Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

ACF2 vs Imperva Data Security Fabric comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 21, 2025

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
13th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Mainframe Security (5th)
Imperva Data Security Fabric
Ranking in Database Security
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Database Security category, the mindshare of ACF2 is 1.6%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Imperva Data Security Fabric is 25.0%, down from 32.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Imperva Data Security Fabric25.0%
ACF21.6%
Other73.4%
Database Security
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1077621 - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Samuel Adeyemi - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Analyst at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real-time data monitoring and policy-based activity blocking enhance security and awareness
The development mode on the platform needs improvement. For example, the archiving functionalities should be enhanced to allow easy conversion of archived logs into CSV or Excel formats for data analysis. When I need to investigate with archived data, the inability to export to these formats can be limiting. Making this process easier would be beneficial for reviews.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Logging and monitoring are most valuable. It is for the mainframe environment, and it is at the forefront for security and resilience."
"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."
"I love their support. The support is great. They are number one."
"Excellent real-time reporting that saves time and resources."
"It has a user-friendly interface. It is a stable and scalable product."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the database security policy."
"The product’s most valuable feature is real-time highlights."
"There are three major main use cases of this solution. The first one is to fulfill compliance regulations. Customers—especially the banks, health sector, and manufacturing—need to comply with the regulations in different countries. They have to fulfill compliance regulations around the privacy of data. In order to fulfill those requirements, they're using Imperva. It helps them to fulfill these requirements, and they are not fined by the regulators. That is the first use case why people buy Imperva."
"The solution provides significant benefits such as compliance and security. Its data risk analytics tool helps reduce numerous events to more manageable incidents."
"The cyber intelligence feature is the most valuable."
"They have very good documentation and knowledgebase resources that add to the depth of their support."
"As we are very sensitive to financial impacts, this product provides great protection for our organization."
 

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 development mode on the platform needs improvement. For example, the archiving functionalities should be enhanced to allow easy conversion of archived logs into CSV or Excel formats for data analysis."
"Database security from the access management perspective could be better."
"It would be more efficient if we could manage the consoles of management servers from a single location"
"Technical support for this solution needs improvement."
"The solution is expensive."
"The agent does not monitor databases in the containers."
"The firewall features are not very strong and should be improved."
"The solution could improve by having more integration."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The cost of support for this solution is very expensive."
"Its pricing could be cheaper for the African countries or developing economies. The British pound is valued way more than the currency of most African countries. A better or cheaper pricing model for Nigerian and African customers would be better. It has a per-year subscription model. You pay exactly for what you need. That's all. You don't have to buy what you don't need."
"Imperva is too expensive for small and medium-sized enterprises. They're missing out on technology that helps them manage their data security better. Data security is essential because even the strongest network may be attacked from the inside without it."
"Licensing fees are on a yearly basis, and it is a good value for the money."
"It is very expensive."
"They have introduced new price models, which makes the product more affordable now."
"The setup and license are quite expensive."
"Imperva SecureSphere Database Security was quite expensive several years ago, but now they provide a subscription plan for licensing. It is available now for smaller and medium-sized companies, not only large enterprises."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Database Security solutions are best for your needs.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
23%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Retailer
9%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise32
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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...
 

Also Known As

CA ACF2
Imperva SecureSphere Database Security, jSonar, Imperva's Data Security Posture Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Sky, Rogers Communications
BlueCross BlueShield, eHarmony, EMF Broadcasting, GE Healthcare, Metro Bank, The Motley Fool, Siemens
Find out what your peers are saying about ACF2 vs. Imperva Data Security Fabric and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.