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IBM X-Force Exchange vs USM Anywhere comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

IBM X-Force Exchange
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.6
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) (15th)
USM Anywhere
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
115
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (37th), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (30th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (44th), Compliance Management (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Security Software solutions, they serve different purposes. IBM X-Force Exchange is designed for Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) and holds a mindshare of 1.5%, down 1.6% compared to last year.
USM Anywhere, on the other hand, focuses on Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), holds 1.0% mindshare, up 1.0% since last year.
Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM X-Force Exchange1.5%
Recorded Future7.6%
CrowdStrike Falcon4.7%
Other86.2%
Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP)
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
USM Anywhere1.0%
Splunk Enterprise Security7.2%
Wazuh5.8%
Other86.0%
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

JohnTamakloe - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Architect at ostec
A threat intelligence platform aiming to enhance its intelligence
It falls under the category of AI-embedded threat intelligence, which makes detection more efficient by reducing the rate of false positives and improving the overall detection rate. When the threat intelligence alone doesn’t provide enough information, we use other methods to verify the threat. For example, IBM has its threat intelligence team and tools. If the threat intelligence doesn’t yield much information, the tool has a framework that can identify suspicious activity. We then use our judgment and experience to implement compensating controls, whether for a potentially malicious patch, IP address, or any other threat. Customers benefit from it, even if they’re not directly integrating it. Through our service, they receive the benefits of the integration. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Kris Nawani - PeerSpot reviewer
Co-Founder/Director at Bangkok MSP Company Limited
Offers complete coverage without the need to install additional software
USM Anywhere is used for threat detection and investigation. It provides a solution with built-in threat intelligence and various other investigation tools The solution offers complete coverage without the need to install additional software, as it is maintained by the vendor. It helps in saving…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This product has helped to increase staff productivity."
"The most valuable feature is you have the expertise of human experience directly involved. There is a team of experts."
"It's quite integratable so you can actually integrate and get IP malware and URL information. It also gives you some form of intelligence into what you're trying to investigate or what you're trying to understand."
"We are able to get alerts perfectly with FIM and VA features."
"On any given day I could give you a different answer regarding the most valuable features of the product. The feature that is most important is the fact that it has a lot of features, that it's not just a log collection and correlation system, that it has a lot of other components built in. The bundle of features is really the killer feature."
"We had used previous products and found AlienVault centralized the logging for our security."
"The asset management functionality (active and passive scans) is also really important. You can't protect what you do not know about, so having an inventory of all your devices and software is critical to a security management program."
"Our main focus was intrusion detection, alerts, and correlation. It's easy to use AlienVault and integrate it with other alert tools because it includes lots of connectors. Either the tool is already there, or AlienVault will write an API for us if they don't have a connector for the solution that is providing the logs."
"Its powerful correlation engine helps reduce time in manually correlating events."
"The best thing about AlienVault USM is it being a “Jack-of-All Trades” solution. It provides SIEM, HIDS/NIDS, FIM, NetFlow, Asset Management, Vulnerability Management, etc., under one USM platform. None of the commercial SIEM vendors like ArcSight, McAfee, etc., can boast of such a diverse feature set."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is security management for PCI DSS."
 

Cons

"We would like to have more AI capabilities to detect threats and improve its productivity from a cybersecurity standpoint."
"You have to look for the new information from X-Force. X-Force will provide it but you have to look for it. We need clearer visibility."
"I would like to see better integration with other systems, solutions, and vendors."
"Plugins could be better utilized, as some of them do not recognize all logs."
"The only complex area of the setup was writing the custom scripts."
"It would be hard for any legitimate MSSP to use it."
"It would be nice to see some machine learning and monitoring of the configuration in network devices."
"Support can be slow at times, but the quality is high. Posted knowledge base articles could use improvement."
"The GUI needs to improve because it's not user-friendly."
"The UI and overall processes need a little bit more love. This shows in the error banners that come up when you select certain things. There isn't a day that goes by that the UI doesn't error out and I can't view events for an alarm."
"The reporting module could be a little easier to handle, as it requires quite some trial and error until you get the reports you want. Also, it would be great to have a graphical interface for the Network Intrusion Detection System's rule management."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cost is clearly a consideration, but the important thing is what we do with the data and how we protect it."
"One of the fastest ways to cut costs is reducing staff, and this product can reduce staff by 70 percent."
"The price for this solution is very good, but since the features do not work the price is expensive."
"It's affordable for most customers."
"It has good pricing."
"I don't know exactly, but I know it is based on the number of logs and the retention duration, such as 30 days or something like that. So, the smallest package is about 500 a month for 30 days of logs. There is a virtual machine. You need resources for it. It is a log collecting VM. They provide the software, and you just have to load a virtual machine. So, you're going to incur some CPU RAM and storage for wherever this log collecting appliance is running, which typically is in our cloud and on our platform for the customer."
"AlienVault is certainly not nearly as expensive as Splunk or QRadar. It's decently priced, but I don't have the exact figure."
"I rate the price of AT&T AlienVault USM a four out of five."
"So far, it has been a good solution for a tight budget."
"They are a little more expensive than Microsoft."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Performing Arts
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business64
Midsize Enterprise29
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What is your primary use case for IBM X-Force?
It's a threat intelligence platform, and we aim to enhance its intelligence by integrating additional security solutions.
What advice do you have for others considering IBM X-Force?
It falls under the category of AI-embedded threat intelligence, which makes detection more efficient by reducing the rate of false positives and improving the overall detection rate. When the threa...
What needs improvement with AT&T AlienVault USM?
There are scalability issues due to a 60 TB limit, which restricts its use for large customers like banks. It is also limited when used with bigger products and has complex password requirements.
What is your primary use case for AT&T AlienVault USM?
USM Anywhere is used for threat detection and investigation. It provides a solution with built-in threat intelligence and various other investigation tools.
 

Also Known As

X-Force Exchange, X-Force
AT&T AlienVault USM, AlienVault, AlienVault USM, Alienvault Cybersecurity
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Abel & Cole, Bank of Ireland, Bluegrass Cellular, CareerBuilder, Claire's, Hays Medical Center, Hope International, McCurrach, McKinsey & Company, Party Delights, Pepco Holdings, Richland School District, Ricoh, SaveMart, Shake Shack, Steelcase, TaxAct, Taylor Morrison, Vonage and Zoom
Find out what your peers are saying about CrowdStrike, Recorded Future, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP). Updated: March 2026.
884,192 professionals have used our research since 2012.