Fortra's Vera vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection comparison

Fortra and IBM are both solutions in the Database Security category. Fortra is ranked #7 with an average rating of 9.0, while IBM is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4. Fortra holds a 1.7% mindshare in DS, compared to IBM’s 26.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Fortra users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Fortra's Vera

Read 1 Fortra's Vera review

279 Views
145 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Security Guardium Data ...

Read 79 IBM Security Guardium Data Protection reviews

4,973 Views
4,128 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Fortra's Vera

IBM Security Guardium Data ...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Fortra's Vera and IBM Security Guardium Data Protection based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM, Imperva, Oracle and others in Database Security.

To learn more, read our detailed Database Security Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Database Security

January 2026

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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

Fortra's Vera

Ranking in Database Security

7th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud and Data Center Security (13th)

IBM Security Guardium Data ...

Ranking in Database Security

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Database Security category, the mindshare of Fortra's Vera is 1.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is 26.4%, down from 33.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database Security Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM Security Guardium Data Protection	26.4%
Fortra's Vera	1.7%
Other	71.9%

Database Security

Featured Reviews

Brando Diego

System Engineer/Consultant at Notable Frontier Sdn Bhd

Has good encryption features

Vera encryption is the most valuable feature. Additional improvement can be done as the issues are encountered. I have been using Fortra's Vera for two years. The stability is a nine out of ten. The scalability is a nine. The clients are small enterprises. The initial setup is an eight…

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David Plazer

Chief Executive Officer at Kipustec

Ensures data security and compliance with reliable alerts and protections

The manuals should be clearer. There needs to be an online course or tutorial for faster management training. The maintenance was slightly complicated. I had to read the manuals carefully and even failed the Guardium certification exam due to insufficient information or time. Improving the tool learning process would be beneficial.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Vera encryption is the most valuable feature."

"I rate Guardium 10 out of 10 for data activity monitoring and nine for vulnerability assessment. It's easy to implement and does its job. But I would rate it seven out of 10 in terms of advanced features."

"Has a great Big Data Intelligence feature."

"Our main focus for IBM Guardium is to support security initiatives and compliance policies within our organization. We use the DPD product for monitoring, especially for GDPR, SOX regulations and, of course, the vulnerability assessment that we use to make sure we're keeping up with our patches, making sure things are configured, making sure we're following the best practices."

"There are different modules but the most valuable ones are firewalling and masking. Additionally, the auditing of the entire database is helpful, which includes all the activity of the database users and administrators. We can monitor everything and log as well."

"It has automated a bunch of manual tasks, giving us insights into activities that we would not otherwise be able to capture."

"I like the reporting mechanism. It's very good."

"We have integrated IBM Guardium with IBM Watson Curator. They access Curator to identify and correlate other actions the user is doing to determine if this is a legitimate action or not."

"It provides us regulatory compliance proof and evidence for audit."

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection pros

Cons

"Additional improvement can be done as the issues are encountered."

"The additional improvement can be done as the issues are encountered."

"It will not go as fast as you want. "

"Guardium Data Protection is far better in terms of external integration. But in terms of firewall features, like when you're blocking activities, it's as if Oracle AVDF simply has superior features. This is just from third-party observations, but the users of Oracle AVDF are saying that when it comes to the firewall and protection functionality, they're much more inclined to AVDF."

"I have already mentioned to IBM that a primary need is to improve the number of records in the reports above 65,535."

"I'd like to see a smoother GUI interface for the CAS agent - CAS does configurations on the database - to interface better with the vulnerability assessments."

"Personally, I would not recommend this product."

"The most important requirements for us are integration with new database solutions and the ability to manage things like Jailbreak or something like that. Its reduction feature can also be improved. It has a functionality called reduction, which is like masking data, but it is just a replacement of characters. Sometimes the customer needs more than this. It would be good if it was more advanced or complete. We also have a problem with this solution because the IBM aggregator isn't working very well. IBM has created big data intelligence for Guardium, and occasionally, customers need three or four months of data, but they can't run it from the collectors. It can have a better dashboard and more pre-defined use cases for those customers who don't have any idea about data protection or don't have expert personnel in this area. For example, they can include five use cases for banks and five use cases for retail."

"I would like to be able to upgrade appliances within major versions without needing to rebuild the appliance."

"We've had some issues recently that we're working through, on the agent software that runs on the databases."

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"I would suggest to review the type of data, need for security, and if the organizational structure needs the options IBM Guardium provides."

"Guardium won mostly because of our scope and scale. It was able to perform at the scale that we wanted to use it. "

"We haven't talked much about pricing and licencing. But it is not cheap for sure"

"The biggest challenge is the cost associated with the product, and the cost of maintaining. Everything is not translated directly to the benefits we see. There are benefits, yes, but if I were writing the check, would I buy Guardium? No."

"The price of Guardium is higher than the main competitor, Imperva. In addition, it's complex as the calculation of the licensing is done by Processor Value Unit (PVU). However, before purchasing a DAP solution, it is important to analyze specific points to evaluate the cost-benefit of each tool. For example: Does the environment to be monitored have mainframes? If so, it's a point for Guardium. If not, a point for Imperva. Note: IBM is looking into a new licensing policy and reducing the price of Guardium."

"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."

"My company purchased IBM Guardium Data Protection in a package, so I'm unable to give its exact licensing cost, but for the package of three IBM solutions, it wasn't very expensive. I'd rate the pricing for all three solutions three out of five. When my team deployed IBM Guardium Data Protection, all features were included."

"The price is good for the quality of the solution."

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

26%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	28
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	45

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortra's Vera?

Vera encryption is the most valuable feature.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortra's Vera?

Additional improvement can be done as the issues are encountered.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Fortra's Vera?

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

Comparisons

SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security vs Fortra's Vera

Compared 52% of the time

More Fortra's Vera Competitors

Imperva Data Security Fabric vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 54% of the time

Oracle Audit Vault vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 15% of the time

DataSunrise Database Security vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 5% of the time

IBM InfoSphere Optim Data Privacy vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 3% of the time

Vormetric Application Crypto Suite vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 1% of the time

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Database Security

January 2026

Download Fortra's Vera product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

January 2026

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection report

Download IBM Security Guardium Data Protection product report

Also Known As

No data available

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium

Overview

The Vera platform enables businesses of all sizes to protect any kind of data, and then track, audit and manage the policies securing files in real-time, no matter how far they travel.

Fortra

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection offers automatic discovery and classification of sensitive data, real-time monitoring, and advanced analytics to identify unusual activities around data.

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is designed to safeguard sensitive data across enterprises with real-time activity monitoring and comprehensive security features. Its capabilities include data discovery, classification, and compliance automation with pre-built templates for regulations like PCI, SOX, HIPAA, and CCPA. Supporting a variety of platforms, it facilitates seamless monitoring, making it a valuable asset for diverse environments in maintaining data security and compliance.

What are the key features?

Real-Time Monitoring: Provides alerts for unauthorized activities.
Data Masking: Protects data through masking techniques.
Access Control: Ensures only authorized users gain access.
Query Rewriting: Alters queries to maintain data integrity.
Platform Support: Monitors across multiple environments.

Why consider this for ROI?

Ease of Deployment: Simplifies the setup process for enterprises.
Robust Reporting: Enhances transparency through detailed audit trails.
Compliance Automation: Streamlines compliance with regulatory requirements.
Risk Management: Identifies and mitigates potential risks efficiently.

Industries like banking and finance utilize IBM Security Guardium Data Protection to enhance database security and compliance efforts. Enterprises employ it to detect incidents and manage vulnerabilities, focusing on protecting customer data and maintaining privacy standards. The technology aids in incident detection and supports adherence to security regulations.

IBM

Sample Customers

Box

Information Not Available

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM, Imperva, Oracle and others in Database Security. Updated: January 2026.

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