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IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment vs Sweet Security comparison

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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

Qualys TotalCloud
Sponsored
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (12th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (8th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (8th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (2nd), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (7th)
IBM Guardium Vulnerability ...
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
55th
Average Rating
6.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sweet Security
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
33rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (14th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (18th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (14th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (8th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (6th), AI Security (25th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Qualys TotalCloud is 1.2%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment is 0.8%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sweet Security is 0.8%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vulnerability Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Qualys TotalCloud1.2%
Sweet Security0.8%
IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment0.8%
Other97.2%
Vulnerability Management
 

Featured Reviews

RO
IT Security Expert at Alior Bank S.A.
Unified risk scoring has improved our cloud visibility and simplifies remediation priorities
Qualys TotalCloud provides unified vulnerability and threat assessment across both IAS and SaaS. This solution provides a single prioritized view of risk, which helps reduce the work I would have to do. We are no longer based on CVSS; we are based on Qualys risk scoring, which is based on CVSS plus internal findings made by Qualys, and then assigns its own score. The TruRisk insight feature has found a small number of assets with high vulnerability scores, though I am cautious since some information is classified. Qualys TotalCloud has positively impacted our bank's performance, and we have definitely seen benefits after implementing this solution.
SL
Guardium Administrator at Interactive Group
Improvements sought in database optimization while benefiting from robust security monitoring
We use the analytical functionality of Guardium, but the analytical functionality is not so powerful or flexible because it does not include the application user ID. It only includes the database user ID. To identify risky users, it does not support end users, so IBM must incorporate this feature into the built-in analytical engine of the Guardium. There is only one problem I experienced while using Guardium: the internal database of the collector is MySQL, which is not so powerful or flexible. When you make a query in a MySQL database, it takes too much time to respond. IBM should replace this MySQL database with a more powerful internal database for the logging mechanism so that Guardium can collect logging data flexibly and ensure optimization. My overall experience with Guardium is good. The only problem is that IBM must replace the internal DB, MySQL, with a more powerful enterprise-level database because enterprises use it at an enterprise level, and MySQL does not support optimally.
reviewer2805510 - PeerSpot reviewer
Partner Account Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 51-200 employees
Runtime-first security has transformed real-time threat detection and reduced alert fatigue
Sweet Security can be improved in terms of product maturity and ecosystem. It has a smaller market presence, so we do not have as many large enterprise deployments. Sweet Security is less mature than competitors such as Wiz or Palo Alto Networks. Some competitors provide better integrations and workflow tooling. Additionally, as a new vendor, there is a new market perception and higher perceived risk, which relates to trust of the product. Some competitors are seen as safer and more established choices. Since Sweet Security operates in the production live environment, there have been a couple of problems reported where issues occurred in production environments. However, these have been resolved within about an hour or two. Having that risk is always going to be a negative. As a cloud-native platform solution, Sweet Security is really good overall. There are only a couple of areas for improvement, such as not being fully 100% production safe, and the reality that its competitors are global, well-known companies such as Palo Alto and Wiz.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is extensibility."
"Vulnerability and threat detection and assessment of the criticality of the vulnerabilities exposed are most valuable."
"Qualys TotalCloud's most valuable features are its cloud security posture management, Kubernetes, and container security capabilities."
"TotalCloud has been excellent in providing us with immediate access to all the products and features we need, such as CSPM, TruRisk Insights, and compliance reports, including CIS and HIPAA."
"While automatic inventory detection upon connection is a helpful feature, a truly valuable capability would be assessing an environment's security posture against Azure and CIS best practices."
"The biggest strengths of Qualys TotalCloud are that it is pretty good at cloud visibility, has easy integration, and also has multi-cloud compatibility."
"Qualys TotalCloud has significantly improved our organization by automating our reporting processes, reducing the time spent on report creation from two hours to less than fifteen to twenty minutes."
"The vulnerability management feature is the one I like the most because it provides a clear picture of all vulnerabilities."
"The Vulnerability Assessment feature is quite stable and helps identify numerous vulnerabilities in databases."
"The most valuable feature is that it provides a simple English recommendation on actions that you need to take once a vulnerability is discovered."
"The best feature is that you can see the activity in your data environment and have the ability to get the vulnerability assessments done quickly with scores that can be compared."
"The reporting features are good and there are many built-in reports that can be quickly configured."
"It helped with some of the regulatory requirements, and it also helped with some of the security analytics and analysis, making it worthwhile from that perspective."
"Sweet Security represents the next generation of CNAPP that differentiates through a runtime-first approach and focuses on detecting and responding to real attacks in environments."
"The value of having real-time visibility in our cloud environment with Sweet Security changes everything because it differentiates between identifying and reacting to something that is not really a risk and something that is truly a risk that needs to be treated."
"Sweet Security is a better tool and provides layer-by-layer protected environments, and with Sweet Security for cloud, security is totally under control."
"The value we see from having real-time visibility into our cloud environment is significant, as Sweet Security serves as our eyes and ears inside AWS, telling us what we are doing wrong so we can fix it."
"Before we had Sweet Security, upon any type of detection of activity, we needed to conduct lots of investigations in different platforms and logs until we could build the larger picture, but once we inserted Sweet Security, we are able to actually see each and every request being made from the application level towards the infrastructure, making it much easier and reducing the time for an analyst to understand what's really happening."
"For the time I have been using Sweet Security, I feel a bit more safe in the sense that there is something that continuously scans my infrastructure for issues."
 

Cons

"We would like to see Windows-based sensors available in Qualys, as this would make the platform more versatile and support a broader range of environments."
"Qualys TotalCloud needs to enhance its scanning capabilities in the IP domain, as it currently lacks the functionality to resolve IPs to their corresponding domain names."
"To be honest, I would move out from this tool because it does not give a full view of vulnerability."
"From a downside perspective, the UI is not user-friendly and feels dated compared to other tools like Prisma Cloud."
"Regarding improvements to Qualys TotalCloud, I suggest that user navigation can be enhanced because initially, many users found it complicated and had trouble understanding the platform due to information being spread across multiple tabs."
"The patching process with Qualys Patch Management, which is part of TotalCloud, does not cover installing certain prerequisites on the servers or workstations. This shortcoming means we must rely on SCCM when any service stack updates or additional prerequisites are needed."
"The downside is only in container security, but it has not been a long time since they introduced these models."
"In TotalCloud, I would suggest improvements in policy checks to cater to various inventory types like VPCs, subnets, S3 buckets, or IAMs. There is a lack of data segregation according to criticality or inventory."
"It was not as easy to use. The user-friendliness of it was somewhat lower than what I was expecting. It was also lacking in terms of the ease of the setup. There should be an automatic agent for deployment."
"There is only one problem I experienced while using Guardium: the internal database of the collector is MySQL, which is not so powerful or flexible."
"The interface could be improved by having sub-groups of tests, ultimately making the process of collecting tests faster."
"The only problem is that some of the reports come up with blanks and missing data."
"Building policies is not that easy. There are some things that are turned off by default, for example, displaying values."
"I wouldn't use it. That would be my advice to others looking into implementing IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment."
"One thing I think Sweet Security can definitely improve is that they have a lot of features, but the UI right now is not so well designed in my opinion."
"There was something a year ago that caused a production issue in my company, but they fixed it within an hour."
"Since Sweet Security operates in the production live environment, there have been a couple of problems reported where issues occurred in production environments."
"The option to run specific playbooks through Sweet Security platform would help us a lot, but these must be fully customizable."
"During the initial integration part, the platform sometimes flags anomalous problems when integrating with SIEM or SOAR solutions."
"One area for improvement could be the alerts, as we have an issue with the alert time, the time it takes for the system to send the alert, but besides that, there is nothing special."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Qualys TotalCloud offers cost-effective licensing flexibility."
"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."
"Qualys TotalCloud is cost-efficient and was selected for its value compared to other products."
"The pricing for TotalCloud is attractive and competitive in the market. Given the features, especially the dashboard, I have no concerns regarding pricing."
"Its price seems higher compared to other tools, but it is worth it. If they could adjust the pricing and make it comparable with other tools, that would be great."
"The cost is high, but it meets our organizational needs."
"TotalCloud's price is about right where I would expect it to be."
"Although Qualys TotalCloud is relatively expensive due to its unique automation features, its cost-effectiveness is rated an eight out of ten, with ten being the most costly."
"One thing not advantageous for it was that it was a little bit more expensive. I would rate it one out of five in terms of pricing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Financial Services Firm
25%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Healthcare Company
9%
Wellness & Fitness Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise31
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
To be totally honest, I do not have any best features because I have had a bad experience using this tool, especially...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
My main use case for Qualys TotalCloud is vulnerability management and exposure management. I use this tool to evalua...
What needs improvement with IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment?
We use the analytical functionality of Guardium, but the analytical functionality is not so powerful or flexible beca...
What is your primary use case for IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment?
We are still using IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment. We only use IBM Guardium Data Protection and monitoring, da...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment?
We do not use IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment for data encryption or any other tool for analytics, or identity ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sweet Security?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been that Sweet Security's pricing is quite fair and cost-e...
What needs improvement with Sweet Security?
Additional integration with third-party SIEM solutions and ITSM ticketing tools could be made easier. During the init...
What is your primary use case for Sweet Security?
Sweet Security is evolved for the cloud native application protection platform. It focuses specifically on protecting...
 

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
No data available
No data available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment vs. Sweet Security and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,948 professionals have used our research since 2012.