Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs McAfee Vulnerability Manager for Databases [EOL] 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

IBM Security Guardium Data ...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
Database Security (1st)
McAfee Vulnerability Manage...
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmer Faisel Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers mature agents, compliance reporting and reliable database security
The solution should allow the data to shift to a centralized repository with elastic servers and big data infrastructure. If a customer searches for old logs for retention purposes, there are limitations on appliances once they are set with specific hardware, so they can only be changed by uninstalling or reinstalling the hardware. The solution's aggregator feature allows data aggregation, but for instance, if a customer wants a project ready in two years, having an Elasticsearch in DB or the capacity to store huge amounts of data would be beneficial in data investigation or evaluation at an affordable cost. Some AI features should be added to IBM Security Guardium Data Protection. For example, the AI features implemented in the solution can be anomaly detection or suspicious activity identification.
Wahidur Rahman - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution's activity monitoring is valuable, but it should have more integrations and updates overall
Our primary use case for this solution is activity, authentication, and scans for audit purposes and priority assessments The feature I have found most valuable is activity monitoring. McAfee has not had many legacy features. They are not updating their value adjustment.In the next feature, I'd…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Guardium is easily integrated with other IBM solutions, a significant advantage and a key reason we chose Guardium. Both platforms share the IBM infrastructure, enhancing compatibility and integration. Additionally, Guardium offers a vulnerability analyzer, which is another compelling feature of the platform."
"It's allowing us to be more proactive than reactive on alerts and access rights and types of resources that are being hit. Before, there were a lot of different solutions, but this expanded that out and made it a more holistic solution. It provides centralization of monitoring, instead of multiple, disparate applications. It definitely allows more economies of scale, streamlining, less fragmented use."
"Ease of deployment is a valuable feature."
"One of the most valuable features is the accelerator. It has a predefined report for PCI SOX compliance and other compliances."
"It provides us regulatory compliance proof and evidence for audit."
"The most valuable features have been how easy it is to deploy and use, as well as the comprehensive monitoring options. These are a few things that customers like most about this product."
"The possible number of databases and database servers which can be monitored by Guardium is high. For me, this is a differentiator of IBM."
"he solution offers trouble-free access."
"The technical support is good; they are knowledgeable."
"The support is very good. They are very quick to respond when we have issues."
"The feature I have found most valuable is activity monitoring."
 

Cons

"Sometimes the performance is not good, and also sometimes we have sudden bugs causing difficulties."
"An area for improvement would be the user interface - currently, it takes around two to three months to become comfortable using it."
"​Overall testing and quality need improvement. It is fairly buggy at times, so it feels like it could use additional staff on the product, testing and trying it out."
"More automation, user guides, and tips would make this solution better."
"An improvement would be to make the pricing relative in terms of regions."
"The user interface could be improved and modernized."
"We are currently facing a challenge because it does not offer data encryption by default, only data masking."
"It was difficult implementing it, configuring it, getting it up and running and in production. However, since then, I believe it has stabilized."
"The UI needs to be improved."
"Technical support could be more responsive."
"In the next feature, I'd like to see more integrations and updates overall, specifically bottom tech."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's an expensive solution"
"Reasonable cost but could be lower."
"One of the deployments that I know of had three databases, and the yearly fees are approximately $50,000 USD."
"The price of the solution could be better."
"The product's pricing is reasonable and affordable. It is in the moderate range."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"It's not expensive compared to other products that are available."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Database Security solutions are best for your needs.
861,170 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
30%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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.
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium
No data available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM, Imperva, Oracle and others in Database Security. Updated: June 2025.
861,170 professionals have used our research since 2012.