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IBM Tivoli Access Manager [EOL] vs One Identity Manager 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Tivoli Access Manager [...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
3.8
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
One Identity Manager
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
174
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (1st), Identity Management (IM) (1st), Identity Governance Administration (IGA) (2nd)
 

Featured Reviews

it_user711612 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Reverse proxy provides central control over authentication and authorization.
It is a single product that caters for all the business needs throughout the organization. It provides a seamless integration that in turn encourages most of the applications to use the SSO features Reverse proxy is the most valuable feature as it provides central control over authentication and…
Neha Chhangani - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Analyst at a startup based organization
Centralized identity governance has automated lifecycle management and simplifies compliance
One Identity Manager could be improved by making the initial setup and configuration simpler, especially for complex workflows and integrations. The user interface and reporting dashboards could also be more modern and intuitive with better out-of-the-box analytics. Additionally, clearer documentation and faster implementation guidance would help organizations get value more quickly. One specific challenge my team encountered was the complexity during initial configuration, especially when setting up custom workflows and role models which required more time and expertise. We also felt that out-of-the-box reports and dashboards are limited, and more customizable real-time analytics would be helpful. Better documentation and guided setup wizards would make adoption easier, particularly for teams new to identity governance tools. One improvement I think One Identity Manager needs is the enhanced self-service experience. The end-user self-service portal could be more intuitive with clearer guidance for access requests and password resets. Additionally, while integrations are solid, deeper cloud-native connectors and API-driven automation would help in hybrid and multi-cloud environments. A more responsive mobile interface or dedicated app for approvals and tasks would help managers who are often on the go. One more improvement is the built-in predictive insights or trend dashboards around access patterns and risk could improve proactive governance. More descriptive error messages and in-tool troubleshooting tips during setup configuration would reduce dependency on external documentation or support.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"OAuth 2 is now the de facto standard for API protection and scoped authorized delegation. IBM TAM now supports OAuth 2 and can act as fully compliant OAuth 2 authorization server."
"Tivoli Access Manager (or IBM Security Access Manager) is a fully featured web authentication, sso and authorization product."
"The SSO, URL-based access control, OAuth 2 and OIDC are the most valuable features."
"It is a good solution for anyone to take to their enterprise and get a buy in."
"It is a simple-to-deploy solution, with many features that are supported out-of-the-box without complicated setup."
"SAML 2.0."
"It is a single product that caters for all the business needs throughout the organization."
"The integration effort with the end application is quite straightforward and easy."
"It is certainly a leading product in the IAM sphere."
"From an end-user perspective, it is very easy to use. There is no need to follow extensive documentation; you just need to go through the process while raising a request."
"The best feature of this solution is its flexibility to be customized. It is like a framework. You can customize it very far from its core functionality, and it will still work."
"The most important thing is that we don't have bad users in our systems anymore."
"The solution is very stable and we rate it a twelve out of ten."
"There were significant productivity benefits over our previous platform with the increased automation which took the process of onboarding staff down from days to minutes."
"We have seen a slight reduction in help desk calls, as this solution is a self-service product."
"Implementing One Identity Manager has completely eliminated the manual process, indirectly saving our organization's money and providing a clear return on investment through significantly reducing manual efforts for business reports and saving considerable time for the quality team."
 

Cons

"Initial setup was complicated because TAM was implemented as a part of the IDM solution."
"Multi-factor authentication with social integration needs to improve."
"We have had stability issues lately with the hardware and SAN that the product runs on."
"The whole product could be made into one suite instead of multiple components which are essentially a part of the same infrastructure."
"There is only a single step-up authentication path, but I have sometimes seen the need for several steps or a divergent path."
"The pricing is always costly."
"Multi-factor authentication with social integration needs to improve."
"Yes, because there are so many moving parts it can often be difficult getting it right first time."
"Upgrading to a new version is consistently challenging and time-consuming."
"Because their company is so focused on just their tool and related technology, they can't support you much. At times, it becomes frustrating. While you are paying a little less than your competitors, you expect some support, compliance, or expertise from the company. If a certain load balancer is unable to handle your tool, you should know what load balancer would be perfect or what configuration you should use."
"It is a large solution where you need to learn how to work in a certain way for it to provide the best benefit."
"Integration with various applications should be made smoother. It is very difficult right now for regular implementers. Access reviews are another thing that is not that good in the solution. It needs improvement."
"I would like to have more extensive out-of-the-box reports."
"The relationship with the customers is extremely bad."
"The primary drawback of One Identity Manager is the customization of the WebGUI."
"The support team could be improved on. The first level of support essentially looks up knowledge base articles and often can't provide the answer needed."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The IBM prices are, as ever, extortionate, even with a business partnership, and high levels of discounts."
"It's costlier that some other products, and there is nothing that fits every solution."
"One Identity isn't cheap for small or medium-sized businesses, but I don't think it's necessary for a small company to use. The price is fair for large enterprises with thousands of employees that want to adopt a zero-trust model."
"We have the premium support and are very satisfied. They are always answer our questions very quickly. For the moment, we are very satisfied, but I think it's because we are paying for the premium support."
"Start with an operations team that is motivated to learn a lot in a short period of time. The longer you wait, the more expensive it will be to get the right level of expertise in this area."
"It is fairly priced because they provide all the features by default. That is why they charge a bit more than other vendors. I am not sure about the exact cost part, but One Identity is a little bit more expensive than IBM and other tools."
"Pricing depends on licensing models, such as per-user licensing and feature-based pricing. Additional models like governance, provisioning, and reporting increase costs."
"It was okay for us. It was not too much for us. It was nearly the same as other products. It was not expensive."
"It is cost-effective. I do not know about the other regions, but here in the Middle East, the competitors are almost double the price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
15%
Marketing Services Firm
14%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise18
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business93
Midsize Enterprise32
Large Enterprise116
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for One Identity Manager?
The pricing and licensing of One Identity Manager are reasonable considering the features and capabilities it offers for enterprise use.
What needs improvement with One Identity Manager?
One Identity Manager would benefit from enhancements in flow customization and faster performance in large environments to make it more efficient. Overall, it is a strong solution with great potent...
What is your primary use case for One Identity Manager?
One Identity Manager serves as our centralized identity governance and access management solution across the organization, primarily used for managing the complete user life cycle including onboard...
 

Also Known As

Tivoli Access Manager, IBM Security Access Manager
Quest One Identity Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Essex Technology Group Inc.
Texas A&M, Sky Media, BHF Bank, Swiss Post, Union Investment, Wayne State University. More at OneIdentity.com/casestudies
Find out what your peers are saying about One Identity, SailPoint, Omada and others in User Provisioning Software. Updated: May 2026.
894,807 professionals have used our research since 2012.