Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

IBM Security Verify Access vs Microsoft Active Directory comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

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 Verify Access
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
14th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (24th), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (19th), Access Management (12th)
Microsoft Active Directory
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Active Directory Management (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of IBM Security Verify Access is 2.3%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 2.8%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
 

Featured Reviews

Jared Ochieng - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers multiple authentication methods like tokens and one-time passwords
The authentication process with IBM Security Verify Access is good and is considered one of the best identity and access management solutions. It helps with multi-factor authentication. It offers multiple authentication methods like tokens and one-time passwords, enhancing security. It also includes features like password vaults and single sign-on, streamlining the access process for remote and local users across different solutions. The tool provides a password vault, single sign-on, and multifactor authentication. It offers various authentication methods like fingerprint integration, one-time passwords, or tokens sent via email or SMS. This ensures secure access to your accounts by providing multiple authentication options. The policy control feature allows you to set authentication measures and policies for your organization's identity governance. This feature helps create standardized policies and organize them into groups based on departments or specific needs. It simplifies access management for both administrators and users. IBM Security Verify Access can be integrated with almost any solution using APIs. The time required for integration depends on whether the solution is out of the box or custom. Out-of-the-box solutions can be integrated quickly, typically within a few days or hours, while custom solutions may require additional steps and take longer to integrate.
Srikanth Subramanian - PeerSpot reviewer
Centralized access control and identity management simplify user management
Even better group management would be beneficial. Creating and searching through groups can be challenging, especially if I need to export data. Exporting and verifying group memberships require command line scripts, which isn't simple. The current Active Directory UI is limited in report generation, necessitating script knowledge to generate various reports.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool provides a password vault, single sign-on, and multifactor authentication. It offers various authentication methods like fingerprint integration, one-time passwords, or tokens sent via email or SMS. This ensures secure access to your accounts by providing multiple authentication options."
"It's a good solution for identification and access management."
"Its stability and UI are most valuable."
"From the integration point of view, it supports SAML, OIDC, and OAuth. For legacy applications that don't have support for SAML and other new protocols, it provides single sign-on access to end-users. From the integration compatibility point of view, it is highly capable."
"The solution has powerful authentification and authorization. It offers a good way to increase security."
"The most valuable feature of IBM Security Access Manager, at least for my company, is multi-factor authentication. That's the only feature my company is using. The solution works well and has no glitches. IBM Security Access Manager is a very good solution, so my company is still using it."
"I have found this solution to be really practical and when a user wants to log in, it is effortless and runs smooth."
"The ability for a single sign-on for applications."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Active Directory is the ability to search for computers and users. While I do not have administrative privileges to reset passwords, I can view user information such as department, and communicate with someone who can make the changes."
"I advise consideration of this solution. The overall product rating is ten out of ten."
"One valuable feature is the centralized creation of IDs."
"I find the product makes it easier to enhance various tools with Microsoft Active Directory."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Active Directory are the management of user and group policies."
"The product is very stable and flexible. You can also integrate the solution with other products like mail solutions."
"I can use Active Directory to block a user's internet access and monitor how an employee is using the internet."
 

Cons

"Configuration could be simplified for the end-user."
"The user interface needs to be simplified, it's complex and not user-friendly."
"The user interface for users and administrators could be improved to make it easier. Automating some functions could also be beneficial."
"There are a lot of areas that can be improved, but the main area is the lack of customization. You cannot easily customize anything in the product. It is not easy to tweak the functionality. It is challenging to change the out-of-the-box functionality."
"What we'd like improved in IBM Security Access Manager is its onboarding process as it's complex, particularly when onboarding new applications. We need to be very, very careful during the onboarding. We have no issues with IBM Security Access Manager because the solution works fine, apart from the onboarding process and IBM's involvement in onboarding issues. If we need support related to the onboarding, we've noticed a pattern where support isn't available, or they don't have much experience, or we're not getting a response from them. We're facing the same issue with IBM Guardium. As we're just focusing on the multi-factor authentication feature of IBM Security Access Manager and we didn't explore any other features, we don't have additional features to suggest for the next release of the solution, but we're in discussion about exploring ID management and access management features, but those are just possibilities because right now, we're focused on exploring our domain."
"The solution could be classified as a hilt system. There are a lot of resources being used and it is suitable for very large enterprises or the public sector."
"They can improve the single sign-on configuration for OIDC and OAuth. That is not very mature in this product, and they can improve it in this particular area. OIDC is a third-party integration that we do with the cloud platforms, and OAuth is an authorization mechanism for allowing a user having an account with Google or any other provider to access an application. Organizations these days are looking for just-in-time provisioning use cases, but IBM Security Access Manager is not very mature for such use cases. There are only a few applications that can be integrated, and this is where this product is lagging. However, in terms of configuration and single sign-on mechanisms, it is a great product."
"Active Directory's user experience is a little dated. Group policy management should be more customizable."
"I would like to see improvements in the solution’s security filtering feature. It can include machines and filter some users. There is no option to exclude a particular user or system."
"The solution's price could be better."
"The technical support team does not give prompt responses."
"If you are using the Active Directory, the main concern is that the policy is restricted to the specific local area network."
"There are no reporting features."
"Sometimes support takes long to engage and resolve, extending over weeks or even months."
"Microsoft Active Directory could improve by having better integration with other solutions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license and costs depend on the amount range of users you have. For just approximately 2,000 users, the price is practical and fair. However, when you have 20,000 users, it starts to become really expensive, and the discount per user is not attractive enough to go ahead and purchase."
"The product is not expensive. It depends on the number of users."
"It costs about 300K AED for a year. Its pricing is a bit on the higher end, but in comparison to other products in the market, its price is still better. There are lots of other products that are very costly."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten."
"Microsoft Active Directory is not an expensive solution."
"Active Directory is an expensive solution, primarily due to Microsoft's licensing model. This licensing approach includes paying for server licenses as well as for each computer that connects to it. However, when working with the Azure cloud, there is no cost for the server. This is profitable and one of the main reasons why Azure Cloud and other cloud-based solutions are being used more."
"I'm unsure about the cost of the solution, as I was never involved in that aspect. However, I don't think it would be expensive. It might be average, around four or five out of ten."
"The product's premium support services are expensive."
"The solution is based on a licensing model."
"The pricing is not very expensive. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."
"Its price is reasonable."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Single Sign-On (SSO) solutions are best for your needs.
842,388 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
23%
Insurance Company
17%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Security Access Manager?
The tool provides a password vault, single sign-on, and multifactor authentication. It offers various authentication methods like fingerprint integration, one-time passwords, or tokens sent via ema...
What needs improvement with IBM Security Access Manager?
The user interface for users and administrators could be improved to make it easier. Automating some functions could also be beneficial.
What do you like most about Microsoft Active Directory?
The solution is easy to install and has good reliability.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Active Directory?
Technology is evolving. AI is offering solutions. However, short-term fixes are like band-aids.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Active Directory?
I utilize it in almost every scenario. I use the Hazer database and meet daily needs across every industry, every time.
 

Also Known As

IBM Security Verify Access (SVA), IBM Security Access Manager, ISAM
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

POST Luxembourg
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security Verify Access vs. Microsoft Active Directory and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,388 professionals have used our research since 2012.