Managing privileged accounts

Ways to manage shared SaaS admin accounts, compared

A sign-out log, your identity provider's fill-in, a privileged access management (PAM) product, and an access tool such as Junify, compared on seven points.

Updated October 16, 2026

When several people use a SaaS admin account, two questions separate the options. Does each person learn the password, and does the record show which person signed in? A third is whether you want a request and approval step before admin tasks.

Facts about Okta and Microsoft Entra ID come from their official documentation. Facts about Junify come from its product page. The PAM column doesn’t describe any one product. It lists the NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 controls for privileged accounts, so you can check a product against them. A dash means the sources don’t say.

The four ways

Way	What it is	Sources
1. Sign-out log	A spreadsheet of who knows each password and who used it when	Based on Microsoft’s description of the traditional way of sharing
2. Identity provider fill-in	Okta or Microsoft Entra ID stores the login and fills it in for people signed in to it	Okta Help Center, Microsoft Learn
3. Privileged access management (PAM) product	Software built for admin accounts; products differ	NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5
4. Access tool (Junify)	Fills in the login for a verified person without showing the password, with controls after sign-in	Junify’s product page

Okta calls the fill-in in way 2 Secure Web Authentication (SWA). Entra ID calls it password-based single sign-on. For what PAM means in general, see What is privileged access management (PAM)?

Password managers aren’t in this comparison. They’re covered with shared accounts in Comparing ways for several people to use one shared account.

How they compare

Point	1. Sign-out log	2. Identity provider	3. PAM product (NIST controls)	4. Access tool (Junify)
Does the person learn the password?	Yes, and they still know it after they’re done	No	—	No
Record of who used it	Whatever people write in the log	Who signed in to which app, and when	Log the use of privileged functions (AC-6(9)); authenticate each person before a shared account (IA-2(5))	Each verified person, exportable as CSV
When someone leaves	Change the password and send it to everyone left	Okta: unassign the app. Entra ID: remove them from the group	Revoke access when a privileged role no longer fits (AC-2(7))	Remove their assignment; no new password to send around
Two-step verification	Codes go to one person’s phone or number	—	Multifactor authentication for privileged accounts (IA-2(1))	Junify holds and enters authenticator-app codes, so they don’t depend on one person’s phone

Point	1. Sign-out log	2. Identity provider	3. PAM product (NIST controls)	4. Access tool (Junify)
After sign-in	Nothing	—	Two-person approval for chosen privileged commands (AC-3(2))	Optional session recording, download blocking, upload alerts, closing Junify’s windows remotely
What it needs	Nothing	An Okta account or an Entra ID license for each user	Varies by product; check whether it covers browser-based admin consoles as well as servers	The Junify phone app and browser extension; the console’s IP restrictions and settings stay as they are
Fits when	A few accounts and a few people	Everyone who uses the login is in the identity provider, and “who signed in, and when” is enough	You want approval before admin tasks, and a product that covers your consoles	Logins don’t map one to one to people, some users aren’t in the identity provider, or you need control after sign-in

Notes on the tables

Three cells are dashes. NIST’s controls don’t say whether the person sees the password, so the PAM row for passwords is blank. The Okta and Microsoft pages cited here don’t describe how the fill-in handles the console’s own two-step codes, or anything after sign-in.

The sign-out log column follows Microsoft’s own list of what goes wrong with the traditional way of sharing. You can’t tell who has access to an app or who accessed it. To remove someone, you change the password and send it out again to everyone else. A sign-out log adds one more limit of its own. It holds only what people write in it, so someone other than the admins should check it against the console’s own records.

For way 2, only admins can reveal a shared password in Okta, and Entra ID users never see it. Entra ID needs three things before a shared login works. Each user needs an EMS or Entra ID P1 or P2 license and the My Apps browser extension, and the app needs an HTML sign-in page. Records and departures are covered in Shared admin logins that remain when you use Okta or Microsoft Entra ID.

For way 3, the request and approval step comes from how PAM products work. In Microsoft Purview’s privileged access management, a user requests access for an admin task, and an approver grants or denies it. NIST adds one more control worth checking a product against. AC-2(2) asks that temporary and emergency accounts be removed or disabled automatically after a set time. The records each control calls for are listed in What records to keep for privileged account audits.

When you don’t need Junify for this

If you can give everyone a personal admin account, you don’t need this comparison at all. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 put admin rights on personal accounts, so splitting the login is enough. If a login stays shared but everyone who uses it is in your identity provider, its fill-in covers it, as long as “who signed in, and when” is enough. If you’ve decided admin tasks need a request and approval first, look at PAM products, and check that a product covers the consoles you use.

An access tool is worth a look when something is left over. Someone outside the identity provider uses the login, you need control or records after sign-in, or the authenticator-app code shouldn’t depend on one person’s phone.

Frequently asked questions

When is a sign-out log enough?

When you have a few admin logins and a few people, and you can change and resend the password each time someone leaves. The log holds only what people write in it, so someone other than the admins should check it.

When is our identity provider enough?

When everyone who uses the login has an Okta account or an Entra ID license, and a record of who signed in and when is enough. Entra ID also needs its browser extension and an app with an HTML sign-in page.

What does NIST ask for shared admin accounts?

IA-2(5) asks that each person be authenticated individually before they use a shared account. AC-6(9) asks you to log the use of privileged functions.

When is a PAM product the better fit?

When you want people to request access and get approval before an admin task. Check that the product covers the browser-based consoles you use, not only servers.

How Junify handles this

Doing this by hand: You decide who gets admin rights through requests and approvals, log every use of the admin logins that stay shared, and have someone other than the admins review that log on a schedule.
With Junify: With Junify, an admin adds each console login and assigns it to the people who may use it. They verify on their own phone and click, and Junify fills in the login, including authenticator-app codes, without showing the password. Each sign-in is recorded by person and exports as CSV. Recording can be turned on per console, and the console's IP restrictions stay. When someone leaves, the admin removes their assignment.

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