We acquired Guardium to encrypt certain databases to meet a customer requirement.
It has been performing to spec.
We use Guardium to support security initiatives and compliance policies within our organization. The encryption meets a requirement. It was a requirement of a customer. I don't think it is a compliance requirement, but it did come through as a request from a prospective client, so we implemented it.
I don't know if this solution has helped us to comply with Industry regulations like SOX, UCI or GDPR. We have not integrated it with other systems we use. I would not say it has saved us time or money.
I understand that it's one of the first to encrypt DB2 databases.
I'm not able to answer whether we're using any of the advanced features.
This would be a question for one of the technical folks, probably not for me.
One to three years.
It was difficult implementing it, configuring it, getting it up and running and in production. However, since then, I believe it has stabilized.
We haven't really tested the scalability with it as yet, we're really only encrypting a very small percentage of our data.
Technical support is interesting because, when we implemented Guardium, it was a partnership of IBM with the company that, I think, Guardium either partnered with or acquired since then. So, even though support was funneled through IBM, it was actually performed by the third-party software company, and it was difficult and challenging at times. There was a layer of interpretation between IBM and Rocket Software, and sometimes that was helpful and other times not so much.
In terms of advice, I would say allow the technology to mature a little more. I think we were one of the first, if not the first, to implement Guardium. And, like I said before, it was kind of painful, but let the maturation process run it's course. I'd say learn from other people's mistakes or, not so much mistakes, just experiences. Benefit from other peoples' pain, bumps, and bruises.
I rate it seven out of 10 only because it's a unique, niche offering that is not, that I know of, offered elsewhere in the marketplace. It fills a need, which is good. I don't know how prevalent the need is in the marketplace but it's nice to have an offering there that, when needed, you can implement something.