No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

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

"It does not require our involvement to run it. It runs in the background and the people that do the reporting do so. The reports go to the directors who are in charge of the various data areas. It's pretty clean. Clearly there is some setup, but after you get it set up it just goes."
"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."
"It tests security to support SOX compliance."
"It allows us to put in controls to make sure that only the right persons access the proper records in the database."
"It's one of the first to encrypt DB2 databases."
"The most valuable features of this product are activity monitoring on the database servers, discovery capabilities, and vulnerability scanning."
"Easy to set up data activity monitoring solution that provides competent technical support. Scalable, stable, and has good performance."
"Guardium is helping customers to get insights into who is accessing company data, when they are doing it, and from which location."
"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."
"Overall, it is a good solution and I can recommend it to anybody who wants to encrypt columnar data and protect it against theft."
"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

"Initial setup is very complex. Once you start interacting with people's databases, they get very hesitant. Then, the amount of social tasks to socialize the solution ensuring people are comfortable with it became a much heavier lift."
"Could be more user friendly; deployment is a little complex."
"I would like to see AI and machine learning added in the future."
"The analysis part of this product could be improved."
"It will not go as fast as you want."
"My only negative thing on Guardium would be it is too smart."
"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."
"It was difficult implementing it, configuring it, getting it up and running and in production."
"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."
"Encrypting a single column is straightforward, but encrypting at the table level requires more work and takes longer to complete."
"Having a single command to encrypt a table would be an improvement."
"It is really constrained as an environment because you cannot change something that would be useful."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost depends on the number of databases. You can purchase advanced licenses, but the standard license is calculated based on the number of databases you have to onboard."
"The product's pricing is reasonable and affordable. It is in the moderate range."
"I would suggest to review the type of data, need for security, and if the organizational structure needs the options IBM Guardium provides."
"​If you are researching this type of solution, work with IBM."
"Guardium has not saved us time or money."
"The price of the solution could be better."
"It is a very costly product."
"Guardium won mostly because of our scope and scale. It was able to perform at the scale that we wanted to use it. ​"
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Database Security solutions are best for your needs.
885,728 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
23%
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.
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

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.
885,728 professionals have used our research since 2012.