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IBM Security QRadar vs SmartEvent Event Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 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 QRadar
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
209
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (5th), User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (1st), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (18th), Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) (4th), Managed Detection and Response (MDR) (9th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (13th)
SmartEvent Event Management
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
53rd
Average Rating
5.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of IBM Security QRadar is 7.4%, down from 9.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SmartEvent Event Management is 0.1%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

Mahmoud Younes - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable installation and diverse use cases provide strong value
IBM Security QRadar has some areas for improvement. We have missed some DSM components. We need to customize logs where there is no DSM or connector for certain products. We can integrate but we have missed the DSM, which is the connector to pass logs coming from different applications. For example, with a university customer, we tried onboarding Canvas service. IBM Security QRadar does not support Canvas, so we had to create custom scripts and workarounds to pull logs from Canvas.
Adhi Wahyu - PeerSpot reviewer
Transparent and offers real-time analysis but needs more documentation
The solution provides us with transparency to give us information about what happens in the network. With this information, the administrator can see a lot of things. They can see hacking attempts from the internet that target our servers, and, with that information, they can check the security settings in the server to see if it is strong enough or not, and make sure the servers is safe. They also can see attacks directed to the endpoint. We know which endpoint got infected so we can take action to clean it. The software also has good reporting capabilities. We can create custom reports according to our needs.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The simplicity of the solution is the best feature."
"It is very stable. We have not faced interruptions in the past four and a half years."
"Most of the features are good. It is an excellent solution."
"The detection rate is good and the false positive rate is low."
"Blocks of predefined conditions can be used to configure detection rules without having to write complicated script."
"It is incredibly easy to deploy. All the appliances are flexible in the roles that they serve and are all managed the in the same way."
"It provides many options for searching. I can see devices from different vendors, like Cisco, in one interface, which is good for me."
"The support is very good. We get support whenever we need it. Sometimes they respond immediately and sometimes it will be within 24 hours. We can ask them to please do it right away and they can get a request done within an hour or two."
"The capability of real-time analysis of security events is useful."
"SmartEvent Event Management is a solid platform overall, and I would definitely recommend it."
 

Cons

"Technical support really needs to be improved. Right now, they aren't where they need to be at all."
"IBM QRadar could improve the plugins and threat detection."
"For the common needs of clients to fulfill requirements, a real integration with Blueworks Live (BPA modeling tool also from IBM) and a more suitable BPM on cloud solution for midsize customers."
"IBM QRadar has a margin for development, for out-of-the-box use cases. It can be enhanced with better support and automate the use cases for that."
"The price of IBM Security QRadar is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"Whenever we are upgrading or installing any type of patch, at that time we have some delays."
"I would like for them to develop a detection management solution. It does not have a detecting management solution in it, you have to buy it as it is, on top of the extended solution."
"The solution should include remote action capabilities."
"The only downside I've encountered with SmartEvent Event Management is occasional lag during video calls, especially with a lot of participants."
"They should provide easy to access guides or manuals, maybe videos, about how to manage or use the software effectively and efficiently, to maximize its features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing can be costly depending on your architecture."
"The solution is priced fairly, there is a license for the solution, and we pay annually."
"An X-Force feed is free with QRadar."
"The solution comes with a high price tag, while some of the competitors provide identical functionality in their offerings at no extra cost."
"Pricing (based on EPS) will be more accurate."
"I think that the price is fair, but we can always say that the price could be cheaper."
"It's too expensive."
"QRadar's price is reasonable compared to LogRhythm."
Information not available
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions are best for your needs.
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Comparison Review

VS
Jun 28, 2015
Qradar vs. ArcSight
Continuing with the SIEM posts we have done at Infosecnirvana, this post is a Head to head comparison of the two Industry leading SIEM products in the market – HP ArcSight and IBM QRadar Both the products have consistently been in the Gartner Leaders Quadrant. Both HP and IBM took over niche SIEM…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What are the biggest differences between Securonix UEBA, Exabeam, and IBM QRadar?
It mostly depends on your use-cases and environment. Exabeam and Securonix have a stronger UEBA feature set, friendlier GUI and are not licensed based on capacity (amount of logs and information in...
What SOC product do you recommend?
For tools I’d recommend: -SIEM- LogRhythm -SOAR- Palo Alto XSOAR Doing commercial w/o both (or at least an XDR) is asking to miss details that are critical, and ending up a statistic. Also, rememb...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Security QRadar?
When comparing with Splunk, IBM Security QRadar's cost is reasonable. Splunk is more expensive than IBM Security QRadar.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SmartEvent Event Management?
The product has annual licensing; make sure you really use it well to help you secure the network so you don't waste the license cost.
What needs improvement with SmartEvent Event Management?
The only downside I've encountered with SmartEvent Event Management ( /categories/event-monitoring ) is occasional lag during video calls, especially with a lot of participants. Although it is not ...
What is your primary use case for SmartEvent Event Management?
Our primary use case involves utilizing SmartEvent Event Management ( /products/smartevent-event-management-reviews ) for video conferencing, file sharing, and integration with other productivity t...
 

Also Known As

IBM QRadar, QRadar SIEM, QRadar UBA, QRadar on Cloud, IBM QRadar Advisor with Watson
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Clients across multiple industries, such as energy, financial, retail, healthcare, government, communications, and education use QRadar.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security QRadar vs. SmartEvent Event Management and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.