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IBM InfoSphere Optim vs Quest Foglight for Databases comparison

IBM and Quest Software are both solutions in the Database Development and Management category. IBM is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.0, while Quest Software is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.2. IBM holds a 2.5% mindshare in DDM, compared to Quest Software’s 8.3% mindshare. Additionally, 66% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Quest Software users who would recommend it.
IBM InfoSphere Optim
Read 3 IBM InfoSphere Optim reviews
  • 564 Views
  • 240 Comparison Views
66% willing to recommend
Quest Foglight for Databases
Read 14 Quest Foglight for Databases reviews
  • 2,004 Views
  • 776 Comparison Views
93% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 2025

IBM InfoSphere Optim and Quest Foglight for Databases compete in the database management and optimization category. Quest Foglight for Databases appears to have the upper hand with its extensive feature set offering robust performance monitoring capabilities.

Features: IBM InfoSphere Optim provides comprehensive data privacy, test data management, and is tailored for organizations prioritizing data security. Quest Foglight for Databases delivers performance monitoring, diagnostic capabilities, and advanced analytics, making it suitable for performance-centric applications.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM InfoSphere Optim is noted for its straightforward deployment and responsive customer service, facilitating quick integration across IT setups. Quest Foglight for Databases offers advanced deployment options, requiring more technical expertise, but supplements with extensive support documentation and resources.

Pricing and ROI: IBM InfoSphere Optim’s lower initial costs and efficient data management contribute to a quick ROI. Quest Foglight for Databases demands higher initial investment but offers long-term benefits through improved database performance and comprehensive optimization features.

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To learn more, read our detailed IBM InfoSphere Optim vs. Quest Foglight for Databases Report (Updated: April 2025).
Buyer's Guide
IBM InfoSphere Optim vs. Quest Foglight for Databases
April 2025
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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

IBM InfoSphere Optim
Ranking in Database Development and Management
16th
Average Rating
6.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Quest Foglight for Databases
Ranking in Database Development and Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Database Development and Management category, the mindshare of IBM InfoSphere Optim is 2.5%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Quest Foglight for Databases is 8.3%, up from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Development and Management
 

Featured Reviews

Ajai Lal - PeerSpot reviewer
Very supportive of Db2 and easy to customize, but IMS features are not user friendly and the support of these features is lacking
We work on two different types of databases, one being IMS and the other Db2. While the solution is very supportive of Db2, it is not so friendly when it comes to IMS databases. When we had questions for the support team conerning the IMS database, we found their knowledge to be lacking, likely owing to lack of experience on their part. I would not say that the initial setup is complex. Neither would I say that it is straightforward. Certain features require technical knowledge.
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Stuart Dairiki - PeerSpot reviewer
Empowers efficient database monitoring and performance troubleshooting with powerful workload analysis
I find it extremely helpful to use Foglight to triage any database issues, specifically performance issues using what Foglight calls PI investigator. It is a very powerful workload analysis tool that helps me understand where bottlenecks are. It allows me to see performance issues as end users report them. It can save time and effort when doing root cause analysis. It enables me to obtain information quicker and easier compared to manually compiling it. Foglight provides us with a near-real-time activity database. It's not 100% real-time. It has less than a minute latency. It allows us to see performance issues as end-users report them. We started seeing benefits pretty much immediately. We use Foglight to display intensive databases. However, it's not something we monitor regularly. It's only something we kind of dig into as we troubleshoot and triage issues. It does help us determine potential IT help issues. When we use Foglight, we find it helps drill down holistically into potential bottlenecks. It helps us to see what is going on in the database. Foglight allows us to monitor multiple database platforms. We use, for example, Oracle, SQL Server, Postgres, Amazon Redshift, and SAP HANA. It gives us insight into our entire landscape of production workloads in near real-time. The solution saves costs when performing root cause analysis. It can save time and effort when doing root cause analysis. It allows us to obtain information quicker and easier than by manually compiling information.
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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We like that we can easily restore the database with just a few clicks. The database is linked as well."
"I feel the solution to be a bit faster than the traditional methods, which makes it easy to customize."
"The profiler allows us to look at the profiles of the database queries that are being run over time. It allows us to go back to our customers and say that these are some of the queries causing them some headaches. It gives us the opportunity to provide suggestions on how to improve their experience."
"One of the hardest things to do in database management is to evaluate performance deviation across time. The adaptive baseline that Quest is using is by far the most helpful. That doesn't necessarily mean I use it on a daily basis, but it is something that I have not been able to find in any other tool, at the same level."
"What I really like is the SQL PI feature, which allows us to drill down into queries and identify what is causing contention in the database. Using the SQL PI feature, I am able to drill down into the queries, see what is blocking, and try to improve it."
"We went from basically 30% coverage of our production environment to 100% coverage."
"The real-time activity screens are also helpful... if there is something that is running slowly, we can eliminate the database as being an issue and perhaps look at the server, network activity, or something outside of the realm of the database as being the issue."
"The ability to monitor multiple database platforms streamlines our database operations. The single pane of glass is what we were really after when we picked Foglight. We knew we wanted something that could monitor cross-platform because it does save a lot of time to use the same tool. The one thing that I like with Foglight is that we don't have to install anything locally, like agents, directly on the database servers. That was also a big seller because it simplifies things."
"It can save time and effort when doing root cause analysis. It enables me to obtain information quicker and easier compared to manually compiling it."
"The alarms alert proactively if there are any potential or ongoing issues with the databases that we support. That means we can take preventive or corrective action before the issue becomes a big issue. And the SQL PI features enable us to drill down into performance issues in our databases so that we can improve performance, which is important."
More Quest Foglight for Databases pros
 

Cons

"While the solution is very supportive of Db2, it is not so friendly when it comes to IMS databases."
"We're looking for a solution that can be implemented on AWS. IBM InfoSphere Optim can be implemented on AWS, but it costs more than double what we're currently paying. So, it's not really of good value for us."
"I get a lot of alerts that, while important, are not critical. Then I have to dig in and figure out how to turn alerts off, but not the logging. I want to be able to go back, once we get the other big issues out of the way, and start fine-tuning some of those other areas, but I don't necessarily want to receive an email for all of them."
"The system is not that stable. We have been facing a lot of issues. We built a new store environment of Foglight, an environment for monitoring the Lowe's store servers, which are all Db2 servers. The objective is to monitor 800 Db2 servers in each Foglight instance. Up to 150 Db2 servers, the environment was working fine. The moment it crossed 150 or 160, we started having a lot of stability issues."
"Foglight does have a component that allows you to look at things in real time, but it's not as friendly or as efficient in terms of responsiveness as Quest Spotlight is. Foglight might be lacking in this department."
"It would be amazing if they could enable the "Performance Investigator" functionality across all database platforms."
"It would be amazing if they could enable the 'Performance Investigator' functionality across all database platforms."
"Quest must release a Spanish version. That's critical because not everyone speaks English in Latin America. It's an excellent product, so it's super important that they offer the application and customer service in Spanish."
"Better communication and alerts regarding the transaction logs getting full would also be beneficial. What I have noticed is that if the log files on the SQL server are full, we cannot log in and have to do some cleanup on the Foglight DB. It would be good if they could monitor that and alert us when it is getting too full."
"The data model needs improvement when it comes to creating custom reports. That is an area where it needs a bit of improvement. Foglight gathers a lot of information around our databases as part of its monitoring. While I know all this information is in there, trying to pull the metric we want out for custom reports is sometimes hard to find. One nice thing about Foglight is that you can create custom dashboards, which you can easily convert to reports. We would be doing a lot more of that if it weren't for the challenging data model."
More Quest Foglight for Databases cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM InfoSphere Optim is a very expensive solution. Actually, it's the most expensive archiving solution that we have."
"It is cost-effective. With our EA, it is really based on the scale of our database environment. We found the Quest team to be reasonable and flexible when it comes to pricing and scaling of licenses."
"Pricing is very reasonable. We were able to construct a pretty easy contract with Quest, who were very easy to work with and very amenable to what we are trying to do. It worked out well for us."
"This is like the "Cadillac" of performance monitoring software. It's not cheap... I am currently with a company that I was able to convince that the product is worth the cost."
"The price of Foglight could be a little more competitive in Chile, and it should be lowered for long-time customers— at least by 20 percent. Sometimes the price is a limitation. We have seven instances and nearly 5 million users. If Quest Foglight could reduce its prices for the clients that have been with it for a long time, we would be able to have more instances."
"Compared to the other tools on the market, Foglight is okay in terms of pricing and licensing."
"The price is worth it, if you have the time to go through the information."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
26%
Insurance Company
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Quest Foglight for Databases?
The pricing is palatable. We've already done one renewal and we are in our second contract. We're happy thus far.
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What needs improvement with Quest Foglight for Databases?
It would be amazing if they could enable the "Performance Investigator" functionality across all database platforms. I've been talking to their product development team about enhancements that I wo...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Quest Foglight for Databases?
I primarily use the solution for database monitoring, specifically for Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Postgres, SAP HANA, and AWS Redshift.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Informatica Data Archive vs IBM InfoSphere Optim Logo
Informatica Data Archive vs IBM InfoSphere Optim
Compared 59% of the time
Solix Enterprise Data Management vs IBM InfoSphere Optim Logo
Solix Enterprise Data Management vs IBM InfoSphere Optim
Compared 41% of the time
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Quest Spotlight vs Quest Foglight for Databases Logo
Quest Spotlight vs Quest Foglight for Databases
Compared 36% of the time
SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer vs Quest Foglight for Databases Logo
SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer vs Quest Foglight for Databases
Compared 29% of the time
Oracle Enterprise Manager vs Quest Foglight for Databases Logo
Oracle Enterprise Manager vs Quest Foglight for Databases
Compared 9% of the time
SQL Sentry vs Quest Foglight for Databases Logo
SQL Sentry vs Quest Foglight for Databases
Compared 8% of the time
Redgate SQL Toolbelt Essentials vs Quest Foglight for Databases Logo
Redgate SQL Toolbelt Essentials vs Quest Foglight for Databases
Compared 7% of the time
More Quest Foglight for Databases Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Database Development and Management
April 2025
IBM InfoSphere Optim reportDownload IBM InfoSphere Optim product report
Buyer's Guide
Quest Foglight for Databases
April 2025
Quest Foglight for Databases reportDownload Quest Foglight for Databases product report
 

Also Known As

IBM Optim, Optim
No data available
 

Overview

IBM Optim solutions manage data from requirements to retirement. They boost performance, empower collaboration, and improve governance across applications, databases and platforms. By managing data properly over its lifetime, organisations are better equipped to support business goals with less risk.
IBM

Foglight identifies and resolves performance issues across your applications, databases and virtual environments. The Foglight family of products easily integrates with your existing tools, so you can monitor and analyze data from almost any source across your infrastructure and view it through a single interface with our customizable, unified monitoring platform

Quest Software
 

Sample Customers

Durham Police Department, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., Continental, KCE Electronics Public Company Limited, The University of Adelaide, Migros Zurich, COPROB
CommitDBA
Buyer's Guide
IBM InfoSphere Optim vs. Quest Foglight for Databases
April 2025
Free Report: IBM InfoSphere Optim vs. Quest Foglight for Databases
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