IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs McAfee Vulnerability Manager for Databases [EOL] comparison

IBM and McAfee are both solutions in the Database Security category. Additionally, 85% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of McAfee users who would recommend it.

IBM Security Guardium Data ...

Read 77 IBM Security Guardium Data Protection reviews

4,901 Views
2,342 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

McAfee Vulnerability Manage...

Read 3 McAfee Vulnerability Manager for Databases [EOL] reviews

100% willing to recommend

IBM Security Guardium Data ...

McAfee Vulnerability Manage...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Security Guardium Data Protection and McAfee Vulnerability Manager for Databases [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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

To learn more, read our detailed Database Security Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Database Security

March 2025

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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

Ranking in other categories

Database Security (1st)

McAfee Vulnerability Manage...

Average Rating

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Ahmer Faisel Khan

Director | CTO at COMMTEL

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.

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Wahidur Rahman

Senior Executive Officer at United Commercial Bank Limited

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…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 features I like are the robust policies, which allow us to create customized monitoring based on specific activities."

"You could easily throw it onto a VM or add additional hardware. One central manager supports about a hundred managed units, so scalability is excellent."

"It protects sensitive data and blocks unauthorized access to the data."

"Has a great Big Data Intelligence feature."

"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 most valuable feature I have found is the performance of client monitoring. The other competitors are unable to do this."

"I think IMB's technical support is good."

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection pros

"The support is very good. They are very quick to respond when we have issues."

"The technical support is good; they are knowledgeable."

"The feature I have found most valuable is activity monitoring."

Cons

"The biggest complaint that I hear from customers and users is that using this solution requires database skills, yet it is a security and monitoring tool."

"We are currently facing a challenge because it does not offer data encryption by default, only data masking."

"The deployment is complex and requires expertise to deploy."

"The solution should allow the data to shift to a centralized repository with elastic servers and big data infrastructure"

"Could be more user friendly; deployment is a little complex."

"It needs an integration with Optum."

"The price of this solution is quite high for smaller organizations, so they should release a version that is affordable for small and medium-sized businesses."

"We have had some issues with patches breaking things unexpectedly in our environments."

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection cons

"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's an expensive solution"

"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."

"One of the deployments that I know of had three databases, and the yearly fees are approximately $50,000 USD."

"I would suggest to review the type of data, need for security, and if the organizational structure needs the options IBM Guardium provides."

"It is a very costly product."

"Reasonable cost but could be lower."

"We haven't talked much about pricing and licencing. But it is not cheap for sure"

"The biggest challenge is the cost associated with the product, and the cost of maintaining. Everything is not translated directly to the benefits we see. There are benefits, yes, but if I were writing the check, would I buy Guardium? No."

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection pricing and cost advice

"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

Insurance Company

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...

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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...

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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.

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What do you like most about McAfee Vulnerability Manager for Databases?

The feature I have found most valuable is activity monitoring.

See all answers

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.

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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.

See all answers

Comparisons

Imperva SecureSphere Database Security vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 53% of the time

Oracle Audit Vault vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 18% of the time

DataSunrise Database Security vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 5% of the time

Trustwave DbProtect vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 3% of the time

Voltage SecureData Enterprise vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 3% of the time

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection Competitors

No data available

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

March 2025

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection report

Download IBM Security Guardium Data Protection product report

Buyer's Guide

Database Security

March 2025

McAfee Vulnerability Manager for Databases [EOL] report

Download McAfee Vulnerability Manager for Databases [EOL] product report

Also Known As

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium

No data available

Overview

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection automatically discovers and classifies sensitive data from across the enterprise, providing real-time data activity monitoring and advanced user behavior analytics to help discover unusual activity around sensitive data.

Deploy the solution to help discover regulated data in your data stores and use pre-built templates for regulations such as PCI, SOX, HIPAA, CCPA and many more, to streamline and automate compliance workflows.

IBM

McAfee Vulnerability Manager for Databases automatically discovers databases on your network, determines if the latest patches have been applied, and tests for common weaknesses.

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

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