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IBM Security zSecure vs Idira Privileged Access Manager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 2, 2026

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 zSecure
Ranking in Mainframe Security
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
8.8
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Idira Privileged Access Man...
Ranking in Mainframe Security
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
230
Ranking in other categories
User Activity Monitoring (1st), Enterprise Password Managers (2nd), Privileged Access Management (PAM) (1st), Operational Technology (OT) Security (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Mainframe Security category, the mindshare of IBM Security zSecure is 14.3%, down from 21.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Idira Privileged Access Manager is 5.9%, up from 4.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mainframe Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Idira Privileged Access Manager5.9%
IBM Security zSecure14.3%
Other79.8%
Mainframe Security
 

Featured Reviews

it_user635553 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mainframe Systems Programmer with 51-200 employees
Provides administration of the RACF database. We can identify and remove old security database records.
* The zSecure Admin provides us with a much more user-friendly administration of the RACF database. * TopSecret and ACF2 are also supported (if they were ordered). * The Database Cleanup utility feature: Used for identifying and removing old security database records that are no longer relevant or being used.
Singaravelu C - PeerSpot reviewer
CyberArk Engineer at Tata Consultancy
Provides full visibility into user activity and ensures secure end-to-end access across critical systems
In CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, I see room for improvement as I am working in the on-premises networks, and now we are also having the cloud-based PAM. So there, everything is maintained by the CyberArk Privileged Access Manager team, and we are only maintaining the PSM servers. So it is already upgraded from the on-premises network to the cloud network. If you ask me what we can implement beyond that, I just need a few minutes to think about what new things, because it is already an end-to-end security on-premises itself. Now, when it comes to PCloud, Privileged Cloud, it is more secure than the on-premises networks because most of the things are handled using the cloud itself. So it is an already upgraded version; we do not need to implement something new. But if you think in that way, we can have a chance to implement our things. If anything could be improved in CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, I think we could build a small agent AI in my team, we could give access to these logs—the Vault logs, PSM logs, and CPM logs. Whenever the system is going down, the AI will automatically check. If we actually implement agent AI in CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, it will check the logs, and if any errors are coming, it automatically triggers alerts and gives the solution. That is the best improvement I can think of because these days, most things are done by agent AI. So if we also implement this agent AI in CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, we can add more features.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The zSecure Admin provides us with a much more user-friendly administration of the RACF database."
"Technical support is optimal."
"The productivity and consistency in our organization has been improved by the ability to easily generate reports and a common interface for the security administrators."
"In terms of stability, there are no complaints; CyberArk, I would say, is an industry leader in this portfolio, especially in Privileged Access Management."
"I find the threat analytics is an important feature, as CyberArk can look at the log details and analyze who is using the applications, which are their locations, and which are the IP locations from which they are accessing, enabling the solution to find the exact location the threat is emanating from, which we really value."
"The most valuable features of CyberArk Enterprise Password Vault are password rotations and password encryptions."
"It is good, it fits our needs, and there is not anything else out in the market that can match it."
"Our security has improved since implementing CyberArk."
"With CyberArk, it allows us to streamline and create a workflow which allows them to automatically log into CyberArk, grab the credentials that they want, and it automatically sends their approval to their manager, who can click a couple buttons, approve, and the user is able to get their credentials."
"It is a scalable product."
"CyberArk Privileged Access Manager assists in meeting compliance and regulatory requirements such as HIPAA and SOX, ensuring I adhere to necessary standards in my operations."
 

Cons

"I would like to see improvements in the certification (SSL). It must be less complicated."
"There should be more supplied reports and CARLa samples."
"The reporting feature needs to improve."
"Make it easier to deploy."
"Authentication to the PVWA utilises integration to IIS. Therefore, it is not as strong as desired."
"It is easily customized, and that customization makes it very easy to start trying to shoehorn the solution into roles it was never intended to fill."
"The solution needs better features for end users to manage their own whitelisting for API retrieval."
"Our DevOps team is looking in the direction of cloud, because we are not in it today. We are hoping to build it with Conjur from the ground up."
"Online help needs to be looked into with live agent support."
"The interface could be improved it is not user-friendly, but they have improved but it could still improve. In the policies configuration, it would be a benefit to have more details."
"In terms of mean time to respond, I acknowledge variable response time. The L1 team is proactive, yet the vendor often pushes to close incidents swiftly, even when issues remain unresolved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"This solution is considered to be more expensive than others out there on the market today."
"Pricing is quite high and it could be improved."
"CyberArk is very expensive and there are additional fees for add-ons."
"Cost efficiency is the number one thing that can be improved in my mind. This would change lots of companies minds on purchasing the product."
"The license CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is on an annual basis."
"The price of this solution is quite reasonable."
"Our risk is definitely significantly lower. Also, our resources are low."
"This product is very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
14%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Insurance Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise42
Large Enterprise175
 

Questions from the Community

How does IBM Security zSecure handle encryption and secure transmission of data?
zSecure, a suite of products, simplifies security management on z/OS and z/VM with an intuitive interface, surpassing ISPF panels and RACF commands. It focuses on enhancing technology management, n...
How does Sailpoint IdentityIQ compare with CyberArk PAM?
We evaluated Sailpoint IdentityIQ before ultimately choosing CyberArk. Sailpoint Identity Platform is a solution to manage risks in cloud enterprise environments. It automates and streamlines the m...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager?
My thoughts on the pricing of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager depend entirely on the vendors' requirements. If they want their things to be secure, they have to spend accordingly. We have four t...
What needs improvement with CyberArk Privileged Access Manager?
I believe account discovery and rolling support need to be improved. Account discovery is important when integrating with other systems, as other PAM solutions can perform account discovery and onb...
 

Also Known As

No data available
CyberArk Privileged Access Security, CyberArk Enterprise Password Vault
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Swiss Re
Rockwell Automation
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security zSecure vs. Idira Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.