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IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs Oracle Audit Vault 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 June 2025, in the Database Security category, the mindshare of IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is 31.7%, up from 31.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Audit Vault is 16.8%, up from 14.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Trustwave DbProtect is 4.3%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Security
 

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.
Yves Moro - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides good security, and is helpful for auditing the data and seeing what's happening
Currently, you need two servers: one for Audit Vault and one for the firewall. If they can combine them into one server, it will be great because it is costly to have two servers. It will also make its installation easier. I have heard that in the new version, there will be only one server for both. I use it only for security purposes, and they can continue to improve it with more security tools and features. It should be powerful like FortiGate. When it becomes powerful like FortiGate, people will only go for this solution for their infrastructure. Their support could be faster.
Marcelo Raza - PeerSpot reviewer
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

"It provides a comprehensive security for databases, both on-prem and on the cloud. Among the advanced features we use automatic backups, DR."
"The maturity of the agent is the most valuable feature of the solution"
"It is very easy to obtain reports and manage the reporting interface."
"I think it scales pretty well. It can run on most of the database platforms currently out there. That is something we really like as a feature, because we try to hit everything in our environment to make sure we're meeting those regulations."
"Accelerators is one of the big functions they have out there. It gives you canned reports that you don't have to make yourself, they're out there by being part of the patch. You just have to fill your information in to some of the already built groups, for your environment, and it automates a lot of that. That has definitely helped improve things."
"The most valuable feature of the solution for the customers is the monitoring and full log of the database activity of privileged users."
"Ease of deployment is a valuable feature."
"The purpose of EBM Guardium is to monitor database activity and who is accessing it. This is the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable feature of Oracle Audit Vault is that it is agentless and enhanced user interface."
"The feature that I have found most valuable is that it can help us secure our databases."
"The solution is very stable and reliable."
"It has reduced the stress of collecting database event logs in silos from each database."
"The critical event alerts and reporting features have greatly reduced loss of man hours that would have been spent on going through the whole audit event logs."
"Our client was scheduled to take a year and a half to set up compliance, but by deploying this product they were able to do the compliance reports within three months."
"This solution acts as a complete data warehouse for our audit data."
"Out-of-the-box policies ensure our compliance with standards like SOX, ISO 27001, and so on."
"Transfer and vulnerability scanning are the most valuable features of this product."
"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."
"This solution helps our clients to monitor their database use, and detect violations of the policy."
 

Cons

"The manuals should be clearer. There needs to be an online course or tutorial for faster management training."
"The solution should allow the data to shift to a centralized repository with elastic servers and big data infrastructure"
"An improvement would be to make the pricing relative in terms of regions."
"Needs nore cloud support."
"Many clients inquire if the solution includes a database firewall, which it doesn’t."
"The analysis part of this product could be improved. It's a very comprehensive product, so the features it has complement customer requirements. But I would like to see more emphasis on analytics, and it would be great if they added machine learning. They already have analysis insights, but a comprehensive analytical feature that's already incorporated into the solution would be very helpful."
"There could be a feature to integrate and protect multiple databases. The local support services need improvements as well."
"More automation, user guides, and tips would make this solution better."
"They should simplify the integration and work with different vendors and mechanisms."
"The support could improve."
"An easy, friendly user interface would be nice to have, since this would enable administrators to identify important events with a prompt response."
"The performance of Oracle Audit Vault could be improved, especially in handling large data collections and generating reports on time."
"I hear from many people that say IBM Guardian is better than Oracle Audit Vault when it comes to performance. IBM Guardian works transparently in the database, but Oracle Audit Vault consumes some ratios on the server."
"Some of our customers were asking about latency when the application wants to get to the database."
"We would like to see the ability to administer and manage the solution through Enterprise Manager 13c, and development of the dashboards that are generally missing."
"One feature that is missing is the ability to have a secret server that is always encrypted."
"The product does not have encryption or data masking."
"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."
"I have seen that the tool's installation phase has some problems regarding the versions, specifically the version of SQL."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"​If you are researching this type of solution, work with IBM."
"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."
"It is not an expensive product. We purchase its yearly license."
"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."
"I would suggest to review the type of data, need for security, and if the organizational structure needs the options IBM Guardium provides."
"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."
"For IBM Guardium, licensing is very simple and straightforward. There are no issues I can speak of."
"Guardium won mostly because of our scope and scale. It was able to perform at the scale that we wanted to use it. ​"
"For the bank, the license was $48,000 last time. That was the licensing for the bank on just one license."
"The licensing cost is about $360,000, annually."
"This solution is definitely not expensive, and it is a small fraction of the overall database licensing costs."
"Oracle can be an expensive solution depending on the options and user needs."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
30%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
29%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
8%
Retailer
7%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
11%
Healthcare Company
10%
Government
7%
 

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, 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 do you like most about Oracle Audit Vault?
Oracle Audit Vault has a lot of great features, but what I find most valuable is the database firewall.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Audit Vault?
I would rate the costliness of Oracle Audit Vault as a seven out of ten. It is a bit expensive.
What needs improvement with Oracle Audit Vault?
The performance of Oracle Audit Vault could be improved, especially in handling large data collections and generating...
What do you like most about Trustwave DbProtect?
The most valuable feature of the solution is that you can have a good view which is provided with a proper division o...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Trustwave DbProtect?
Price-wise, Trustwave DbProtect falls in the mid-range category in Portugal. Many solutions similar to Trustwave DbPr...
What needs improvement with Trustwave DbProtect?
I have seen that the tool's installation phase has some problems regarding the versions, specifically the version of ...
 

Also Known As

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium
Audit Vault
Application Security DbProtect
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Abu Dhabi Department of Finance, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health, Educational Testing Service, Ryohin Keikaku Co. Ltd., SPC Brasil, REDISA, Qatar Olympic Committee, Seneca College, Hunan Social Insurance Management and Service Bureau,
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: May 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.