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ForgeRock vs Symantec Identity Governance and Administration comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Omada Identity
Sponsored
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (4th), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (4th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (3rd)
ForgeRock
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Access Management (11th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (6th)
Symantec Identity Governanc...
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
27th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Identity Management (IM) category, the mindshare of Omada Identity is 3.4%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ForgeRock is 4.6%, down from 5.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Identity Governance and Administration is 1.5%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity Management (IM)
 

Featured Reviews

Pernilla Hulth - PeerSpot reviewer
The interface is easy to use and gives you a solid overview
The cloud-based deployment was straightforward, but the on-prem deployment was in a highly complex ecosystem. Omada has matured since then. I wouldn't say that it isn't straightforward, but it depends on the customer. A standard deployment is relatively easy, but it can be more painful if you need a lot of customization. We deployed the cloud solution in around four months, nearly meeting the 12-week benchmark. The on-prem deployment took three years. It was a highly complex ecosystem that was dependent on other systems. Depending on the size of your environment, you need a product owner and some specialists for maintenance. My last customer was a university with a complex environment. They had around 12 people involved in maintenance at that organization. Typically, it's between 2-5 people.
Ahmet Murat Ülker - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use, but customizations can be complicated to handle
I would suggest others use the product after asking them to consider their use cases. SSO may be a use case for some, and using the product as an IDM tool may be a use case. At the moment, my company is not deploying all the components of ForgeRock itself. My company uses ForgeRock for OAuth 2.0. For example, my company is not deploying the IDM and identity gateway components. You should consider your use case and select the required components for that use case. My company does not use the SSO features of the tool. My company uses SSO to access ForgeRock's AM Console for individual users. My company does not use single sign on features of the product and instead, we use Auth0. I rate the tool a seven or eight out of ten.
Sudip Karmacharya - PeerSpot reviewer
Has a simple GUI and is easy to deploy, but has no proper documentation on how to do backups, and has lengthy configurations and workflows
There are several areas for improvement in Symantec Identity Governance and Administration. They have no proper documentation on how to do backups. They also have a lengthy workflow process where we have to make some configurations to manage automation in the rules and in our tasks which takes time. We have to manually configure all the configuration files, and we cannot export users because there's no export system in Symantec Identity Governance and Administration. What we'd like to see in the next release of the solution is for them to make configuration and integration with other systems their top priorities. We have many API systems to manage, so hopefully, if they make these enhancements shortly, we can directly connect with our API systems when using Symantec Identity Governance and Administration.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Our customers have benefited from Omada Identity automating the certification process. Most of our customers were using manual methods for user access certification. With Omada Identity, you can automate almost all of it, which means that certification now becomes on demand. You don't have to wait for two or three months to execute a certification timeframe. Instead, you can do certifications as often as you want."
"We are able to onboard new user accounts much faster by automating the process and standardizing our operations globally. Previously, there were many individual processes and manual admin interactions. We also see a lot of cost savings and benefits because through automation and standardization."
"Omada Identity Suite has a very powerful workflow engine. It is used for requesting access for approval to everything that's around Access Management and for re-certification purposes."
"The Governance and self-service that can be set up so you can use them yourself to work in the system are the most valuable features. End users can be enabled to help themselves."
"The most relevant feature is Omada's reporting engine. Omada never 'forgets' and archives every process. All steps an admin, user, or manager has executed, are recorded in Omada."
"Omada's most valuable aspect is its usability."
"Omada's user interface is elegant and easy to work with. I like Omada's ability to automatically generate accounts for new hires and allow them access to all required systems by established policies. Around 80 percent of workers can start working immediately on their first day without requesting further access."
"The support for the validity of the resources is valuable. The tool allows resource assignments within a validity period so that the managers do not have to remember to revoke the access once the work is done."
"Easy to navigate, handle and manage the applications."
"We used it to implement multi-factor authentication and to improve our security posture as well as reducing the potential for attacks."
"This is a stable solution. When you do experience any issues, you will see it in your DB logs or audit logs so you can easily reach a conclusion of might be causing it."
"The most valuable features are that it is easy to manage and it's stable."
"Installation and configuration are pretty easy for ForgeRock OpenIDM."
"ForgeRock is an extensive product with many functionalities and capabilities, much more than many other tools combined."
"We have found the identity and access management tools in the solution to be particularly useful for our organization."
"Easy to customize and adaptable to any environment."
"It offers a nice price. It's mid-range."
"There are many valuable features within the solution. The product is easy to customize. It’s also highly secure."
"The product is relatively easier to use than other identity management products."
"The most valuable aspects of Symantec Identity Governance and Administration are all the features, it is the most complete solution on the market. It has features, such as scanners and portals, it has everything."
"Streamlines user access, consolidates applications."
"Provisioning engine (on the back-end, separate from front-end components, that's part of layered architecture)."
"It has good endpoint support and endpoint connectivity to different versioning endpoints."
"Connector Xpress and Policy Xpress and the new interface."
 

Cons

"The current reporting tools in Omada are limited, but we expect significant improvements in the new version."
"We are still on Omada on-prem, but I understand that when Omada is in the cloud, you cannot send an attachment via email. We have some emails with attachments for new employees because we have to explain to them how to register and do their multi-factor authentication. All that information is in the attachment. People have to do that before they are in our system. We cannot give them a link to our Intranet and SharePoint because they do not yet have access. They have to register before that, so I need to send the attachments, but this functionality is not there in the cloud."
"The security permission inside Omada needs improvement. It's tricky to set up."
"Omada Identity's user interface needs improvement, especially for new users."
"One thing that we are not so happy about is the user interface. It is a bit dated. I know that they are working on that, but the user interface is quite dated. Currently, it is a little bit difficult to customize the user interface to the need of the business, which is a little bit disappointing. It needs it to be a little bit easier to operate, and it should have a better user interface."
"I would like to see them expand the functionality of the tool to continue to be competitive with the monsters out there. For example, they could add functionality on the authentication side, functionality that Octa and SailPoint have. But they should do that while maintaining the same simplicity that makes Omada a product of choice today."
"Functionality and usability could be improved."
"When the re-certification process is launched that makes Omada very slow. There are performance issues in the current version."
"I think the upgrade process is sometimes a little complicated and there are failures that occur."
"I find that it's quite expensive for just an open-source system. Support is quite expensive."
"In future releases, I would like to see easier integration with other solutions, like facial recognition and KYC solutions with biometric onboarding."
"It should have a better user interface. Its flexibility should also be improved. It is not about simplifying; it is more about flexibility. Each company has its own requirements, and ForgeRock can provide more flexibility in terms of the use of existing modules to implement features for the customers."
"In an upcoming release, the solution could improve by limiting the need to do customizations."
"ForgeRock is an open source solution and is available to everyone but it is not freeware. If you need support, you need a subscription for ForgeRock. Many of its functionalities need to be built up with the help of a consultant."
"I don't think ForgeRock directly supports integrations with Slack, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The product's customization is a bit complicated."
"Symantec is only on-premises, not on the cloud."
"The development process to create this connector is not as easy as I would like."
"The drawback with the CA Identity Manager is they don't have a connector to HR systems like SAP, or PeopleSoft, or Workday. That's a major drawback with the CA Identity Manager. For that we have to do lots of custom quoting to get data from HR systems. And if they could connect it to GRC systems, that's good to have in an identity product."
"I find the API boring. I also faced issues while integrating with CA SSO."
"Provisioning has a dependency on Windows.​"
"There are times that it takes too long to generate reports and to run the assessment tools to collect the information."
"The product's technical support could be better."
"A better information display for the approvals within the workflow would give them more information and the ability to comment back on a request as to why they're rejecting it. We've been telling them we'd like this improvement, and we hope to see it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Omada continues to be very competitive on pricing, especially on the Omada cloud product."
"The pricing for Omada Identity is fair."
"Being Dutch, I can only say that it is extremely expensive, but all software products are expensive. If you have 38,000 users, then even one dollar or one euro per person would amount to a significant amount of money. Because of the high number of users, anything gets expensive very fast here."
"It is not cheap. It is expensive, but compared to what we did almost three years ago, it is value for money. It is worth it."
"It is licensed per managed user per year."
"There were a lot of administrator, partner, and supplier accounts for people who were no longer working for us but still in the system. So, we reduced the number of users no longer with the company, which saved us some money on licensing."
"The pricing is too high for SMBs."
"The initial total cost of ownership to implement Omada Identity is not small. The TCO for the implementation is as high as any other solution. However, the cost of maintaining the solution is at par or lower than competitors, including adding more features or maintaining the system after the initial deployment or installation to make sure that they are available for users to use or extending the functionalities of those activities. Those maintenance costs are lower than other vendors, but the initial cost of getting the system installed is still high."
"We have multiple clients we are looking at right now. We are at a very small number, however, the idea and the goal is to grow. We are looking at about $100,000 and $50,000 a minimum a month cost. That'd be minimum maybe in a couple of years."
"It's a bit pricey and could be more competitive."
"ForgeRock's pricing is more competitive than other products."
"ForgeRock is an expensive solution."
"Its licensing is on a yearly basis, but it also depends on the contract that you have with the vendor. They have multiple types of contracts. There are additional costs to the standard licensing fees. If you need some of the features, you have to pay more."
"The pricing of the solution is fair but I do not have the full details."
"Its price is comparable to other products in the market."
"The license is purchased annually per user. However, you can negotiate if you are signing for a longer period of time. When comparing this solution to others on the market it is priced fair, it is not at the top of the price range or at the bottom end."
"I do not recall the approximate prices or licensing models, although I do so that it was priced per user number."
"The product has a good price in competition with another product with the same solution."
"The connector is free, and bundled with the product."
"The price is flexible for our existing customers."
"Pricing and licensing models are adequate and reasonable."
"Symantec keeps increasing the price. I rate its pricing a seven on a scale of ten."
"The price is based on the number of users."
"Compared to other options, CA products are not that expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
24%
Computer Software Company
12%
Insurance Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
25%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Omada Identity Cloud?
As an administrator, we benefit from a lot of functionality that is available out of the box, but it is also configur...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Omada Identity Cloud?
They are positioned at a good price point. They are lower than some of their competitors.
What needs improvement with Omada Identity Cloud?
The biggest issue, which is the reason why we are transitioning from their product to SailPoint, is the overall user ...
What do you like most about ForgeRock?
The most valuable features of ForgeRock are social login and data protection.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ForgeRock?
Our company was considering switching back to Keycloak from ForgeRock, so as to not pay any license fees. ForgeRock a...
What needs improvement with ForgeRock?
In the past, I saw that Splunk was integrated with a testing portal, and then it was integrated with Slack. I don't t...
What do you like most about Symantec Identity Governance and Administration?
The product’s most valuable feature is flexibility. It can be customized as per the customer’s requirements.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Identity Governance and Administration?
The pricing has been very reasonable, but licensing costs vary based on the customer. It follows a user-based licensi...
What needs improvement with Symantec Identity Governance and Administration?
Symantec should develop a SaaS solution for cloud environments to make the solution available in various marketplaces...
 

Also Known As

Omada Identity Suite, Omada Identity Cloud
ForgeRock Identity Platform, ForgeRock OpenIDM
CA Identity Suite, Symantec IGA, Layer7 Identity Suite, CA Identity Manager (CA IDM), CA Identity Minder, CA IAM, CA Identity Manager (CA IDM), CA Identity Governance
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bayer, ECCO Shoes, Vattenfall, NuStar Energy, Unicredit, Schiphol Group, BMW Group, Deutsche Leasing
Geico, Thomson Reuters, Salesforce, McKesson, Trinet, SKY, BNP Paribas, Deloitte, Capgemini, North Western University
Acciona, Core Blox, DBS
Find out what your peers are saying about ForgeRock vs. Symantec Identity Governance and Administration and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
862,499 professionals have used our research since 2012.