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ACF2 vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

ACF2
Ranking in Database Security
17th
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Mainframe Security (5th)
IBM Security Guardium Data ...
Ranking in Database Security
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Database Security category, the mindshare of ACF2 is 0.5%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is 32.3%, up from 29.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Security
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1077621 - PeerSpot reviewer
A reliable, scalable product for security and auditing of our mainframe environment
It is a good product. It has been used for years. As long as it is configured correctly, it is a very stable product. It depends on how an institution or a company configures it. It depends on an institution's risk appetite. You need to make sure it is configured as per the concept of least privilege, and the logging features, detection and control mechanism, and other things like that are enabled. If you configure it to give access to the public, then there could be compromises. You should also have someone who independently checks it to make sure that it is configured keeping security in mind. If it has been configured for a while, when there are enhancements to the product or when you enhance it, you need to make sure that security is also looked at, and it is configured according to an institution's security policies. I would rate it a nine out of 10.
Muzzamil Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers vulnerability analyzer with easily integration with other IBM solutions
We are currently facing a challenge because it does not offer data encryption by default, only data masking. When we decide to implement data encryption, we must purchase an additional add-on, which incurs extra costs. Data encryption and data masking often work together in organizations. Therefore, using different products for these functions, such as Oracle for data management and a plugin for data masking, creates a burden on our systems. We have to install and manage multiple agents, like Oracle's light agents and IBM's agents. IBM should include data encryption in its standard package. This would streamline operations and reduce the complexity and cost of managing separate data protection solutions. Currently, it supports cross-platform integration but does not support integration with flat file databases. IBM Guardium integrates well with international databases like MySQL and Oracle, making it easy to use with these systems. We need to develop a plugin to integrate flat file databases with Guardium.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The NOACCESS by default is another very good feature. Also, access rules are straightforward, and easy to understand."
"We use this tool to quickly assign privileges to different users as soon as they come in."
"Logging and monitoring are most valuable. It is for the mainframe environment, and it is at the forefront for security and resilience."
"I love their support. The support is great. They are number one."
"Excellent real-time reporting that saves time and resources."
"It can help with PCI compliance. It includes features like data masking, especially during queries, which supports compliance efforts."
"Gathering ​the data works very well. ​"
"The solution has definitely saved us time, because if you want to monitor this kind of vast environment of different products, it's going to take a lot of time. Let's say one database server has 100 database instances running on it; I don't need to install 100 data instances, I just need to install on the one database server and that will cover all of my instances on that particular database."
"The most valuable feature for me, in my role as systems DBA, is the expediting of internal and external audits."
"We now have the ability to begin to understand how people, applications, and service accounts are interacting with data to better protect it."
"I rate Guardium 10 out of 10 for data activity monitoring and nine for vulnerability assessment. It's easy to implement and does its job. But I would rate it seven out of 10 in terms of advanced features."
"The most valuable feature of the solution for the customers is the monitoring and full log of the database activity of privileged users."
"The most valuable feature I have found is the performance of client monitoring. The other competitors are unable to do this."
 

Cons

"They can work on its ability to work in a distributed environment. It's a mainframe product. As many companies move to the cloud, depending on what cloud models they choose, such as a public, hybrid, or private cloud, it should be deployable. I am not sure if it can be deployed on those platforms. It has been there since the '50s or '60s, and it's still scalable. It has survived all these years, and it's scalable to many platforms, but I don't know about the cloud."
"Reporting can sometimes include false positives."
"I would like my team and me to be able to use simple browsers, like Chrome, to be able to access mainframe data and provision users using the browser.​"
"It needs longer rules. The max rule is 32K."
"We have had some issues with patches breaking things unexpectedly in our environments."
"The solution lacks control over database security."
"The most important requirements for us are integration with new database solutions and the ability to manage things like Jailbreak or something like that. Its reduction feature can also be improved. It has a functionality called reduction, which is like masking data, but it is just a replacement of characters. Sometimes the customer needs more than this. It would be good if it was more advanced or complete. We also have a problem with this solution because the IBM aggregator isn't working very well. IBM has created big data intelligence for Guardium, and occasionally, customers need three or four months of data, but they can't run it from the collectors. It can have a better dashboard and more pre-defined use cases for those customers who don't have any idea about data protection or don't have expert personnel in this area. For example, they can include five use cases for banks and five use cases for retail."
"An area for improvement would be the user interface - currently, it takes around two to three months to become comfortable using it."
"Flexibility could be improved."
"We are currently facing a challenge because it does not offer data encryption by default, only data masking."
"Performance and the ability to use resources could be improved."
"Initial setup is very complex. Once you start interacting with people's databases, they get very hesitant. Then, the amount of social tasks to socialize the solution ensuring people are comfortable with it became a much heavier lift."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Its cost is good. With the new metric of licensing, such as PDO not being available now, customers are expecting a good price for the solution."
"​If you are researching this type of solution, work with IBM."
"The tool is not cheap, but it is not expensive."
"The price of the solution could be better."
"It's an expensive solution"
"IBM solutions have fair price strategy, and operates on a yearly basis. If it's a SaaS solution, then you can opt for yearly basis."
"Guardium's pricing is quite high, but it gives good value for money for all sizes of enterprises, especially for partners."
"Guardium is most suitable for large scale enterprises because the pricing model is better if you are implementing a large number of databases."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
37%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
29%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is a good length for a password in ACF2 so it's safe?
A set length of 12 characters can ensure the safety of a system. Longer passwords provide an added layer of security, especially when combined with other password complexity requirements. With a le...
Is ACF2 suitable for beginners?
ACF2 can be suitable for beginners with the right guidance and support. While it may have a steep learning curve for many due to its complexity, it offers extensive documentation and resources that...
What types of auditing and reporting capabilities does ACF2 offer?
ACF2's reporting capabilities are highly valuable. It offers various predefined reports that provide insights into our system's security posture. These reports include information on user access pr...
How does IBM Guardium Data Protection compare with Imperva SecureSphere Database Security?
IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is a solution for database security from IBM that gives complete visibility, control, and analysis to secure sensitive data and comply with regulations. IBM S...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Guardium Data Protection?
The pricing is good, and I have no problem with it. Although there is no flexibility to compete with other products, it generally costs between one hundred and three hundred thousand per year depen...
What do you like most about IBM Security Guardium Data Protection?
The features I like are the robust policies, which allow us to create customized monitoring based on specific activities.
 

Also Known As

CA ACF2
InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Sky, Rogers Communications
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about ACF2 vs. IBM Security Guardium Data Protection and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,052 professionals have used our research since 2012.