ACF2 vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection comparison

Broadcom and IBM are both solutions in the Database Security category. Broadcom is ranked #12, while IBM is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.6. Broadcom holds a 1.7% mindshare in DS, compared to IBM’s 27.6% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Broadcom users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of IBM users who would recommend it.

ACF2

Read 6 ACF2 reviews

512 Views
164 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Security Guardium Data ...

Read 79 IBM Security Guardium Data Protection reviews

4,800 Views
3,984 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

ACF2

IBM Security Guardium Data ...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection and ACF2 are competitors in data security. IBM Security Guardium Data Protection has a slight advantage due to its advanced analytical tools and streamlined deployment.

Features: IBM Security Guardium Data Protection offers robust data encryption, real-time monitoring, and automated compliance capabilities. It also provides comprehensive security through database activity monitoring and firewall features, making it adaptable to various environments. ACF2 focuses on strong access control, efficient multi-factor authentication, and seamless mainframe integration, appealing to those prioritizing system integration.

Room for Improvement: For IBM Security Guardium Data Protection, areas of improvement include enhancing user interface intuitiveness, expanding cloud compatibility, and reducing complexity in advanced feature deployment. ACF2 could benefit from improving the user experience for non-mainframe experts, expanding feature richness beyond integration, and enhancing its analytical tools to compete directly with IBM's offerings.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both products offer effective deployment models, but IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is notably more streamlined, reducing implementation time. IBM's customer support is perceived as more accessible and responsive, whereas ACF2 may require specialized mainframe knowledge for support.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Security Guardium Data Protection has a higher initial setup cost but delivers significant long-term ROI through its comprehensive protection features. ACF2 presents competitive pricing but achieves a slightly lower ROI due to its focus on integration over feature richness. IBM offers better financial value concerning data protection expenditure.

To learn more, read our detailed ACF2 vs. IBM Security Guardium Data Protection Report (Updated: November 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ACF2 vs. IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

November 2025

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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

ACF2

Ranking in Database Security

12th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Mainframe Security (6th)

IBM Security Guardium Data ...

Ranking in Database Security

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Database Security category, the mindshare of ACF2 is 1.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is 27.6%, down from 33.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database Security Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM Security Guardium Data Protection	27.6%
ACF2	1.7%
Other	70.7%

Database Security

Featured Reviews

reviewer1077621

IT Examiner at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

A reliable, scalable product for security and auditing of our mainframe environment

It is a good product. It has been used for years. As long as it is configured correctly, it is a very stable product. It depends on how an institution or a company configures it. It depends on an institution's risk appetite. You need to make sure it is configured as per the concept of least privilege, and the logging features, detection and control mechanism, and other things like that are enabled. If you configure it to give access to the public, then there could be compromises. You should also have someone who independently checks it to make sure that it is configured keeping security in mind. If it has been configured for a while, when there are enhancements to the product or when you enhance it, you need to make sure that security is also looked at, and it is configured according to an institution's security policies. I would rate it a nine out of 10.

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Marylennis Franco

Jefe De Continuidad Operacional at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees

Has improved data visibility and streamlined compliance reporting across multiple database platforms

The best feature is how many databases we can protect with one solution because it has compatibility with different databases, including Oracle, SQL, and DB2. The data activity monitoring feature is very good because we can check the PDS and have the information for that. We can schedule the reporting and receive it by email, which provides very important information for different areas of the company. We don't need to have a seat and a case or access to the portal, we just receive the report. The user-friendly interface is very good.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We use this tool to quickly assign privileges to different users as soon as they come in."

"The NOACCESS by default is another very good feature. Also, access rules are straightforward, and easy to understand."

"Logging and monitoring are most valuable. It is for the mainframe environment, and it is at the forefront for security and resilience."

"I love their support. The support is great. They are number one."

"Excellent real-time reporting that saves time and resources."

"It's allowing us to be more proactive than reactive on alerts and access rights and types of resources that are being hit. Before, there were a lot of different solutions, but this expanded that out and made it a more holistic solution. It provides centralization of monitoring, instead of multiple, disparate applications. It definitely allows more economies of scale, streamlining, less fragmented use."

"The most valuable features have been how easy it is to deploy and use, as well as the comprehensive monitoring options. These are a few things that customers like most about this product."

"Encryption is not straightforward, but Guardium made the setup easy for us."

"The best feature is how many databases we can protect with one solution because it has compatibility with different databases, including Oracle, SQL, and DB2."

"The most valuable feature I have found is the performance of client monitoring. The other competitors are unable to do this."

"The solution has definitely saved us time, because if you want to monitor this kind of vast environment of different products, it's going to take a lot of time. Let's say one database server has 100 database instances running on it; I don't need to install 100 data instances, I just need to install on the one database server and that will cover all of my instances on that particular database."

"he solution offers trouble-free access."

"It is very easy to obtain reports and manage the reporting interface."

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection pros

Cons

"It needs longer rules. The max rule is 32K."

"Reporting can sometimes include false positives."

"I would like my team and me to be able to use simple browsers, like Chrome, to be able to access mainframe data and provision users using the browser."

"They can work on its ability to work in a distributed environment. It's a mainframe product. As many companies move to the cloud, depending on what cloud models they choose, such as a public, hybrid, or private cloud, it should be deployable. I am not sure if it can be deployed on those platforms. It has been there since the '50s or '60s, and it's still scalable. It has survived all these years, and it's scalable to many platforms, but I don't know about the cloud."

"The biggest complaint that I hear from customers and users is that using this solution requires database skills, yet it is a security and monitoring tool."

"More automation, user guides, and tips would make this solution better."

"The price of this solution is quite high for smaller organizations, so they should release a version that is affordable for small and medium-sized businesses."

"If IBM Guardium Data Protection could find a way to not have a lot of coding and development required to get the solution up and running it would be an advantage. The information of the agent could improve, which is necessary for us to monitor the databases would be a great benefit."

"One of the limitations that everyone who uses Guardium knows is its ability for back-end reporting. The ability to collect it sometimes is easier than the ability to retrieve it, use it, or give a good representation of it for incidence response or questions which come from the different people who want to use the data."

"I would like to see AI and machine learning added in the future."

"Right now, we're in the development phase for IBM Guardium Data Protection, so I don't have any recommendations about additional features and room for improvement in the solution. We're very excited to work on IBM Guardium Data Protection because we are new to the solution, and we're still exploring product features. We're very excited about integrations and use case creation, and it's only after six to eight months that I'll be able to share my recommendations in terms of additional features the solution should have. We did find some difficulty in deploying IBM Guardium Data Protection here in Pakistan because of the lack of resources."

"I would like to see a lot of additional reporting and analytics features. They have basic outlier detection, but I would love to see that go further, and model it after analytics tools like Splunk."

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The price of the solution could be better."

"The cost depends on the number of databases. You can purchase advanced licenses, but the standard license is calculated based on the number of databases you have to onboard."

"Guardium's pricing is quite high, but it gives good value for money for all sizes of enterprises, especially for partners."

"The biggest challenge is the cost associated with the product, and the cost of maintaining. Everything is not translated directly to the benefits we see. There are benefits, yes, but if I were writing the check, would I buy Guardium? No."

"IBM Guardium Data Protection charges you based on the number of users, e.g. based on the number of licenses, and it's either on a per-license or a per-data basis."

"It's an expensive solution"

"Reasonable cost but could be lower."

"The price is good for the quality of the solution."

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

22%

Retailer

11%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

27%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	4

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	28
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	45

Questions from the Community

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How does IBM Guardium Data Protection compare with Imperva SecureSphere Database Security?

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is a solution for database security from IBM that gives complete visibility, control, and analysis to secure sensitive data and comply with regulations. IBM S...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Guardium Data Protection?

I don't remember the exact prices, but Guardium is an expensive tool because it is targeted towards corporate enterprises.

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What do you like most about IBM Security Guardium Data Protection?

The features I like are the robust policies, which allow us to create customized monitoring based on specific activities.

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Mainframe Security

October 2025

Download ACF2 product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

November 2025

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection report

Download IBM Security Guardium Data Protection product report

Also Known As

CA ACF2

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium

Overview

CA ACF2™ for z/OS provides innovative, comprehensive security for your business transaction environments—including Linux, UNIX and z/OS on System z—helping you realize the reliability, scalability and cost-effectiveness of the mainframe. CA ACF2 provides an Advanced Authentication Mainframe feature, system entry validation, resource control, auditability, accountability, and administrative control. In conjunction with distributed security solutions from CA Technologies, CA ACF2 provides mobile-to-mainframe enterprise class security and compliance management.

ACF2 Features

ACF2 offers some of the following features:

Authentication: ACF2 is used for authenticating users and granting them access to profiles and various resources on the mainframe.
Access Control: The solution provides resource control, allowing administrators to control who can access specific mainframe resources.
Logging and Monitoring: Organizations can easily track and monitor activities on the mainframe. This feature enables the creation of audit trails for follow-up and helps with security analysis.
Metrics and Reporting: ACF2 allows the configuration of tools to produce different types of metrics and reports. These can then be used by senior management for making informed security decisions.
Comprehensive Security: The solution provides comprehensive security for mainframe environments, ensuring the protection of valuable data assets. It offers advanced authentication, system entry validation, and administrative control.
Streamlined Administration: It simplifies the administration of mainframe security by providing streamlined management capabilities. ACF2 also enables administrators to monitor and adjust security policies and accommodate various organizational structures.
Scalability: ACF2 offers reliable and scalable security, allowing businesses to expand their mainframe environments while maintaining a high level of protection.
Compliance Management: Organizations can meet compliance requirements by providing auditability, accountability, and comprehensive security controls.
Integration: ACF2 can integrate with distributed security solutions from CA Technologies, providing enterprise-class security and compliance management for mobile-to-mainframe environments.
Flexibility: ACF2 allows flexibility in adapting security policies to accommodate different organizational structures and requirements.

ACF2 Benefits

Some of the benefits that ACF2 provides are:

Enhanced security and resilience
Streamlined administration
Reliable and scalable security
Comprehensive audit capabilities
Cost-effectiveness
Integration with other security solutions
Simplified identity and access management
Compliance management
Efficient monitoring and reporting

Reviews from Real Users

According to an IT Examiner at a financial services firm with 10,000+ employees, "ACF2 is extremely beneficial for the mainframe environment, and it is at the forefront for security and resilience."

Broadcom

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection automatically discovers and classifies sensitive data from across the enterprise, providing real-time data activity monitoring and advanced user behavior analytics to help discover unusual activity around sensitive data.

Deploy the solution to help discover regulated data in your data stores and use pre-built templates for regulations such as PCI, SOX, HIPAA, CCPA and many more, to streamline and automate compliance workflows.

IBM

Sample Customers

Sky, Rogers Communications

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

ACF2 vs. IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

November 2025

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