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Cleanup vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection 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

Cleanup
Ranking in Database Security
17th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Mainframe Security (11th)
IBM Security Guardium Data ...
Ranking in Database Security
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Database Security category, the mindshare of Cleanup is 1.7%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is 26.4%, down from 32.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Security Guardium Data Protection26.4%
Cleanup1.7%
Other71.9%
Database Security
 

Featured Reviews

it_user350628 - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
It looks forward in the database, so if it’s not showing any activity, you can get rid of that profile. But, if I give someone access to it, I can’t control the scope of what they can see.
It presents problems. The problem is, if I give someone access to it, I can’t control the scope of what they can see. They can see everything. I want to make the information available and more integrated with other security components, and I want it to be more reliable. It also needs acknowledgement that clean-up data can come from temporary cloned environments that somehow need to be incorporated into enterprise view of usage.
Marylennis Franco - PeerSpot reviewer
Jefe De Continuidad Operacional at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
Has improved data visibility and streamlined compliance reporting across multiple database platforms
The best feature is how many databases we can protect with one solution because it has compatibility with different databases, including Oracle, SQL, and DB2. The data activity monitoring feature is very good because we can check the PDS and have the information for that. We can schedule the reporting and receive it by email, which provides very important information for different areas of the company. We don't need to have a seat and a case or access to the portal, we just receive the report. The user-friendly interface is very good.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Technical support is good, and they're great once they agree there’s a problem."
"The benefit is that it's made database monitoring more visible to the business, creating more conversations about how we should do it better."
"The most valuable feature for me, in my role as systems DBA, is the expediting of internal and external audits."
"Compliance Quick Start – Quick, GUI, step-by-step guide to automate compliance and give the customer a quick ROI."
"Efficiency is key and IBM Guardium provides information in a heartbeat, but protects the data with military grade encryption."
"What I like about IBM Guardium Data Protection is that some of its features were deployed by collectors during the installation phase. The solution has collector and aggregator features, license installation, and even server patches that you won't find in other security providers. I like the collector-aggregator capabilities of IBM Guardium Data Protection where you install each component on separate servers, then on the aggregator, you collect all the logs on a central server or central console."
"I like the reporting mechanism. It's very good."
"The most valuable feature is the GUI, the interface. It also interfaces well with REST API, if you want to automate some of the commands."
"We used to use cobbled-together scripts, different products and different pieces on different platforms, and this solution automated all that and made it such that the security administrators can run it themselves and not involve us, saving time, money, and people effort."
 

Cons

"Use it as an indication of data, not as gospel. Don’t take action based solely on it."
"The integration part of the present solution is very complex and tedious. Plus it gives a lot of false positives which need to be eradicated over time."
"The solution lacks control over database security."
"The solution should allow the data to shift to a centralized repository with elastic servers and big data infrastructure"
"The user interface could be improved and modernized."
"Setup can be complex. The documentation is in so many different locations, and a lot of times we have to leverage support and higher level resources to figure out the right steps to take."
"I would like to see IBM Guardium have other encryption algorithms employed."
"The installation should be a bit easier."
"While Guardium is great at structured monitoring (DAM), the product is lacking features on the file activity side (FAM)."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"IBM Guardium Data Protection charges you based on the number of users, e.g. based on the number of licenses, and it's either on a per-license or a per-data basis."
"I would suggest to review the type of data, need for security, and if the organizational structure needs the options IBM Guardium provides."
"IBM solutions have fair price strategy, and operates on a yearly basis. If it's a SaaS solution, then you can opt for yearly basis."
"We haven't talked much about pricing and licencing. But it is not cheap for sure"
"Guardium's pricing is quite high, but it gives good value for money for all sizes of enterprises, especially for partners."
"The price is good for the quality of the solution."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"Guardium is most suitable for large scale enterprises because the pricing model is better if you are implementing a large number of databases."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
23%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Insurance Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise44
 

Questions from the Community

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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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Guardium Data Protection?
I don't remember the exact prices, but Guardium is an expensive tool because it is targeted towards corporate enterprises.
What do you like most about IBM Security Guardium Data Protection?
The features I like are the robust policies, which allow us to create customized monitoring based on specific activities.
 

Also Known As

CA Cleanup
InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Standard Bank of South Africa
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM, Imperva, Oracle and others in Database Security. Updated: May 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.