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AWS IAM Identity Center vs Symantec Siteminder 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

AWS IAM Identity Center
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
8th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (7th)
Symantec Siteminder
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
Web Access Management (1st), Access Management (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of AWS IAM Identity Center is 2.0%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Siteminder is 2.6%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
 

Featured Reviews

Khaled Saidi - PeerSpot reviewer
Manage cloud security with granular access control and enhanced authentication
Managing IAM in complex environments can be challenging, and there are several areas for improvement. First, incorporating automation tools or a centralized dashboard for managing roles and policies across multiple accounts would simplify administration, especially for large organizations. Additionally, policy debugging and validation could be more streamlined, as troubleshooting misconfigurations can be time-consuming and prone to errors. A more robust error messaging system or a dedicated debugging tool would be beneficial. Another area for improvement is temporary access credentials. AWS documentation should offer more detailed guidance on edge cases and exceptions, along with clearer examples of how to handle various scenarios. Lastly, enhanced session-level policies that are more context-sensitive and based on specific conditions (such as IP address, device, or time) would greatly increase flexibility and allow for more granular control over user sessions.
Muzi Lubisi - PeerSpot reviewer
Improved user experience with seamless integration and easy installation
The feature that I mostly valued is the ease of installation on different systems, especially on Windows. Additionally, it is very beneficial for deploying single sign-on sessions between different windows on a web browser, provided I am connected to the right identity provider. That seamless integration significantly improves user experience and efficiency.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of AWS IAM Identity Center are role-based permissions and existing permissions templates."
"The most valuable feature is the security configuration ease, which is great for me, especially as a beginner."
"The two most valuable features of IAM Identity Center are the security policy generation and automation in creating credentials."
"The organizational value of AWS IAM Identity Center is definitely significant, as it helps ensure that the least required permissions are given to users, thus preventing unnecessary access and reducing the risk of accidental deletions or changes."
"AWS IAM Identity Center has helped our organization by providing a unified dashboard to manage permissions and access controls."
"AWS IAM Identity Center offers a secure and centralized way to manage access and permissions."
"Its valuable features include granular access control, allowing precise control over who can access specific AWS resources and under what conditions using JSON-based policies."
"Overall, IAM Identity Center is a great service, currently rated at nine out of ten."
"Siteminder allows us to manage identity and portability control efficiently."
"It's quite scalable."
"I liked the debugging part. There are only two files (trace file and log file) that you need to look into while performing debugging, and the logs give you the exact info on where and what needs to be fixed."
"Symantec Siteminder has simplified user access for our customers from user login to their web applications."
"The single sign-on is the solution's most valuable feature"
"It is reliable."
"The authentication and single sign-on features of Symantec Siteminder are valuable."
"The Directory is secure. It's our user store, and it's important to keep our members safe. The product does well with that."
 

Cons

"Focusing on further allowing customization and flexibility in developing solutions as a solution architect or developer would enhance user experience."
"The configuration with other tools can be hard."
"I would like to see more flexibility in the features as sometimes it doesn't meet my expectations."
"Greater visualization for security policies would be beneficial."
"Integrating AWS IAM Identity Center with other applications sometimes presents challenges."
"I would like to see more flexibility in the features as sometimes it doesn't meet my expectations."
"IAM is challenging to manage in complex environments. Enhancements could include automation tools or a centralized dashboard for managing roles and policies across multiple accounts, simplifying the process."
"In the product, two groups cannot have the same name...In general, the tool does not allow for the duplication of names."
"An area Siteminder could improve on is that there are a few limitations, in terms of new protocols for OpenID. If I want to have different scopes, the features are limited. They also do not have APIs exposed, which is a major drawback. API is a feature I would like to see included in the next release."
"The technical support could be better."
"The tech support has not been very good for us so we don't use them anymore. We have had some issues. Nobody is perfect."
"As we are moving in to the mobility space, this is where we really see SiteMinder and their other product really come together to provide a solution base to a different area where the IoT is coming, the different business communications are happening. All of those things require authentication and we really want to see this product grow into that role."
"The support team could work on their response time and overall competence."
"The GUIs are not very clear, especially when integrating with other products from CA."
"In future releases, I would like to see maybe more capabilities with some more modern authentication."
"The maintenance cost has increased significantly, and we are concerned about this."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is cheap since it is available on the cloud."
"The solution's pricing is competitive."
"The price is quite comparable to the other enterprise-level solutions in that market."
"Siteminder is a little costly. You pay for licensing, and they offer packages, so if you have less users, then you have to buy different products at different prices. If you have more of a user base, then the package is different. They also include other features—for example, if you have a database and you're using Siteminder, then it's good to use a Semantic-specific database, but if you are using less, then you have to purchase the database separately. Whereas if you are going for a bigger license, then it comes within the package. It depends on which plan you are using."
"I recommend conducting a PoC on every available product before choose one."
"CA solutions are generally expensive but for the customer the ROI is big."
"Symantec Siteminder is expensive; they could definitely do better on the price."
"The licensing is fair for this solution."
"The pricing is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Performing Arts
7%
Financial Services Firm
32%
Insurance Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS IAM Identity Center?
The product is easy for beginners to learn and use.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS IAM Identity Center?
AWS provides the lowest pricing among other service providers like Azure, Google, Oracle. It is cost-effective, and they use a pay-as-you-go model.
What needs improvement with AWS IAM Identity Center?
There are new AI features coming to AWS that are easy and simple to use. However, focusing on further allowing customization and flexibility in developing solutions as a solution architect or devel...
What do you like most about Symantec Siteminder?
It's agent-based. It's convenient to deploy and integrate.
What needs improvement with Symantec Siteminder?
Symantec Siteminder needs to have adaptive authentication and multi-factor authentication as integrated features. Currently, multi-factor authentication is available as a separate solution, and it ...
 

Also Known As

AWS Single Sign On, AWS SSO
SiteMinder, CA SSO, Layer7 SiteMinder
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
British Telecom, CoreBlox, DBS, HMS, Itera ASA and Simeo
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS IAM Identity Center vs. Symantec Siteminder and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.