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Cortex XSIAM vs IBM Watson for Cyber Security 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

Cortex XSIAM
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
14th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (7th), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (8th)
IBM Watson for Cyber Security
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
57th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of Cortex XSIAM is 2.4%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Watson for Cyber Security is 0.7%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cortex XSIAM2.4%
IBM Watson for Cyber Security0.7%
Other96.9%
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2666148 - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Director at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Integration challenges highlight the need for manual workflows
The standard integrations are very limited, and the integrations available are not listed in the marketplace. Obtaining validation for integrations from Palo Alto takes around eight months, which is quite long. The solution would benefit from having more standard playbooks and templates available, as in other partners. Currently, everything must be created from scratch. In terms of incident response automation, it is quite poor due to the lack of integration with all security tools, making manual intervention necessary.
Elena Stefanovska - PeerSpot reviewer
Sales Account Manager at InTec System
Knowledgeable support, reliable, and useful compliance policies
IBM Watson for Cyber Security can be deployed on-premise or in the cloud and it is used as a SIEM solution The most valuable features of IBM Watson for Cyber Security are ease of use and out-of-the-box reports and compliance policies. Additionally, if there are aspects that are missing IBM add…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It operates on a single, extensive database which enables it to excel in detecting threats and anomalies across the network and endpoints, delivering a highly effective and comprehensive security solution."
"The advanced visualization capabilities of the product are important for understanding security trends in an organization."
"One of the valued aspects of the product is its use of artificial intelligence to detect security vulnerabilities."
"It is an effective solution in terms of performance and functionalities."
"The most valuable features of Cortex XSIAM are the machine learning used to identify threats, the complexity of the environment of products, and efficiency."
"The flexibility for creating manual workflows stands out."
"The flexibility for creating manual workflows stands out."
"Cortex XSIAM enhances our ability to apply endpoint protection policies, implement restrictions, conduct scans, and engage in sandboxing."
"The most valuable feature of this product is innovation, where the research and upgrading of technology never ends."
"IBM Watson for Cyber Security is very stable."
"The most valuable features of IBM Watson for Cyber Security are ease of use and out-of-the-box reports and compliance policies. Additionally, if there are aspects that are missing IBM add them in the next release."
"The customer support is very good."
 

Cons

"I am not sure if any improvements are needed right now."
"Further integration capabilities with various other software products that can seamlessly tie into Cortex XSIAM would be advantageous."
"Cortex XSIAM is on the expensive side and requires substantial improvement in pricing."
"The support could be a bit faster."
"The standard integrations are very limited, and the integrations available are not listed in the marketplace. Obtaining validation for integrations from Palo Alto takes around eight months, which is quite long."
"At the beginning, we experienced some difficulties setting up the product with connectivity and infrastructure, but ultimately it functioned really effectively."
"Cortex XSIAM needs improvements in terms of data onboarding, parsers, and third-party integration supports."
"Cortex XSIAM is on the expensive side and requires substantial improvement in pricing."
"This is an expensive product, so making it more cost-effective would be an improvement."
"In the future, I would like to see threat intelligence included."
"The dashboard could improve in IBM Watson for Cyber Security."
"They need to continue to build the AI capabilities."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Since Palo Alto is trying to get as many new customers as possible, they're offering very competitive pricing."
"The product cost could be considered value for money compared to other solutions in the market, though it is quite high."
"The solution is expensive compared to its competitors."
"The solution comes at a significant cost."
"In terms of pricing, we found Cortex XSIAM to offer a very reasonable and competitive rate."
"The price of this solution should be lower, although I understand why IBM charges a premium price."
"IBM Watson for Cyber Security is very simple to license and is priced well."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise4
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cortex XSIAM?
I did not participate in pricing discussions for Cortex XSIAM solutions, so I cannot provide a review regarding prices for this solution.
What needs improvement with Cortex XSIAM?
Cortex XSIAM is on the expensive side and requires substantial improvement in pricing. There are other features that could be improved, including integration with vendors such as CyberArk. I would ...
What is your primary use case for Cortex XSIAM?
With Cortex XSIAM, we installed an agent on Active Directory on-premise. We connected our Firewalls to the Data Lake and the Active Directory, and protected the Firewalls with another authenticatio...
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Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Cortex XSIAM vs. IBM Watson for Cyber Security and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.