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IBM Security Secret Server vs One Identity Safeguard comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 6, 2024

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 Secret Server
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
29th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
One Identity Safeguard
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (6th), Non-Human Identity Management (NHIM) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Privileged Access Management (PAM) category, the mindshare of IBM Security Secret Server is 1.0%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of One Identity Safeguard is 3.7%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
 

Featured Reviews

AsifIqbal - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to set up and manage and has good scalability and stability, but its technical support team needs to be more aggressive in solving issues
What needs improvement in IBM Security Secret Server is support. The local partner provides good support, but IBM itself doesn't. Most of the time, the IBM support team does not aggressively resolve issues reported through chat or the IBM website. In the next version of IBM Security Secret Server, I want to see more lightweight recording, architecture, or infrastructure requirements. Currently, it's heavy, so I want it reduced to make adapting IBM Security Secret Server much more effortless.
Martin Ajayiobe - PeerSpot reviewer
Th password vault feature has proven to be most effective for managing privileged access
One Identity Safeguard now prevents unauthorized access to servers by eliminating privileged passwords and requiring all connections to go through a PAM-authorized process. This means no one, including hackers, can access servers without explicit approval, significantly enhancing overall security. One Identity Safeguard is easy to use with a good partner to support you, and it can be up and running within a few days. We have successfully integrated One Identity Safeguard with cloud targets, and the process was straightforward. One Identity Safeguard has improved our incident response time by 300 percent.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The live recording is a very useful feature."
"One of the most valuable features is scalability, and how it allows you to scale it without affecting the underlying core components."
"What I like best about IBM Security Secret Server is its single-access console. It's also easy to manage and fulfills the requirements with the least resistance."
"Stability-wise, I think it is a very good solution."
"As a PAM solution, Secret Server performs all the use cases in our environment."
"We have limited the possibilities for malicious actions and have made it safer for our users when they are using privileged accounts."
"There is ease of implementation."
"The monitoring system is very good."
"One of the most important aspects is that it is very easy to use and install. It is also agentless, so all of the operations happen more smoothly than any other product."
"The auditing and approval mechanisms are features we did not have before and are greatly appreciated."
"We use the solution’s “transparent mode” feature for privileged sessions. It is very easy because it is only a simple configuration for our users. We don't have to modify our network. We install it, configure it, and it works. So, it is super easy. The rollout for our users is seamless."
"In terms of the user experience, it is a pretty useful product. It works in a good way."
"The implementation time was quick. It was basically up and running within a week."
 

Cons

"Secret Server should have the ability to discover privileged accounts in the servers, like the administrator or users, from SQL and Oracle without having to import a script."
"The newer interface is more difficult to use than the previous one, and consequently, new users might need more training."
"It would be preferable if the full proxy was included in the IBM Security Secret Server."
"What needs improvement in IBM Security Secret Server is support. The local partner provides good support, but IBM itself doesn't. Most of the time, the IBM support team does not aggressively resolve issues reported through chat or the IBM website."
"The nonclustered index is working in an area with a problem that needs improvement."
"The GUI has room for improvement because it is confusing and cumbersome."
"Support for One Identity Safeguard could be improved because sometimes the support team doesn't have an answer or solution for some bugs. A feature I found in a competitor would make One Identity Safeguard better, and that is the ability to load balance the traffic in the target."
"The main thing that needs improvement is the slowness. Apart from that, the change password check-in feature also needs improvement because it is not working perfectly accurately."
"I find it complicated to implement HTTPS monitoring because the documentation is unclear."
"I would like to see support for RDP over HTTPS so this product can be used in conjunction with the Microsoft terminal."
"Even though we have two nodes, there's no way to do an upgrade without taking everything completely offline. It would be nice if they could improve that."
"When we compare One Identity Safeguard with Cyberark, we know CyberArk has other tools or other features that are more complex and more useful for the customers. For example, I have one customer that wants to elevate the permission that is available in CyberArk."
"The product uses a lot of resources in current sessions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price could be better. I think it's a good price for the on-premises environment and the high availability for enterprises the solution provides."
"My rating for the IBM Security Secret Server pricing is seven out of ten. It could be cheaper."
"I believe that we paid 35,000 or 40,000 US dollars for it."
"The license is very expensive for us, partly due to inflation and partly because of the exchange rate between the Dollar and the Iranian Rial. We purchased a perpetual license that we've been using up until now, but I believe that we are not going to update it in the future. Instead, we plan to find another third-party to support us with the license, in the sense that we would have access to their license as a shared agreement."
"We bought their other products, so it was not that expensive. It is one of those where the more you buy, the cheaper it is."
"Its subscription cost is too much, and sometimes, it is very difficult to pitch the solution to the management for cost approval. If the cost is reduced a little bit, it would be easier. If its cost was less, many other organizations that currently cannot afford it would be able to use this technology. I'm sure many organizations around the globe are having issues with identity management, and it is a very difficult task for IT to manage privileged accounts."
"The pricing depends on our perspective, our budget, and, of course, the competitors we are taking into account."
"We have a yearly license. The cost depends on how much a company wants to invest in technology. In our organization, we believe in modern digitization and automation processes so we found it affordable. One Identity was not that much less than other solutions and it is not a cheap solution. There were number of cheaper solutions. However, it's the most effective, according to our evaluation."
"It is cheaper than CyberArk. Its price is fair."
"As compared to other products, it is reasonable, but the training sessions are too expensive."
"The full license is expensive but if you plan to use it in a big organization then it is the best option because it is more flexible."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
Computer Software Company
24%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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What do you like most about One Identity Safeguard?
The identity discovery is good, and the performance is pretty good value.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for One Identity Safeguard?
The pricing of One Identity Safeguard is fairly priced and cheaper than other solutions of the same enterprise level. It provides a good cost-benefit ratio.
What needs improvement with One Identity Safeguard?
There is room for improvement in integration between modules. The native integration between SPP and SPS, which is currently based on a plugin, could be enhanced. Customization for lookup passwords...
 

Also Known As

IBM Secret Server, Secret Server, IBM Security Privileged Identity Manager
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
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Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security Secret Server vs. One Identity Safeguard and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.