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IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs Oracle Advanced Security 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
7.0
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
Database Security (1st)
Oracle Advanced Security
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Encryption (13th), Data Masking (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Database Development and Management Tools solutions, they serve different purposes. IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is designed for Database Security and holds a mindshare of 27.5%, down 33.0% compared to last year.
Oracle Advanced Security, on the other hand, focuses on Endpoint Encryption, holds 2.7% mindshare, up 1.3% since last year.
Database Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Security Guardium Data Protection27.5%
Imperva Data Security Fabric26.0%
Oracle Audit Vault11.7%
Other34.8%
Database Security
Endpoint Encryption Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Oracle Advanced Security2.7%
Microsoft BitLocker21.6%
ESET Endpoint Encryption10.5%
Other65.2%
Endpoint Encryption
 

Featured Reviews

DP
Chief Executive Officer at Kipustec
Ensures data security and compliance with reliable alerts and protections
The manuals should be clearer. There needs to be an online course or tutorial for faster management training. The maintenance was slightly complicated. I had to read the manuals carefully and even failed the Guardium certification exam due to insufficient information or time. Improving the tool learning process would be beneficial.
reviewer1458726 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Good support, stable, and offers encryption at both the column and table level
The most valuable feature is the data encryption option for columns and tables. We are also getting the benefit of detection data. If I want to share data with another Oracle user then the data sharing is automatically detected. We don't need to modify anything. This is a complete security solution and all of the features that we are using are available off the shelf.

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 for me, in my role as systems DBA, is the expediting of internal and external audits."
"The best feature is how many databases we can protect with one solution because it has compatibility with different databases, including Oracle, SQL, and DB2."
"We are using it to do a lot of data discovery from a data classification for structured data."
"Our main focus for IBM Guardium is to support security initiatives and compliance policies within our organization. We use the DPD product for monitoring, especially for GDPR, SOX regulations and, of course, the vulnerability assessment that we use to make sure we're keeping up with our patches, making sure things are configured, making sure we're following the best practices."
"IBM Guardium Data Protection has better integration options than most of the leading competitors on the market, and the price is always better."
"It can help with PCI compliance. It includes features like data masking, especially during queries, which supports compliance efforts."
"It's made database monitoring more visible to the business, creating more conversations about how we should do it better."
"It has automated a bunch of manual tasks, giving us insights into activities that we would not otherwise be able to capture."
"The most valuable feature is the data encryption option for columns and tables."
"The features that are the most used by the customers and partners are, at the moment, for GDPR, so obviously data encryption and data reduction. Our customers also like the partitioning option."
 

Cons

"Sometimes the connectors to the databases need to be manually updated and we have to configure them again, which is something that should be improved."
"There are areas that need improvement, such as the documentation."
"The integration part of the present solution is very complex and tedious. Plus it gives a lot of false positives which need to be eradicated over time."
"Using the data in native Guardium is difficult, at best."
"The manuals should be clearer. There needs to be an online course or tutorial for faster management training."
"I have already mentioned to IBM that a primary need is to improve the number of records in the reports above 65,535."
"The user interface could be improved and modernized."
"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."
"It is really constrained as an environment because you cannot change something that would be useful. It is a very good product because it is very similar to what you have on-premises. Yes, it is constrained, but it is expected because it is a platform as a service so it has to be constrained."
"Having a single command to encrypt a table would be an improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Guardium won mostly because of our scope and scale. It was able to perform at the scale that we wanted to use it. ​"
"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."
"For IBM Guardium, licensing is very simple and straightforward. There are no issues I can speak of."
"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."
"One of the deployments that I know of had three databases, and the yearly fees are approximately $50,000 USD."
"It is not an expensive product. We purchase its yearly license."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
25%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Government
5%
Financial Services Firm
22%
Insurance Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise44
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?
I don't remember the exact prices, but Guardium is an expensive tool because it is targeted towards corporate enterprises.
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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Also Known As

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
IBVI, illycaffe, Scottish water, trueblue, AirAsia
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM, Imperva, Oracle and others in Database Security. Updated: February 2026.
882,886 professionals have used our research since 2012.