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BigID vs IBM Data Governance 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

BigID
Ranking in Data Governance
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Data Privacy Management Software (3rd), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (3rd)
IBM Data Governance
Ranking in Data Governance
22nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Data Governance category, the mindshare of BigID is 7.7%, up from 6.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Data Governance is 1.4%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Governance
 

Featured Reviews

Ankita Sabale - PeerSpot reviewer
Predefined classifiers in place support sensitive data scanning effectively
BigID does not currently support Kerberos authentication for DataStax. On the user interface, analyzing true and false positives can be challenging, as I can only view 2,000 characters at a time. When tagging scan results, all objects get tagged without the option to untag specific ones. This requires reverting changes through MongoDB, which can result in data loss.
Murali B - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides a single interface to monitor and navigate data quality metrics
One area with room for improvement would be the ability to generate detailed quality reports. Some Python libraries provide quality scores and reports—having that capability within IBM Data Governance would be beneficial. We can see the pass/fail results, but getting additional percentage ratios would add significant value. My experience with IBM Data Governance has mostly been with the GUI. I've noticed some latency when accessing the portal. Also, automating reports can sometimes hang, though that might depend on the overall system. That's where I see the most room for improvement – quicker report generation. Fetching specific data from the IBM Data Governance repository tends to be slower compared to other vendors. For example, Collibra has a more responsive GUI. Retrieving large datasets from the IBM catalog is particularly slow.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"BigID's scanning feature is its most valuable component."
"BigID integrates well with our other products."
"The most valuable feature of BigID is its large number of classifiers, which allow us to scan for specific data such as SSN numbers."
"One of the most valuable things in a data-focused world is a tool, a technology that's data-centric, not trying to master data management or whatever else. It's a source of truth for what data an organization holds, giving it the ability to catalog, categorize, and understand its data."
"BigID offers different scan types for data discovery. The most powerful one is the full scan, which scans both data and metadata. However, the metadata scan is faster in comparison."
"The data classification offered by the tool can help companies improve their security strategy"
"The features that I have found most valuable are the user experience, the credentialing, and that BigID is user friendly. Additionally, you can deploy to several other Microsoft platforms and you can use it for other things, like a bigger element or a report."
"The most valuable feature of BigID is its large number of classifiers, which allow us to scan for specific data such as SSN numbers."
"IBM Data Governance improved data analytics operations. During a company merger, we used IBM Data Governance to understand and bridge sample data between systems."
 

Cons

"There are some shortcomings when it comes to Calvirus authentication, which is not yet supported by BigID."
"I want them to focus on data mapping, assessment, automation workflow, and privacy incident management."
"BigID is making some forays into the GRC space, and that's a natural progression. I'd like to see that improve so that data governance is better, data risk is identified, and the ability to control and mitigate it."
"BigID needs improvement in terms of automation."
"In terms of what could be improved, when you're looking in a BigID file, you cannot really get the whole file. You have to export it to download it to another platform that allows you to completely view it, or run a program. That was one of the things that was really a disappointing point for me. Not to be able to view everything. There's a lot more data, but you can't get it all at once."
"The challenge we encountered was with data connection across multiple databases. We struggled with configuring the data connection successfully. However, with the assistance of dynamic teams, we resolved this issue."
"There are some shortcomings when it comes to Calvirus authentication, which is not yet supported by BigID."
"The tool currently lacks security features."
"One area with room for improvement would be the ability to generate detailed quality reports. Some Python libraries provide quality scores and reports—having that capability within IBM Data Governance would be beneficial."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I think that BigID's pricing is very reasonable."
"The solution is expensive."
"The solution is not licensed per user but rather based on capacity. For instance, organizations with large amounts of data, such as 50 GB or more, are the ones that typically qualify for BigID."
"The product is expensive, but so are all competitor tools"
"The pricing depends. If you have thousands of data sources to connect and manage, and you struggled with an MDM package in the past, you'll find BigID valuable and even cheap. But if you're a small business, it's probably not the right tool for you."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
25%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
8%
Insurance Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BigID?
I like BigID's in-depth discovery and scanning capabilities, especially for unstructured data. This feature is a standout compared to competitors. The tool's data classification capabilities are i...
What needs improvement with BigID?
BigID does not currently support Kerberos authentication for DataStax. On the user interface, analyzing true and false positives can be challenging, as I can only view 2,000 characters at a time. W...
What is your primary use case for BigID?
BigID is part of our data governance project. We onboard data sources in our environment and scan for specific sensitive data sets, such as SSN numbers, passport numbers, and medical information, w...
What do you like most about IBM Data Governance?
IBM Data Governance improved data analytics operations. During a company merger, we used IBM Data Governance to understand and bridge sample data between systems.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Data Governance?
I would rate pricing an eight out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive. It's pretty expensive.
What needs improvement with IBM Data Governance?
One area with room for improvement would be the ability to generate detailed quality reports. Some Python libraries provide quality scores and reports—having that capability within IBM Data Governa...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Home Depot, Grant Thornton LLP, Cimpress, Fidelity Investments
TIAA CREF, Control Risks Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Informatica, Collibra and others in Data Governance. Updated: July 2025.
862,514 professionals have used our research since 2012.