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Symantec Siteminder vs Symantec VIP Access Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 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

Symantec Siteminder
Ranking in Access Management
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (13th), Web Access Management (1st)
Symantec VIP Access Manager
Ranking in Access Management
18th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Access Management category, the mindshare of Symantec Siteminder is 3.1%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec VIP Access Manager is 1.6%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Access Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Symantec Siteminder3.1%
Symantec VIP Access Manager1.6%
Other95.3%
Access Management
 

Featured Reviews

Muzi Lubisi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior technical Consultant at CA Africa
Improved user experience with seamless integration and easy installation
The feature that I mostly valued is the ease of installation on different systems, especially on Windows. Additionally, it is very beneficial for deploying single sign-on sessions between different windows on a web browser, provided I am connected to the right identity provider. That seamless integration significantly improves user experience and efficiency.
Berk Onur - PeerSpot reviewer
Presales Consultant at Cyberwise
With its mobile application, this tool offers a convenient and user-friendly experience to its users
To improve the tool, I think that the solution should consider integrations with other cybersecurity and IT technologies, such as Privileged Access Management and Site Integration. Additionally, the implementation of second-factor authentication via Symantec VIP Access Manager, CyberArk, and Delinea, among other technologies, could be best for the product. While the existing technology is okay, improving the integration capabilities for Symantec VIP Access Manager would benefit the product. I would like to see the solution meet the integration needs at our company. While many cybersecurity solutions can function independently, they often lack integration with our systems due to missed integration points. Improving the solution's integration feature would be beneficial.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Ease of use is very good, for administrating it."
"It has considerably reduced the amount of time that new users would take to join into the organization. Previously, it was a lengthy, manual process because it's a very secure environment, where they need to verify the user before they can actually grant him a user-ID and password. Integrating with the built-in custom application, and exposing CA Single Sign On to the internet, we were able to get the employees onboard. The time that we gained was: previously it would generally take from four to eight weeks for each employee, we brought it to one to two days."
"The security and single sign-on (SSO) features are the most valuable."
"It provides a secure interface and single sign-on to a variety of different applications."
"The most valuable feature is the integration with the Active Directory."
"SSO is a very robust application."
"It has the ability to authenticate and authorize users. It is the main feature for our security."
"All of our applications get a point, click, and you are in, while we increase security at the same time."
"The solution has helped to increase staff productivity by approximately a minute."
"If you're looking for a fairly lightweight client that works very well for remote access purposes, I think Symantec is definitely a good product."
"It is a fast and easy solution for end users, and you are always online."
"The tool has been very stable, in my experience. Also, I haven't faced any issues or problems with integration or connectivity."
"It's a good tool. It's pretty straightforward."
"The ease of integrating into an existing authentication system."
"I like the whole solution, and I would recommend it."
"In this version 9.1, lots of changes are done for the dashboard, User Store etc."
 

Cons

"In future releases, I would like to see maybe more capabilities with some more modern authentication."
"It's stable, but we are finding some compatibility issues."
"One of the features that needs improvement is the capability of implementing single sign-on in cloud."
"I would give the technical support a rating of 2-3/10."
"We installed one version and there is a bug in it; from a customer perspective I would want that particular issue to be fixed rather than getting an answer that the bug will be fixed in the next version."
"I'd like to see a rework of the user directory configuration."
"It seems that when there's a new version, patch, or service pack, we find bugs."
"As we are moving in to the mobility space, this is where we really see SiteMinder and their other product really come together to provide a solution base to a different area where the IoT is coming, the different business communications are happening. All of those things require authentication and we really want to see this product grow into that role."
"The User Store synchronization part needs to improve. Also, the logs, reports, and dashboard can be improved."
"There are some shortcomings on the reporting side, such as how many connections you can get per month."
"Our only issue was with user training. The additional challenge was not well received."
"Maybe Symantec could consider providing a step-by-step guide for first-time users."
"The User Store synchronization part needs to improve. Also, the logs, reports, and dashboard can be improved."
"It gets out of sync with Active Directory or whatever it might be, whatever the authentication piece is on Active Directory, and they just reset it on the backend. I never have to contact the vendor."
"The reporting on the VIP Manager is not correct."
"At times, the relay server could not contact Symantec; it would fail open and allow access without a passcode."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing is fair for this solution."
"The solution's pricing is competitive."
"Symantec Siteminder is expensive; they could definitely do better on the price."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"I recommend conducting a PoC on every available product before choose one."
"The price is quite comparable to the other enterprise-level solutions in that market."
"Siteminder is a little costly. You pay for licensing, and they offer packages, so if you have less users, then you have to buy different products at different prices. If you have more of a user base, then the package is different. They also include other features—for example, if you have a database and you're using Siteminder, then it's good to use a Semantic-specific database, but if you are using less, then you have to purchase the database separately. Whereas if you are going for a bigger license, then it comes within the package. It depends on which plan you are using."
"CA solutions are generally expensive but for the customer the ROI is big."
"There is a one-time setup fee plus the licenses are provided as per the number of users. For SMS and voice calls, the costs are separate."
"I can say that the solution is worth the money."
"Licensing and pricing seems very fair."
"There are additional costs for maintenance."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
25%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Insurance Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise69
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Symantec Siteminder?
It's agent-based. It's convenient to deploy and integrate.
What needs improvement with Symantec Siteminder?
Symantec Siteminder needs to have adaptive authentication and multi-factor authentication as integrated features. Currently, multi-factor authentication is available as a separate solution, and it ...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

SiteMinder, CA SSO, Layer7 SiteMinder
Symantec VIP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

British Telecom, CoreBlox, DBS, HMS, Itera ASA and Simeo
Maine Medical Center, Aria S.p.A
Find out what your peers are saying about Symantec Siteminder vs. Symantec VIP Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
890,088 professionals have used our research since 2012.