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IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs IDERA SQL Compliance Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

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 ...
Ranking in Database Security
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IDERA SQL Compliance Manager
Ranking in Database Security
9th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Database Security category, the mindshare of IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is 28.0%, down from 32.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IDERA SQL Compliance Manager is 2.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Security Guardium Data Protection28.0%
IDERA SQL Compliance Manager2.0%
Other70.0%
Database Security
 

Featured Reviews

DP
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.
reviewer1659528 - PeerSpot reviewer
VP Enterprise Data Management at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
A valuable independent view of elevated access but the solution could be more organized
Our primary use case for this solution is for controls, which we deploy on-premises The independent view of elevated access and elevated instructions sent to our SQL are very valuable because they act as a secondary pair of eyes. The solution could be improved by using the proper filtration,…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Our ability to see when users are accessing sensitive data."
"We use Guardium to support security initiatives and compliance policies such as APCI, SOX, GDPR, pretty much everything."
"We now have one go-to application for all data monitoring, which has decreased the number of skills needed and enabled a faster route to compliance."
"IBM Guardium Data Protection is very good at keeping your database secure."
"We used to use cobbled-together scripts, different products and different pieces on different platforms, and this solution automated all that and made it such that the security administrators can run it themselves and not involve us, saving time, money, and people effort."
"We now have the ability to begin to understand how people, applications, and service accounts are interacting with data to better protect it."
"The ability to audit across multiple data environments led to a greater understanding of the data traffic and the potential weaknesses in the access controls."
"The most valuable feature is the GUI, the interface. It also interfaces well with REST API, if you want to automate some of the commands."
"It's nice to have Idera where it clicks everything into central Repository, a central server, and you can just query that."
"The ability to track activity including the SQL statements is definitely valuable. I really like how the database is laid out. It's straightforward. I can query the back-end tables. I've made a few of my own email alerts based on the data and the tables. It's accessible."
"Peace of mind - you can't really place a price tag on that."
"The tool can track logins and login failures. I made my own alert so that if there is a certain number of login failures for a server, it emails me. That is really useful. If I want logins to automatically lock out after a certain number of failed attempts, I can know when that happens."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"It's cheaper than other applications I researched and it has the auditing capabilities needed for SOX compliance."
"Compliance Manager really was the only product, at that point, that was exactly doing what it was promising."
 

Cons

"Guardium's storage capabilities could use some improvement. I'd also like to have some better integration using digital technology or a connector."
"The biggest complaint that I hear from customers and users is that using this solution requires database skills, yet it is a security and monitoring tool."
"Initial setup is very complex. Once you start interacting with people's databases, they get very hesitant. Then, the amount of social tasks to socialize the solution ensuring people are comfortable with it became a much heavier lift."
"I would like to see streamlining of some of the agent features, some of the patches; make it a little bit more user-friendly on the documentation."
"The improvement needed relates to encryption capabilities. Currently, it doesn't use encryption for IBM i, because it's impossible."
"The Guardium licensing is based on PVU and as a result, the solution became a bit costly."
"Right now we're having some issues where it's using a high CPU, we don't know why."
"The initial setup was complex."
"I submitted a ticket (last year) about archiving/grooming of old records because the GUI functionality was not working. Per their recommendation, I ended up using a command line to do it."
"The set up is kind of clunky, in my opinion. It's not really intuitive."
"There is an agent that collects the data on SQL Server. Sometimes it will stop collecting."
"We have a lot of problems that have existed for a very long time. We have a lot of feature requests and several bugs that haven't been fixed for more than a year now."
"Its filtration and navigation are not the best."
"The set up is kind of clunky, in my opinion. It's not really intuitive. If they had either a smoother install or better instructions, that would be nice."
"What would really a good thing is if you could refer to an external list or table for filtering on, say, certain applications, IP addresses, or host names; or perhaps even combinations of host name and application name."
"There is an agent that collects the data on SQL Server. Sometimes it will stop collecting. I'm not exactly sure what's happening but I have to go in and manually restart the agent. It would be nice if the central collection server could send a request to the agent to restart."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is good for the quality of the solution."
"Guardium won mostly because of our scope and scale. It was able to perform at the scale that we wanted to use it. ​"
"The cost depends on the number of databases. You can purchase advanced licenses, but the standard license is calculated based on the number of databases you have to onboard."
"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 solutions have fair price strategy, and operates on a yearly basis. If it's a SaaS solution, then you can opt for yearly basis."
"Guardium is most suitable for large scale enterprises because the pricing model is better if you are implementing a large number of databases."
"It's an expensive solution"
"The price of the solution could be better."
"The product is cheaper than other products I checked but it is still a good idea to check again and compare."
"The pricing is pretty good."
"I feel the product's pricing is a good value."
"It's a good price value... The other tools weren't cheaper."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
24%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
5%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise44
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.
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Also Known As

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium
IDERA SQL CM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Hanger; AmerisourceBergen; CMS Energy; Manulife Financial; Patterson Companies; Pfizer; Rockwell Automation; TrialCard; Unum; Verizon Communications; Skygen USA; Calpine Energy Solutions; Standard Chartered PLC; TrialCard, Inc.; Raffles Hospital; Houston Methodist; Community America Credit Union; Noble Americas Energy Solutions LLC; QuikTrip Corporation; HUK COBURG; OneBeacon Insurance Group, Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs. IDERA SQL Compliance Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.