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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
7.2
Number of Reviews
79
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 (12th), 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 26.4%, down 33.4% 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 Protection26.4%
Imperva Data Security Fabric25.0%
Oracle Audit Vault12.1%
Other36.5%
Database Security
Endpoint Encryption Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Oracle Advanced Security2.7%
Microsoft BitLocker23.6%
ESET Endpoint Encryption11.7%
Other62.0%
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 features are the reporting and data-level access control."
"The ability to collect the data without database administers being able to modify it."
"Audit Process Builder – Workflow generator to enhance audit tasks and compliance workflows."
"Encryption is not straightforward, but Guardium made the setup easy for us."
"The most valuable features of this product are activity monitoring on the database servers, discovery capabilities, and vulnerability scanning."
"The purpose of EBM Guardium is to monitor database activity and who is accessing it. This is the most valuable feature."
"Guardium is easily integrated with other IBM solutions, a significant advantage and a key reason we chose Guardium. Both platforms share the IBM infrastructure, enhancing compatibility and integration. Additionally, Guardium offers a vulnerability analyzer, which is another compelling feature of the platform."
"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."
"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."
"The most valuable feature is the data encryption option for columns and tables."
 

Cons

"I would like to see AI and machine learning added in the future."
"The backup and recovery is very resource-hungry and requires a huge amount of storage capacity."
"I would like to see IBM Guardium have other encryption algorithms employed."
"They could enable the out-of-the-box feature to track application user activity."
"Needs easier integration with custom applications."
"I would like them to support cloud services."
"An area for improvement would be the user interface - currently, it takes around two to three months to become comfortable using it."
"It needs an integration with Optum."
"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

"​If you are researching this type of solution, work with IBM."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is very high price, I rate the solution's pricing a nine out of ten."
"We haven't talked much about pricing and licencing. But it is not cheap for sure"
"It is a very costly product."
"Reasonable cost but could be lower."
"Guardium won mostly because of our scope and scale. It was able to perform at the scale that we wanted to use it. ​"
"It is not an expensive product. We purchase its yearly license."
"I would suggest to review the type of data, need for security, and if the organizational structure needs the options IBM Guardium provides."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
26%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
22%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise45
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: December 2025.
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