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IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs McAfee Vulnerability Manager for Databases [EOL] 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 Security Guardium Data ...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
Database Security (1st)
McAfee Vulnerability Manage...
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmer Faisel Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers mature agents, compliance reporting and reliable database security
The solution should allow the data to shift to a centralized repository with elastic servers and big data infrastructure. If a customer searches for old logs for retention purposes, there are limitations on appliances once they are set with specific hardware, so they can only be changed by uninstalling or reinstalling the hardware. The solution's aggregator feature allows data aggregation, but for instance, if a customer wants a project ready in two years, having an Elasticsearch in DB or the capacity to store huge amounts of data would be beneficial in data investigation or evaluation at an affordable cost. Some AI features should be added to IBM Security Guardium Data Protection. For example, the AI features implemented in the solution can be anomaly detection or suspicious activity identification.
Wahidur Rahman - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution's activity monitoring is valuable, but it should have more integrations and updates overall
Our primary use case for this solution is activity, authentication, and scans for audit purposes and priority assessments The feature I have found most valuable is activity monitoring. McAfee has not had many legacy features. They are not updating their value adjustment.In the next feature, I'd…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is using the capture operation mode “S-TAP/K-TAP agent”, because all activities in the database are captured, including direct access to the database server by privileged users. This is useful because, even if the database server logs were deleted, the Guardium Collector has already stored such data to enable traceability of access."
"I think IMB's technical support is good."
"The most valuable feature is the GUI, the interface. It also interfaces well with REST API, if you want to automate some of the commands."
"We use IBM Guardium to support security initiatives and combine policies within the organization."
"Guardium does a great job of capturing data and having the ability of trying to pull it out and make sense of it. Using it for business applications is its biggest capability."
"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 features are the reporting and data-level access control."
"We also use IBM Guardium to support security initiatives and compliance policies. For example, our audit area can verify if someone has access to information that they shouldn't have, for their regular job functions."
"The feature I have found most valuable is activity monitoring."
"The support is very good. They are very quick to respond when we have issues."
"The technical support is good; they are knowledgeable."
 

Cons

"I'd like to see a smoother GUI interface for the CAS agent - CAS does configurations on the database - to interface better with the vulnerability assessments."
"The technical support is very poor."
"Since we are resellers we do not have enough information about the technical aspects and the areas of improvement. However, one consistent report that we receive from our customers is that IBM does not offer timely support due to the size of the organisation. It would be great if they could improve their response time."
"Sometimes the performance is not good, and also sometimes we have sudden bugs causing difficulties."
"If IBM Guardium Data Protection could find a way to not have a lot of coding and development required to get the solution up and running it would be an advantage. The information of the agent could improve, which is necessary for us to monitor the databases would be a great benefit."
"Using the data in native Guardium is difficult, at best."
"More automation, user guides, and tips would make this solution better."
"An improvement would be to make the pricing relative in terms of regions."
"In the next feature, I'd like to see more integrations and updates overall, specifically bottom tech."
"Technical support could be more responsive."
"The UI needs to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is not an expensive product. We purchase its yearly license."
"For IBM Guardium, licensing is very simple and straightforward. There are no issues I can speak of."
"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 is most suitable for large scale enterprises because the pricing model is better if you are implementing a large number of databases."
"The price is good for the quality of the solution."
"​If you are researching this type of solution, work with IBM."
"Guardium has not saved us time or money."
"IBM Guardium Data Protection charges you based on the number of users, e.g. based on the number of licenses, and it's either on a per-license or a per-data basis."
"It's not expensive compared to other products that are available."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
30%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What do you like most about McAfee Vulnerability Manager for Databases?
The feature I have found most valuable is activity monitoring.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for McAfee Vulnerability Manager for Databases?
I would rate the pricing of this solution an eight, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.
What needs improvement with McAfee Vulnerability Manager for Databases?
McAfee has not had many legacy features. They are not updating their value adjustment. In the next feature, I'd like to see more integrations and updates overall, specifically bottom tech.
 

Also Known As

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium
No data available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM, Imperva, Oracle and others in Database Security. Updated: March 2025.
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