Akamai Guardicore Segmentation vs BMC Helix Cloud Security comparison

Akamai Guardicore Segmentation vs. BMC Helix Cloud Security

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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

Qualys TotalCloud

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) category, the mindshare of Qualys TotalCloud is 1.5%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Akamai Guardicore Segmentation is 3.3%, down from 7.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of BMC Helix Cloud Security is 1.2%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Qualys TotalCloud	1.5%
Akamai Guardicore Segmentation	3.3%
BMC Helix Cloud Security	1.2%
Other	94.0%

Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP)

Featured Reviews

Robert Orłowski

IT Security Expert at Alior Bank S.A.

Unified risk scoring has improved our cloud visibility and simplifies remediation priorities

Qualys TotalCloud provides unified vulnerability and threat assessment across both IAS and SaaS. This solution provides a single prioritized view of risk, which helps reduce the work I would have to do. We are no longer based on CVSS; we are based on Qualys risk scoring, which is based on CVSS plus internal findings made by Qualys, and then assigns its own score. The TruRisk insight feature has found a small number of assets with high vulnerability scores, though I am cautious since some information is classified. Qualys TotalCloud has positively impacted our bank's performance, and we have definitely seen benefits after implementing this solution.

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Vibin Thomas

Technical Team Lead - Content Security at Valuepoint Systems

Zero-trust micro-segmentation has strengthened security and improves east-west traffic visibility

While Akamai Guardicore Segmentation is a very powerful solution, there are a few areas where it could be improved. One of the main challenges is the initial deployment and policy design complexity. In large environments, understanding all application dependencies and creating the right policies can take time and requires close coordination with application teams. The user interface and policy management can also be improved. As the number of policies grows, managing and organizing them becomes slightly complex. A more simplified or intuitive policy structure would help operational teams. Another area is integration with other security tools such as SIEM or SOAR platforms. While integration is possible, making it more seamless and easier to configure would add value. Additionally, the reporting and dashboard could be enhanced to provide more customizable and business-level insights, especially for management and reporting. One small improvement I would suggest for Akamai Guardicore Segmentation is having more automation capabilities for policy creation and recommendation. For example, AI-driven suggestions based on observed traffic patterns would help reduce manual effort during the initial policy design. It would also help to have more predefined templates for common use cases, especially for industries such as banking, to speed up deployment. Another area is enhanced reporting customization where we can easily generate business-level dashboards for management and compliance teams without any additional effort.

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Donna Geary

Portfolio Manager/ Helix Administrator at Frontier Communications

A highly scalable and straightforward solution with a knowledgeable support team

We work on a third-party shared environment. It wouldn’t have been feasible for a smaller company. My company was actually the first one to do it. Just like any cloud security, it pays to do your research and have complimentary security involved. The product can’t be the be-all and end-all tool for your security. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

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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

"Qualys TotalCloud's most valuable feature is its agent versatility."

"Qualys TotalCloud has significantly reduced our workload in terms of managing risks, helping us to be more efficient and save substantial resources."

"The agent and agentless scanning in TotalCloud, particularly the FlexScan method, is incredibly valuable. With traditional scanning approaches, we had to give IP ranges and whitelist IPs. All that is now simplified. FlexScan requires minimal intervention, and after configuration, it automatically collects data and performs necessary scans."

"We were able to realize its benefits within 24 to 48 hours."

"Qualys TotalCloud has helped us view our risk structure, vulnerabilities, and security posture."

"One of the most valuable features of Qualys TotalCloud is FlexScan, which is specifically for internet-facing VMs. We found this feature to be very useful. It was a key differentiator for us."

"Qualys TotalCloud is an excellent platform, and the beauty of the platform is that we can get all the vulnerabilities, see all the reports in a single dashboard, view them segregated, and easily learn about critical, high, and medium findings with appropriately provided remediation steps."

"I found the initial setup user-friendly."

More Qualys TotalCloud pros

"The solution is very scalable, especially when connected to the cloud resources."

"Akamai Guardicore Segmentation has impacted my organization positively because we find it difficult to remove the legacy systems, so it was very important to segment them from the rest of the network to protect them and protect the rest of our network."

"This tool greatly helps in understanding the footprint of the attacks."

"It will be a great deal for our partner as Guardicore provides excellent network and process visibility, allowing for advanced segmentation with a very friendly UI."

"That is primarily because I've seen increased rules. It's kind of caught us a little off guard. With GuardiCore, I have had to deal with their technical support and engineering team in Israel. They are amazing. They are very quick to adapt."

"Akamai Guardicore Segmentation offers us large visibility in all our environments and helps us to understand network segmentation and traffic."

"The most valuable feature is the visibility of processes and connections."

"Akamai Guardicore Segmentation is the tool that makes me sleeping well every day."

More Akamai Guardicore Segmentation pros

"The most valuable aspects of BMC Helix Cloud Security are its security features and regulatory compliance capabilities."

"Role-based security is a valuable feature."

"The best feature is time to value. With very minimal effort, you are able to have a cohesive view into your security posture on one or multiple cloud accounts, particularly if you are dealing with multicloud. If you have Azure and AWS deployments, you might have multiple subscriptions in Azure and usually multiple accounts in AWS. You may even be doing some GCP work (around Google Cloud Platform). It's very difficult to manage a common set of policies, even less reporting, across multiple subscriptions, accounts, and cloud environments. What BMC Helix Cloud Security does is provide a unified view or single pane of glass as to your baseline. Then, it also facilitates the ability for Level 1 or 2 operations support to take action and report on security vulnerabilities."

"The cool feature of Helix Cloud Security is that you can do all that — understand and remediate issues — in one dashboard, based on the different policies that are available for security, out-of-the-box."

"It's also multi-cloud. You can look at several cloud providers: AWS, Azure, or GCP."

"The features that I've found most valuable are its container security aspect. I also like its vulnerability management tools."

"Using this solution is an eye-opener; having that holistic view is the biggest eye-opener because you understand, from any of your connected cloud accounts, what your vulnerabilities are with it."

"It is a good tool to make sure that your containers are safe and sound."

More BMC Helix Cloud Security pros

Cons

"TotalCloud could improve its scanning of niche devices like Wi-Fi dongles and USB modems because they are often untested. It covers everything else, like laptops, mobile devices, and Bluetooth IoT devices. They can improve on the small IoT devices because hackers and testers use these."

"Their customer support needs improvement."

"Regarding technical support from Qualys, they respond, but the response time can be too long. Sometimes we need to wait weeks for solutions to simple questions."

"The response part of the Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) module can be improved."

"TotalCloud could improve the classification of vulnerabilities. Specifically, it could enhance the categorization of what aspects fall under patches resolved by OS or software updates and what pertains to configuration adjustments."

"Enhancing clarity regarding its compliance capabilities would be beneficial, as the current scope is limited in geographic coverage."

"The cost of Qualys TotalCloud is high and could be more competitive."

"Although TotalCloud is a helpful tool, some of its advanced features are still under development."

More Qualys TotalCloud cons

"The maps could go a bit faster. They are useful but slightly slow."

"I think the pricing is very high."

"What we hear most from customers is that it requires a kernel module."

"The long-term management of the security policies could be improved with some kind of automation platform, something like Chef or Puppet or Ansible, to help you manage the policies after day-one... to then manage the policies and changes to those policies, going forward, through some type of automation process is not turning out to be really easy."

"It doesn't support a PAAC solution (Platforma as a service) in the cloud."

"Reporting is one area where I think Akamai Guardicore Segmentation can be improved."

"In our version, when using the terminal server, we cannot exclude user tasks for each session."

"Guardicore Centra should incorporate automation so that we don't require to write custom scripts and APIs. The tool also has limitations on rules where it allows only sixty thousand rules. Our clients have also commented that there are too many manual clicks and effort to do changes. I think that the incorporation of automation can help our clients make changes with confidence and without the possibility of human error."

More Akamai Guardicore Segmentation cons

"We've had some with issues connectors. The connectors have seemed to have caused a little bit of trouble, perhaps with the APIs trying to scan the environment. The only time I've had to reach out to tech support was for that. It seems it may not have been scanning correctly or I wasn't seeing data within a specific time. But we've set up a couple of connectors in the past couple of weeks and they actually scanned the AWS environment and we had data within about 10 minutes. It's working a lot faster and I think they're making improvements as they go."

"I want the role-based security feature to be improved."

"The UI could be more user-friendly."

"The biggest challenge now, which is a good problem to have, with BMC Helix is content."

"BMC Helix Cloud Security has room for improvement in terms of integrating its various features."

"Every organization out there doesn't rely on just one control body. They use FISMA control. They may use HIPAA, CIS, PCI, or SOX, then blend them. One of the things that is now in big demand for BMC Helix Cloud Security is content. That's the next journey in its lifespan, making it easier for the community to share and collaborate on content for security controls that can be measured and remediated."

"I think its TOA interfaces are still not that comfortable. The UI could be more user-friendly, easier to use."

"We've had some issues with connectors; the connectors have seemed to cause a little bit of trouble, perhaps with the APIs trying to scan the environment."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is high, but it meets our organizational needs."

"As a middle management member, I do not have direct pricing knowledge, but based on the knowledge from our meetings, its pricing is competitive."

"I am not sure about the pricing. From what I understand, it is a bit on the higher side, but I do not have the exact numbers."

"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."

"While Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is currently acceptable, it is becoming increasingly expensive and may soon be considered overpriced."

"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive, but it offers a premier solution with no headaches."

"Although Qualys TotalCloud is relatively expensive due to its unique automation features, its cost-effectiveness is rated an eight out of ten, with ten being the most costly."

"Qualys TotalCloud offers competitive pricing given its comprehensive suite of features, including integration, assessment, remediation, and detection capabilities, all within a single platform."

More Qualys TotalCloud pricing and cost advice

"GuardiCore has made some new changes to the license now. We've seen monthly and annual licenses based on a subscription. We have a few clients that pay anywhere from $25,000 a year."

"The solution is reasonably priced and I would rate it a six out of ten. The tool's licensing costs are yearly."

"The customer would complain about the cost."

"Compared to the pricing we were seeing from both Illumio and Edgewise, Guardicore was very competitive."

"The price is the same as other products in the market. There's no price argument to choose one or the other product, it will cost the customer approximately the same."

"This is not a cheap solution but you have to consider the bigger picture, which is what it is giving you."

"The pricing is too high."

"Akamai Guardicore Segmentation is expensive."

More Akamai Guardicore Segmentation pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is based on an annual subscription, upfront, and it's based on cloud assets. Whether your assets are in Azure and AWS combined, the tool tells you how many assets are being scanned and that's the number used for pricing."

"It is a subscription model with term licensing that is usually yearly. This includes, not only the product, but support and maintenance. It is based on cloud assets. Therefore, if you have 100 cloud assets, those cloud assets are measured based on evaluation or transactions. For example, if I'm evaluating that cloud asset for CIS compliance, PCI compliance, and AWS best practices, that asset gets evaluated three times, as those are three transactions. However, the license model is based on peak asset usage. So, over a year, if you deploy 100, 1000, 500, and then 2000 assets, you will be charged for the 2000 peak of assets managed by Helix Cloud Security."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

19%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Insurance Company

Construction Company

22%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Performing Arts

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	29

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	15

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys TotalCloud?

The price is very expensive, actually.

What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?

Areas that need improvement in every solution include the remediation part. The remediation steps should be simple en...

What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?

Our use case involves the assets that we have under cloud, the assets exposed to the internet, and the internal appli...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Guardicore Centra?

Regarding pricing and setup cost, I don't have information because I am from a consulting team and not from the sales...

What needs improvement with Guardicore Infection Monkey?

Reporting is one area where I think Akamai Guardicore Segmentation can be improved. They are working on it, but as of...

What is your primary use case for Guardicore Infection Monkey?

My main use case for Akamai Guardicore Segmentation is related to Kubernetes instrumentation and visibility, although...

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Qualys TotalCloud

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Comparisons

Wiz vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 11% of the time

Compared 8% of the time

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 6% of the time

JupiterOne vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 5% of the time

Nucleus Security vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 5% of the time

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Illumio Segmentation vs Akamai Guardicore Segmentation

Compared 26% of the time

Cisco Secure Workload vs Akamai Guardicore Segmentation

Compared 9% of the time

VMware NSX vs Akamai Guardicore Segmentation

Compared 8% of the time

TrendAI Deep Security vs Akamai Guardicore Segmentation

Compared 5% of the time

AWS GuardDuty vs Akamai Guardicore Segmentation

Compared 2% of the time

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Cisco Secure Workload vs BMC Helix Cloud Security

Compared 9% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs BMC Helix Cloud Security

Compared 9% of the time

Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP vs BMC Helix Cloud Security

Compared 7% of the time

CloudPassage vs BMC Helix Cloud Security

Compared 6% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security vs BMC Helix Cloud Security

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Qualys TotalCloud

Download Qualys TotalCloud product report

Akamai Guardicore Segmentation

Download Akamai Guardicore Segmentation product report

BMC Helix Cloud Security

Download BMC Helix Cloud Security product report

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan

Guardicore Centra, GuardiCore

TrueSight Cloud Security, SecOps Policy Service

Overview

Qualys TotalCloud enhances security posture across cloud environments with continuous monitoring, vulnerability management, and risk visualization, ensuring efficient threat assessment and automated remediation for improved cyber risk reduction.

Qualys TotalCloud offers a robust suite of security tools essential for organizations managing multi-cloud infrastructures. By integrating cloud accounts and automating workflows, it supports AWS, Azure, and GCP, offering comprehensive vulnerability management and zero-day detection. The platform's user-friendly design, combined with its extensive risk management and unified threat assessment capabilities, enables organizations to prioritize and remediate vulnerabilities effectively. TruRisk Insights provides clear insights on cyber risks, while the automation options streamline patch management and scanning processes. API integration across IaaS and SaaS environments further enhances resource allocation efficiency and saves time, addressing misconfigurations across cloud environments.

What are the most important features of Qualys TotalCloud?

Accurate Vulnerability Reports: Delivers precise and actionable insights for risk mitigation.
Zero-Day Detection: Identifies and addresses zero-day vulnerabilities proactively.
Unified Threat Assessment: Offers comprehensive evaluation of threats across the environment.
Extensive Risk Management: Manages risks effectively with advanced insights and prioritization.
Continuous Monitoring: Provides non-stop surveillance for vulnerabilities and threats.
Cloud-Native Automation: Streamlines processes and reduces manual efforts using automation.
FlexScan for Internet-Facing VMs: Scans external VMs efficiently to detect vulnerabilities.
Dashboard Risk Visualization: Clear visualization helps prioritize vulnerabilities.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Improved Security Posture: Enhances threat detection and response across clouds.
Time Savings: Automation reduces time spent on manual vulnerability management.
Resource Efficiency: Better allocation of resources through streamlined workflows.
Enhanced Risk Prioritization: Focus on critical vulnerabilities for effective mitigation.
Integrated Cloud Accounts: Facilitates seamless cloud management and security.

Qualys TotalCloud is deployed in sectors needing rigorous vulnerability management, such as finance and healthcare. Companies utilize it to secure multi-cloud environments like AWS, Azure, and GCP, focus on compliance, and integrate security into CI/CD pipelines to detect and remedy threats pre-deployment.

Qualys

Akamai Guardicore Segmentation offers extensive visibility and micro-segmentation capabilities, integrating seamlessly with diverse environments to enhance security measures. Organizations benefit from its platform agnosticism and centralized firewall management, maximizing protection and operational efficiency.

Known for its detailed network visibility, Akamai Guardicore Segmentation streamlines security operations across different platforms. It facilitates ease of policy creation and allows for effective segmentation, even of legacy systems. With advanced threat intelligence and real-time traffic monitoring, organizations optimize security and compliance, reducing attack surfaces through precise process and port control. This capability extends to seamless operation in environments like Kubernetes and data centers, implementing Zero Trust security models and server-to-server segmentation.

What are the key features?

Extensive visibility: Offers comprehensive insight across network environments.
Platform agnosticism: Operates effectively on multiple platforms.
Micro-segmentation: Enables detailed control over network traffic.
Centralized management: Simplifies firewall administration and monitoring.
Threat intelligence: Incorporates AI for dynamic threat assessment.

What benefits or ROI should organizations seek?

Enhanced security: Reduces attack surfaces and prevents lateral movements.
Operational efficiency: Streamlines policy creation and enforcement.
Integration flexibility: Aligns with diverse systems for seamless deployment.
Compliance achievement: Supports adherence to industry standards.

In sectors like banking and financial services, Akamai Guardicore Segmentation is crucial for implementing Zero Trust models and enhancing server-to-server segmentation. These industries utilize its capabilities to replace traditional firewalls and manage complex environments, boosting security through application dependency mapping and optimized east-west traffic control.

Akamai

BMC Helix Cloud Security offers a unified view for managing multicloud environments, ensuring compliance and enhancing security across AWS, Azure, and GCP through automated remediation and role-based security.

BMC Helix Cloud Security provides comprehensive multicloud security management, featuring automated remediation and support for regulatory compliance like GDPR and ISO 27001. Its intuitive dashboard allows users to identify vulnerabilities quickly and take action. With automated or manual control over security maintenance, it aligns with diverse organizational approaches. However, areas for improvement include content availability, integration enhancements, and clearer vulnerability reporting.

What are the key features of BMC Helix Cloud Security?

Automated Remediation: Streamline responses to detected threats automatically.
Role-Based Security: Offers granular security control tailored to user roles.
Container Security: Protects containerized environments effectively.
Regulatory Compliance: Aligns with standards such as GDPR and ISO 27001.
User-Friendly Dashboard: Simplifies vulnerability identification and action.

What benefits can users anticipate when reviewing BMC Helix Cloud Security?

Enhanced Security Posture: Improves threat detection and response speed.
Simplified Compliance: Eases adherence to industry standards.
Operational Efficiency: Automates routine checks and remediation, saving time.
Scalability: Supports diverse multicloud environments effortlessly.

BMC Helix Cloud Security is implemented to align cloud workloads with regulatory controls, mitigate security risks, and ensure adherence to CIS Controls. It supports IT operations integration and automates security measures, offering insights valuable for both internal processes and customer-facing deployments, particularly in industries utilizing AWS and Azure.

BMC Helix

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Santander, Frontier Airlines, OpenLink, Intermountain Healthcare, Cellcom, BancoBASE

NHS, Vodafone, Kansas City Life, SKY Italia, Cybera

Akamai Guardicore Segmentation vs. BMC Helix Cloud Security