No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs Imperva Data Security Fabric vs Trustwave DbProtect 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 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 Imperva Data Security Fabric is 26.7%, down from 32.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Trustwave DbProtect is 3.6%, down from 4.6% 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%
Imperva Data Security Fabric26.7%
Trustwave DbProtect3.6%
Other41.699999999999996%
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.
GO
Group Head of Information Security at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Automated monitoring and real-time alerts improve security incident response and compliance tasks while customizable controls need enhancements
The Imperva SecureSphere Database Security offers excellent functionalities, with numerous best features from my perspective.The simplicity of Imperva SecureSphere Database Security comes out of the box. I have utilized the detailed audit logs feature in the Imperva SecureSphere Database Security, and it has proven to be highly effective. The Imperva SecureSphere Database Security has significantly aided my organization in forensic investigations and compliance audits. The real-time alerts and remediation actions available in Imperva SecureSphere Database Security have helped me promptly address security incidents. Their customizable security controls in Imperva SecureSphere Database Security have tailored the protection level for my organization's specific needs. The automated monitoring and reporting features of the Imperva SecureSphere Database Security have contributed to simplifying compliance with regulatory standards for my organization.
Marcelo Raza - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber Security Architect at Oakmount
A tool that offers a proper view and division of all databases while also allowing users to do continuous monitoring
I have seen that the tool's installation phase has some problems regarding the versions, specifically the version of SQL. Trustwave DbProtect doesn't accept some versions of SQL. Some credentials when you are installing give some problems, but all of them did pass through the installation phase but gave a certain amount of hard work to be done during the installation phase. The aforementioned area needs to be considered for improvement. The pain points with Trustwave DbProtect were about the installation and problems with the different versions not being accepted. A more compatible version of the product with other databases and operating systems should be possible.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This is a multi-platform solution that consolidates everything and centralizes support for it."
"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."
"Its ability to find data; once I find data, I can leverage it to perform specific select statements against PII data and do smarter controls rather than monitoring the entire database."
"The most valuable feature of the solution for the customers is the monitoring and full log of the database activity of privileged users."
"The most valuable features are the reporting and data-level access control."
"It's one of the first to encrypt DB2 databases."
"The tech support is very knowledgeable."
"I like the reporting mechanism. It's very good."
"Excellent ROI using the automated scans, especially comparing it to the manual method proposed by many vendors."
"The cyber intelligence feature is the most valuable."
"It has a user-friendly interface; it is a stable and scalable product."
"The integration with CounterBreach is great."
"The initial setup is very simple."
"This tool helped us mitigate audit risks by 100 percent."
"The beauty of it is that it provides segregation of duties. Typically, in the traditional environment, DBAs administer the database, and they have too much access. We are in the process of implementing other Oracle solutions, and it brings some kind of segregation. Just because someone is a DBA does not mean that he or she should have access to all of the data. Some of the data can be masked so that privacy and security are enhanced, especially when it is customer data for an institution like a bank."
"I like almost everything about the solution, including sensitive data scanning, which is the most important, the data discovery is great as well, and I like the activity monitoring, which was the main reason we purchased the tool."
"Knowing what is in your enterprise and its vulnerabilities can save you from being the next headline."
"This solution helps our clients to monitor their database use, and detect violations of the policy."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that you can have a good view which is provided with a proper division of all your databases, which you can see in Trustwave DbProtect."
"I have found that transfer and vulnerability scanning are the most valuable features of this product."
"Database activity monitoring is valuable because it helps monitor and identify any fraudulent or suspicious activities that are executed on the database."
"Its automation functionality and ease of use."
"We are happy with the product overall, including its features and support."
"Transfer and vulnerability scanning are the most valuable features of this product."
 

Cons

"IBM Guardium Data Protection is a mature product. There is a lot of encryption that is not owned by IBM and is done by a third party and is not an integral part of the solution."
"Guardium's storage capabilities could use some improvement. I'd also like to have some better integration using digital technology or a connector."
"An improvement would be to make the pricing relative in terms of regions."
"Can't be used for a NoSQL database, which is limiting."
"I would like to see IBM Guardium have other encryption algorithms employed."
"Personally, I would not recommend this product."
"Could be more user friendly; deployment is a little complex."
"An area for improvement would be the user interface - currently, it takes around two to three months to become comfortable using it."
"It would be better if it were more user-friendly. Right now, it's a little bit of a complicated product to use. Another problem that we have is with encrypted traffic on Oracle. This is because it requires a database outage. That's a pain in the butt because you're monitoring critical systems, and they don't like outages."
"The user interface is kind of a let-down. The graphics, tabs, and other various options are quite jumbled and confusing."
"This is an expensive solution and the price should be reduced."
"The development mode on the platform needs improvement. For example, the archiving functionalities should be enhanced to allow easy conversion of archived logs into CSV or Excel formats for data analysis."
"Agent on z/OS does not have a limit for CPU usage like on other platforms. If you specify filter too wide, the agent would consume too much CPU so that could cause more cost for your mainframe."
"Syslog size for transferring data should be increased."
"They have to put more focus on the administrative part of the application, especially on upgrades."
"Imperva must work on more features for z/OS."
"The other main disadvantage is that the product does not have encryption or data masking, unlike other companies' versions."
"The product does not have encryption or data masking."
"I have seen that the tool's installation phase has some problems regarding the versions, specifically the version of SQL."
"Regarding stability, I would give it a rating of 3.5/5."
"We have not been able to integrate this product with a lot of standard incident response solutions, so an open API would help in this regard."
"The system that is running scans can become slow to respond. Thus, you should be able to say, don't consume more than a particular amount of resources when scanning."
"We have not been able to integrate this product with a lot of standard incident response solutions, so an open API would help in this regard."
"We encountered issues with stability, especially during database upgrades and migration."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We haven't talked much about pricing and licencing. But it is not cheap for sure"
"Its cost is good. With the new metric of licensing, such as PDO not being available now, customers are expecting a good price for the solution."
"One of the deployments that I know of had three databases, and the yearly fees are approximately $50,000 USD."
"​If you are researching this type of solution, work with IBM."
"Guardium is most suitable for large scale enterprises because the pricing model is better if you are implementing a large number of databases."
"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."
"Reasonable cost but could be lower."
"The price is good for the quality of the solution."
"Imperva SecureSphere Database Security was quite expensive several years ago, but now they provide a subscription plan for licensing. It is available now for smaller and medium-sized companies, not only large enterprises."
"They have introduced new price models, which makes the product more affordable now."
"It is quite expensive. We wanted it in my former organization, but the price was very high. So, we couldn't purchase it. I moved to a different organization, and this organization has purchased it."
"The cost of support for this solution is very expensive."
"Pricing is low and scalable to add features and volume."
"There is an annual licensing fee for upgrading the device."
"Licensing fees are on a yearly basis, and it is a good value for the money."
"The price is very high but compared to the price of the overall solution, then I think it's a good deal because the solution itself is great."
"I rate the pricing a five on a scale from one to ten, where one is the lowest and ten is the highest."
"The licensing fees, including support, are approximately $5,000 USD per database, per year."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Database Security solutions are best for your needs.
885,728 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
6%
Insurance Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise44
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise32
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, co...
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 enterpr...
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 activit...
What needs improvement with Imperva SecureSphere Database Security?
There are several aspects of the Imperva SecureSphere Database Security that could be improved or enhanced.There are ...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium
Imperva SecureSphere Database Security, jSonar, Imperva's Data Security Posture Management
Application Security DbProtect
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
BlueCross BlueShield, eHarmony, EMF Broadcasting, GE Healthcare, Metro Bank, The Motley Fool, Siemens
Pax World Investments, Crest Savings Bank, Magnolia Hotels
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM, Imperva, Oracle and others in Database Security. Updated: March 2026.
885,728 professionals have used our research since 2012.