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Defender by One Identity vs Symantec VIP Access Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 20, 2026

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

Defender by One Identity
Ranking in Authentication Systems
13th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Symantec VIP Access Manager
Ranking in Authentication Systems
12th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Access Management (21st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Defender by One Identity is 1.4%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec VIP Access Manager is 2.1%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Symantec VIP Access Manager2.1%
One Identity Defender1.4%
Other96.5%
Authentication Systems
 

Featured Reviews

Mahesh Malve - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Business Development Associate at DigitalTrack Solutions ind pvt ltd
Advanced analytics have strengthened privileged access security and reduced incident response time
While One Identity Defender is a strong solution overall, there are a few areas where I feel it could be improved. One area is the user interface and dashboard customization. Although it is functional, making it more modern and allowing deeper customization would improve the user experience, especially for quick monitoring. Another improvement could be in reporting flexibility. While it provides good reports, having more custom report building options and easier export features would be helpful for different compliance and manageability needs. From an integration perspective, while One Identity Defender works well with core systems, having more out-of-the-box integrations with modern cloud services and SaaS platforms would reduce the need for custom configuration. In terms of support, the overall support is good, but faster response times for critical issues and more detailed troubleshooting documentation would help teams resolve problems more efficiently.
Berk Onur - PeerSpot reviewer
Presales Consultant at Cyberwise
With its mobile application, this tool offers a convenient and user-friendly experience to its users
To improve the tool, I think that the solution should consider integrations with other cybersecurity and IT technologies, such as Privileged Access Management and Site Integration. Additionally, the implementation of second-factor authentication via Symantec VIP Access Manager, CyberArk, and Delinea, among other technologies, could be best for the product. While the existing technology is okay, improving the integration capabilities for Symantec VIP Access Manager would benefit the product. I would like to see the solution meet the integration needs at our company. While many cybersecurity solutions can function independently, they often lack integration with our systems due to missed integration points. Improving the solution's integration feature would be beneficial.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"With One Identity Defender, we have achieved around 40 to 50% time saving in maintaining privilege access tasks."
"If you decide to activate this solution, your infrastructure will be centered around flexibility."
"It's very fast, and it's easy to use because it's integrated with Active Directory."
"We have definitely seen a positive ROI from using One Identity Defender, as our security team now spends about twenty to thirty percent less time on manual log analytics and investigations because the system automatically highlights high-risk activities, and we did not need to increase team size despite growing infrastructure as the tool helps us handle more security events with the same team."
"One Identity Defender has positively impacted our organization by improving overall security through the addition of MFA, which reduces the risk of unauthorized access and makes user authentication more controlled and reliable."
"We find that the product scales very well."
"One Identity Defender has good network protection."
"The two-factor authentication is most definitely valuable and moves us closer to being able to check off those important boxes for compliance."
"Pricing was about 25% of the old solution, saving us about $500,000 over three years for 10,000 users."
"I like the whole solution, and I would recommend it."
"The tool has been very stable, in my experience. Also, I haven't faced any issues or problems with integration or connectivity."
"The ease of integrating into an existing authentication system."
"It is a fast and easy solution for end users, and you are always online."
"If you're looking for a fairly lightweight client that works very well for remote access purposes, I think Symantec is definitely a good product."
"The main benefit of Symantec VIP is that it provides strong authentication while keeping it as a very user friendly experience."
 

Cons

"We have some clients that are wanting to protect their Apache web servers with One Identity Defender but all the research I have done says cannot be done. It can only be oriented to an IIS server. One Identity Defender should have more integration with more types of web servers."
"One Identity Defender is a strong product, but there are a few areas where it can be improved."
"One Identity Defender can be improved by simplifying the user interface and making navigation more intuitive, especially for new administrators who may find the initial setup and policy configuration somewhat complex."
"The login capabilities could be better."
"Maybe it could provide support for more web applications. It seems more focused on IIS web applications."
"The only reason it is not a ten is because response time can sometimes be slower for complex or escalated cases."
"In the next release, I would like the ability to work offline with remote access."
"The gateway server is a RADIUS server, but it lacks the functionality of returning RADIUS attributes other than those that are required for the gateway to authenticate the users."
"If they had dashboards or a report for managers or executives, then it would allow them to see the status and have it make sense to them."
"The User Store synchronization part needs to improve. Also, the logs, reports, and dashboard can be improved."
"Maybe Symantec could consider providing a step-by-step guide for first-time users."
"Our only issue was with user training. The additional challenge was not well received."
"In my opinion, for this solution, the technical support is not so expert when we talk about integration using the API."
"At times, the relay server could not contact Symantec; it would fail open and allow access without a passcode."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Licensing and pricing seems very fair."
"There are additional costs for maintenance."
"I can say that the solution is worth the money."
"There is a one-time setup fee plus the licenses are provided as per the number of users. For SMS and voice calls, the costs are separate."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
17%
Construction Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Non Profit
8%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with One Identity Defender?
One Identity Defender is a strong product, but there are a few areas where it can be improved. First, the user interface and reporting dashboards could be made more intuitive and customizable for f...
What is your primary use case for One Identity Defender?
One Identity Defender strengthens identity and access security through MFA, helping us ensure that only authorized users can access critical systems, especially for privileged accounts, with a focu...
What advice do you have for others considering One Identity Defender?
My advice for others looking into using One Identity Defender would be first to clearly define your use case, especially whether you need MFA mainly for privileged access, remote users, or both, as...
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Also Known As

No data available
Symantec VIP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bakersfield Police Department, Village of Westmont, Illinois
Maine Medical Center, Aria S.p.A
Find out what your peers are saying about Defender by One Identity vs. Symantec VIP Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
905,526 professionals have used our research since 2012.