databases, servers, or others). The Gateway helps limit the assets to which a Vendor can access, while the Gatekeeper provides your Vendor with limited functionalities within the asset itself.

Your VPAM server requires you to install the following components to achieve peak functionality, auditability, and security:

  • Gateway System: Limits vendor access to your systems.

  • Gatekeeper System: Limits vendor actions on your systems.

  • IP Connect: Maps the remote host's IP address and hostnames to the local machine.

  • Connection Manager: Leverage the sessions that occur between a vendor and your applications.

  • Certificate Installer: Manages your users' and your vendors' certificates in your server.