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NetIQ Access Manager vs Symantec Siteminder comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 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

NetIQ Access Manager
Ranking in Web Access Management
3rd
Ranking in Access Management
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Symantec Siteminder
Ranking in Web Access Management
1st
Ranking in Access Management
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Web Access Management category, the mindshare of NetIQ Access Manager is 17.1%, down from 18.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Siteminder is 21.1%, down from 29.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Web Access Management
 

Featured Reviews

Cassio-Silva - PeerSpot reviewer
Multi-Factor Authentication, stable, and extremely scalable
I use NetIQ Access Manager to protect one single application with Multi-Factor Authentication. The solution is deployed on both cloud and on-prem The Multi-Factor Authentication of NetIQ Access Manager has helped protect our organization. The most valuable features of NetIQ Access Manager are…
Siva Chalamarla - PeerSpot reviewer
Good access control and SSO but needs modernization
The access control and the SSO are the two most valuable features. Siteminder allows users to authenticate once and gain access to multiple applications without needing to reauthenticate for each application separately. For example, if you access one application in one tab, you do not need to provide it again if you are trying to access the same application. The portal has different applications built into it. It's similar to Google. If you open Google and try to access the maps in that Google, you do not need to authenticate in maps. You just need to authenticate in the starting phase. Only a particular group of people have access. Our guys will give an error called access denied or unauthorized access. It depends on the application. It is pretty easy to learn.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The single sign-on feature is excellent."
"There are lots of options to customize the solution to your needs."
"It's very easy to integrate with applications."
"The features that we have found most valuable with NetIQ Access Manager are its single sign-on and two factor two second factor database."
"The most valuable features of NetIQ Access Manager are SSO and Multi-Factor Authentication."
"The solution is easy to use for our managers."
"If you look at our organization, and really all financial institutions, we have a lot of legacy apps. So it really helps to get Single Sign-On."
"The Directory is secure. It's our user store, and it's important to keep our members safe. The product does well with that."
"IWA is an out-of-the-box feature. The SAML-based federation is standard for all tools. However, CA Single Sign-On has made the federation configuration way too simple and handy to set up and use."
"Federation is valuable, for sure, because we have a lot of third-party vendors that we need to integrate with, and this is a turnkey solution in some ways."
"It provides the breadth and the width to provide solutions for the different kinds of technologies which we have."
"It is very scalable. We have a very large customer base: 75 million customers."
"The solution has features that allow you to easily distinguish between protected and unprotected resources."
 

Cons

"I would love to see the upgrade procedure handled more effectively. I would prefer to have OVS installation possibilities, although the upgrade procedures should include the OS as well. You should be able to use the whole application as an appliance."
"In terms of what could be improved, I would say the security of the infrastructure and the server and the working networking device."
"Classification of junctions and new versions of applications, such as APIs, can be added to enable the use of more devices that utilize biometrics for Multi-Factor Authentication to improve the solution."
"Having the ability to easily extract and view and compare and version control configurations would be ideal."
"The application portal could be improved with more options and easier customization."
"In future releases, I would like to see maybe more capabilities with some more modern authentication."
"The support could be faster."
"The initial setup was complex, painful. But that is to be expected of any new setup. When you're a big bank like us, any kind of migration to a new product is hard. I expect it to be painful, and it was painful. But it's not something that you can avoid."
"If the reporting feature can be integrated into SSO itself that will be an icing on the cake."
"CA has reporting at the moment. With the reporting, every particular segmented product has a reporting engine. I would like to see centralized reporting for all of them together."
"An area Siteminder could improve on is that there are a few limitations, in terms of new protocols for OpenID. If I want to have different scopes, the features are limited. They also do not have APIs exposed, which is a major drawback. API is a feature I would like to see included in the next release."
"We're currently unable to find information about if the solution can do a full implementation with SQL. Some better and more accessible documentation for new users or those curious about the product would be helpful."
"All the problems that we reported actually have never been resolved. We could not capture enough information for CA to be able to debug the problem."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is average."
"The price is quite comparable to the other enterprise-level solutions in that market."
"The licensing is fair for this solution."
"The solution's pricing is competitive."
"I recommend conducting a PoC on every available product before choose one."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"Symantec Siteminder is expensive; they could definitely do better on the price."
"Siteminder is a little costly. You pay for licensing, and they offer packages, so if you have less users, then you have to buy different products at different prices. If you have more of a user base, then the package is different. They also include other features—for example, if you have a database and you're using Siteminder, then it's good to use a Semantic-specific database, but if you are using less, then you have to purchase the database separately. Whereas if you are going for a bigger license, then it comes within the package. It depends on which plan you are using."
"CA solutions are generally expensive but for the customer the ROI is big."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
35%
Insurance Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about NetIQ Access Manager?
The most valuable features of NetIQ Access Manager are SSO and Multi-Factor Authentication.
What needs improvement with NetIQ Access Manager?
The number of legacy applications and classifications has room for improvement. Classification of junctions and new versions of applications, such as APIs, can be added to enable the use of more de...
What is your primary use case for NetIQ Access Manager?
I use NetIQ Access Manager to protect one single application with Multi-Factor Authentication. The solution is deployed on both cloud and on-prem.
What do you like most about Symantec Siteminder?
It's agent-based. It's convenient to deploy and integrate.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Siteminder?
The maintenance fee has increased, raising concerns about the overall cost to customers.
What needs improvement with Symantec Siteminder?
The maintenance cost has increased significantly, and we are concerned about this. We also need to consider the customization or development required for web authentication when using Active Direct...
 

Also Known As

No data available
SiteMinder, CA SSO, Layer7 SiteMinder
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bancomext, Bouwend Nederland, Camera dei Deputati, CGT, Coopservice Group, Court of Appeals of Georgia, Etnic, European Automotive Manufacturer, FDM Document Dynamics, Hainan Province Information Center, Highland Community College, Huntington Bank, Johnsonville Sausage, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Mazars, Mexico's Tax Administration Service, Owens Community College, Pasco Risk, RDC, School District of Hartford, Senckenberg Nature Research Society, Sheetz, Spanish Public Employment Service, SUNY Orange County Community College, Swisscard, The Municipality of Siena, The University of Westminster, UMB Financial Corporation Invests in Identity Management, University of Dayton, University of Groningen, Vodacom, World Wide Technology
British Telecom, CoreBlox, DBS, HMS, Itera ASA and Simeo
Find out what your peers are saying about NetIQ Access Manager vs. Symantec Siteminder and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.