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IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs Protegrity’s Data Protection Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

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 ...
Ranking in Database Security
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Protegrity’s Data Protectio...
Ranking in Database Security
8th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Data Governance (18th), Data Masking (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Database Security category, the mindshare of IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is 31.5%, up from 30.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Protegrity’s Data Protection Platform is 1.0%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Security
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmer Faisel Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers mature agents, compliance reporting and reliable database security
The solution should allow the data to shift to a centralized repository with elastic servers and big data infrastructure. If a customer searches for old logs for retention purposes, there are limitations on appliances once they are set with specific hardware, so they can only be changed by uninstalling or reinstalling the hardware. The solution's aggregator feature allows data aggregation, but for instance, if a customer wants a project ready in two years, having an Elasticsearch in DB or the capacity to store huge amounts of data would be beneficial in data investigation or evaluation at an affordable cost. Some AI features should be added to IBM Security Guardium Data Protection. For example, the AI features implemented in the solution can be anomaly detection or suspicious activity identification.
Vinoth Raj Prabhakaran - PeerSpot reviewer
Beneficial data security, good support, and straightforward initial setup
The initial setup of Protegrity Data Security was straightforward. However, we had a few problems, it's not multi-tenanted. It does not have a hierarchy of roles and differential priorities. To have the initial sandbox version of Protegrity Data Security up and running, took approximately one week. However, it needed to be set up in a resilient way because if it fails, then it is going to be a challenge bringing back the lost information. We have to be particular in terms of architecting it correctly which is taking us a bit of time. We are anticipating anywhere between four to six weeks to be finished.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution supports a lot of databases."
"The solution has definitely saved us time, because if you want to monitor this kind of vast environment of different products, it's going to take a lot of time. Let's say one database server has 100 database instances running on it; I don't need to install 100 data instances, I just need to install on the one database server and that will cover all of my instances on that particular database."
"The most valuable features have been how easy it is to deploy and use, as well as the comprehensive monitoring options. These are a few things that customers like most about this product."
"Being an IBM product it really offers security integration capabilities and robust features. Over the years, it has satisfactory met the requirements of our customers which makes it a very reliable and versatile solution."
"It can help with PCI compliance. It includes features like data masking, especially during queries, which supports compliance efforts."
"The reporting side is also very, very good, especially its flexibility which allows you to tailor the reports to whatever information you want."
"Provides a unified key management system to help simplify encryption key management."
"The vulnerability assessment is a valuable feature."
"The solution’s pricing is moderate."
"Its technical support team is helpful."
"The product is stable."
"The most valuable feature of Protegrity Data Security is the reduction of information being exposed."
 

Cons

"Using the data in native Guardium is difficult, at best."
"Needs nore cloud support."
"Guardium's storage capabilities could use some improvement. I'd also like to have some better integration using digital technology or a connector."
"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. I think that's been offloaded to another third-party product that I think IBM actually endorses for that."
"They could enable the out-of-the-box feature to track application user activity."
"​Overall testing and quality need improvement. It is fairly buggy at times, so it feels like it could use additional staff on the product, testing and trying it out."
"If IBM Guardium Data Protection could find a way to not have a lot of coding and development required to get the solution up and running it would be an advantage. The information of the agent could improve, which is necessary for us to monitor the databases would be a great benefit."
"The solution should allow the data to shift to a centralized repository with elastic servers and big data infrastructure"
"The solution's UI could be better."
"Protegrity Data Security could improve by having more integration."
"Protegrity is using a different OS which has some bugs. Sometimes it's causing an initialization error."
 

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 price is good for the quality of the solution."
"It is not an expensive product. We purchase its yearly license."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"The tool is not cheap, but it is not expensive."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"We pay for a few additional services apart from its licenses."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
30%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
36%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
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?
The pricing is good, and I have no problem with it. Although there is no flexibility to compete with other products, it generally costs between one hundred and three hundred thousand per year depen...
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.
What needs improvement with Protegrity Data Security?
Protegrity is using a different OS, which has some bugs. Sometimes, it's causing an initialization error.
What is your primary use case for Protegrity Data Security?
We use the solution to encrypt sensitive data like PII data. Any unauthorized person cannot find the exact sensitive value in case of data issues. We are using that tool to protect sensitive data.
 

Also Known As

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium
Protegrity Data Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
A $4 billion retail conglomerate and holding company
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs. Protegrity’s Data Protection Platform and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,296 professionals have used our research since 2012.