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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 investment return was good because IBM Security Guardium Data Protection provided significant security and compliance benefits."
"The most valuable features are the reporting and data-level access control."
"Our internal audit is keeping an eye out, and making sure that we're in compliance. Having the Guardium solution and its reporting helps us get through that process a lot more quickly and efficiently."
"The vulnerability assessment is a valuable feature."
"Easy to set up data activity monitoring solution that provides competent technical support. Scalable, stable, and has good performance."
"The most valuable feature is the visualization of data and the ability to monitor our databases."
"The platform provides data protection from internal and external threats."
"It is very easy to obtain reports and manage the reporting interface."
"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

"The documentation could be better."
"Guardium's storage capabilities could use some improvement. I'd also like to have some better integration using digital technology or a connector."
"We deal with updates manually on Sundays and sometimes face bugs with the newer versions."
"It would be helpful, and convenient to improve the Chat support."
"Can't be used for a NoSQL database, which is limiting."
"Sometimes the performance is not good, and also sometimes we have sudden bugs causing difficulties."
"Needs nore cloud support."
"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."
"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

"For IBM Guardium, licensing is very simple and straightforward. There are no issues I can speak of."
"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 tool is not cheap, but it is not expensive."
"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."
"We haven't talked much about pricing and licencing. But it is not cheap for sure"
"My company purchased IBM Guardium Data Protection in a package, so I'm unable to give its exact licensing cost, but for the package of three IBM solutions, it wasn't very expensive. I'd rate the pricing for all three solutions three out of five. When my team deployed IBM Guardium Data Protection, all features were included."
"Guardium has not saved us time or money."
"IBM solutions have fair price strategy, and operates on a yearly basis. If it's a SaaS solution, then you can opt for yearly basis."
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%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
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: January 2026.
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