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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 (12th), Data Masking (10th)
 

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 28.0%, down 32.8% compared to last year.
Oracle Advanced Security, on the other hand, focuses on Endpoint Encryption, holds 2.8% mindshare, up 1.4% since last year.
Database Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Security Guardium Data Protection28.0%
Imperva Data Security Fabric26.7%
Oracle Audit Vault10.8%
Other34.5%
Database Security
Endpoint Encryption Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Oracle Advanced Security2.8%
Microsoft BitLocker20.1%
ESET Endpoint Encryption9.8%
Other67.3%
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

"Good data encryption and data masking features."
"We appreciate its ease of implementation and the local support available for the product."
"We are able to identify who does what, when, and we are able to go back to them and say, "Is this an authorized activity? Is it not an authorized activity?""
"Efficiency is key and IBM Guardium provides information in a heartbeat, but protects the data with military grade encryption."
"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, which is useful because, even if the database server logs were deleted, the Guardium Collector has already stored such data to enable traceability of access."
"We use Guardium for large and medium-sized clients in the banking sector for things like monitoring, protecting sensitive data, and logins."
"There are different modules but the most valuable ones are firewalling and masking. Additionally, the auditing of the entire database is helpful, which includes all the activity of the database users and administrators. We can monitor everything and log as well."
"In terms of the ease of access and ease of deployment, IBM Guardium was much easier to deploy."
"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 features that are the most used by the customers and partners are, at the moment, for GDPR, so obviously data encryption and data reduction are the most valuable to them."
"The most valuable feature is the data encryption option for columns and tables."
"Overall, it is a good solution and I can recommend it to anybody who wants to encrypt columnar data and protect it against theft."
 

Cons

"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."
"The one thing that I would like to see improved, but I don't think it's going to be in the next release, is its reporting capabilities."
"We are currently facing a challenge because it does not offer data encryption by default, only data masking."
"The documentation could be better."
"We did find some difficulty in deploying IBM Guardium Data Protection here in Pakistan because of the lack of resources."
"Setup can be complex. The documentation is in so many different locations, and a lot of times we have to leverage support and higher level resources to figure out the right steps to take."
"An area for improvement would be the user interface - currently, it takes around two to three months to become comfortable using it."
"The support is not as good as it should be, and when it comes to backup or restoration activity, they can take months to respond."
"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."
"It is really constrained as an environment because you cannot change something that would be useful."
"Having a single command to encrypt a table would be an improvement."
"Encrypting a single column is straightforward, but encrypting at the table level requires more work and takes longer to complete."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution could be better."
"Guardium is most suitable for large scale enterprises because the pricing model is better if you are implementing a large number of databases."
"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."
"I would suggest to review the type of data, need for security, and if the organizational structure needs the options IBM Guardium provides."
"It's an expensive solution"
"The tool is not cheap, but it is not expensive."
"Guardium's pricing is quite high, but it gives good value for money for all sizes of enterprises, especially for partners."
"The price is good for the quality of the solution."
Information not available
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Top Industries

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

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: March 2026.
885,667 professionals have used our research since 2012.