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OpenText Identity Manager vs Symantec Identity Governance and Administration comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 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

OpenText Identity Manager
Ranking in User Provisioning Software
9th
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
15th
Ranking in Identity Governance Administration (IGA)
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Symantec Identity Governanc...
Ranking in User Provisioning Software
8th
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
18th
Ranking in Identity Governance Administration (IGA)
8th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Identity Governance Administration (IGA) category, the mindshare of OpenText Identity Manager is 3.9%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Identity Governance and Administration is 5.6%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity Governance Administration (IGA) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
OpenText Identity Manager3.9%
Symantec Identity Governance and Administration5.6%
Other90.5%
Identity Governance Administration (IGA)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2401464 - PeerSpot reviewer
Architect at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Updates systems quickly and does not have a limit on the number of users
NetIQ does not have a limit on the number of users. The tool is secure by nature. It can have more than one billion users. Event-based systems know what has to be changed. SQL-based systems can only change using time and date. Event-based systems provide immediate results, while SQL-based systems need time to sync. It is totally different from a security perspective. Event-based systems can update all the systems in seconds or minutes. Other systems do it within 24 hours. The basic event-based system is AI-driven. It has some kind of robotics and programming. Other tools need programming. I like systems that have prebuilt ideas of security. NetIQ has been in the market for a long period. It has all the systems and connectors. There is not much coding. We just need to configure the products. We need not do any programming. I haven't seen any other product that needs only configuration to do the job. Most products in the market are SQL-based. They need programming. Some service providers who sell other products to customers do not sell NetIQ because they can make more money by selling solutions that need more consultancy and programming. More hours lead to more money.
reviewer2183661 - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Director at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Has an easy initial setup process, but its technical support services need improvement
The product's technical support could be better. The integration project requires a lot of technical details, so we need to find it quickly and easily. There was a large community of knowledge in the past. We kept it together and got the results. The community that works around the particular technical issue is shrinking. It used to be a specialized community that would help with the process. These particular areas need improvement. Broadcom is still using a hybrid cloud model, with some workloads on-premises and some in the cloud. They must start with the cloud adoption and move as many workloads to the cloud as possible. The on-premises environment is becoming stable. They need to rebuild that cost and the software. The product's pre-sales, technical support, and installation could also improve.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The main value lies in the simplicity of implementation, as well as its customized look and feel."
"The most valuable features are Password Reset Alerts, Password Sync, and SQL connectors."
"It's a very flexible tool, so you can synchronize multiple sources of data and you have multiple connections to various kinds of systems."
"NetIQ does not have a limit on the number of users."
"I would recommend this product, its quite flexible and quick to start with."
"The access request management has improved significantly in terms of its user interface. What sets it apart from competitors like SailPoint is that it's an event-based solution rather than schedule-based. That's a key differentiator."
"The product is easy to use."
"The most valuable features of NetIQ Identity Manager are the synchronization of different directories, such as Active Directory. We have many Active Directory systems, not only one."
"Word mining and risk campaigns are the most valuable features of this solution."
"Ease of use for the configuration of provisioning accounts through an account template concept for an OOTB connector."
"We take identity management seriously and CA IDM is helping us to accomplish that goal."
"It's a very useful tool that has improved our client's security, from day one."
"​It has improved our user management. It is definitely streamlined​."
"I don't see any issues with CA, and everyone in the business is happy with CA and their support."
"We started off with 10,000 customers on system, it looked good, now we have about 1.6 million customers on the system, no problems at all."
"Again, we haven't had any issues from a support perspective, once we've implemented it it's been very solid, people love it and we've saved a lot of money and time from the help desk perspective, so it's been a good investment."
 

Cons

"NetIQ Identity Manager could improve by updating the user portal, it is out of date."
"The user facing interfaces are not too friendly and they are also fairly hard to configure."
"There are some limitations in the custom workflows, mainly in the GUI presentation, but the latest release improved."
"Be more honest about how poorly it runs on Windows servers. It is optimized for Linux."
"We have another system that is using the SAML system, and we also integrate with Active Directory only. If NetIQ Identity Manager can integrate directly, we would not need to use the Active Directory directory."
"If it could be operated in such a way that anybody could use it, with just the user interface, and there's no need for programming, then that would be a great improvement."
"The interface is old and outdated, and the design software seems archaic."
"The UI for requesting and approving rights have been a little outdated, however, in the most recent version that has been addressed."
"Multiple issues with stability of the provisioning servers."
"We found that if you create a certification with a high number of objects, the portal runs slowly."
"Symantec is only on-premises, not on the cloud."
"The drawback with the CA Identity Manager is they don't have a connector to HR systems like SAP, or PeopleSoft, or Workday. That's a major drawback with the CA Identity Manager. For that we have to do lots of custom quoting to get data from HR systems. And if they could connect it to GRC systems, that's good to have in an identity product."
"I find the API boring. I also faced issues while integrating with CA SSO."
"Customer Service: Good but more skilled people required according to geographical location."
"They don’t give a resolution immediately. They tend to take time coming up with answers. We are not really satisfied with the customer service."
"It was a little complex."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is quite affordable."
"You just need to be aware that the more systems you connect, the more license fees you have to pay."
"Micro Focus is flexible when it comes to price. The cost varies from customer to customer. There are no additional costs, though. Everything is included."
"I would rate the pricing a two out of ten, with one being low price and ten being high price. It is significantly more cost-effective than the major players in the market."
"The price of the solution is a bit high and could be reduced."
"It would easily help them in getting more market and more customers if more consultants knew about their software. If they could keep it free for schools for teaching purposes, it would be good. I had to pay myself to get it and use it for training. Their competitors are giving it for free. I had to pay for it myself. They are losing market to their competitors."
"The price is based on the number of users."
"Pricing and licensing models are adequate and reasonable."
"Symantec keeps increasing the price. I rate its pricing a seven on a scale of ten."
"Compared to other options, CA products are not that expensive."
"The price is flexible for our existing customers."
"The connector is free, and bundled with the product."
"The product has a good price in competition with another product with the same solution."
"I do not recall the approximate prices or licensing models, although I do so that it was priced per user number."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
11%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise45
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetIQ Identity Manager?
The pricing depends on whether we buy the solution as a service or a license. The license is expensive. If we buy it as a service for a large number of users, it is the cheapest tool we can get. Th...
What needs improvement with NetIQ Identity Manager?
The tool is used mostly in big systems to understand what is happening. There are not many technicians who know how to use the product. The vendor must provide an easier console for configuring thi...
What is your primary use case for NetIQ Identity Manager?
NetIQ Directory is the main function of the product. As far as I know, it is the only event test directory that exists. It has all the potential for event-based testing. It has rules, connectors, a...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Identity Governance and Administration?
The pricing has been very reasonable, but licensing costs vary based on the customer. It follows a user-based licensing model.
What needs improvement with Symantec Identity Governance and Administration?
Symantec should develop a SaaS solution for cloud environments to make the solution available in various marketplaces for easy deployment. It should also offer bundle installation instead of one by...
What is your primary use case for Symantec Identity Governance and Administration?
I am a consultant and we consult for identity and network management. We work with Symantec, which is owned by Broadcom, and also with Microsoft and Oracle. Additionally, we work with open-source s...
 

Also Known As

Novell Identity Manager
CA Identity Suite, Symantec IGA, Layer7 Identity Suite, CA Identity Manager (CA IDM), CA Identity Minder, CA IAM, CA Identity Manager (CA IDM), CA Identity Governance
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Sheetz
Acciona, Core Blox, DBS
Find out what your peers are saying about OpenText Identity Manager vs. Symantec Identity Governance and Administration and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,438 professionals have used our research since 2012.