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IBM Security QRadar pros and cons

Vendor: IBM

4.0 out of 5

207 reviews
90% willing to recommend

6,939 followers

Pros & Cons summary

IBM Security QRadar excels in integration, making it ideal for third-party tools and security solutions. The platform scales for small and large enterprises. Key features include User Behavior Analytics for monitoring, automation for real-time threat detection, and strong data analysis. However, technical support needs improvement, detection faces false positives, log integration is complex, pricing is high, and better third-party tool integration is needed.

Buyer's Guide

Get pricing advice, tips, use cases and valuable features from real users of this product.

Prominent pros & cons

PROS

IBM Security QRadar offers powerful scalability, effectively operating with a minimal team across large, global infrastructure.

User Behavior Analytics and extensive integration capabilities are standout features for monitoring and analyzing user activity comprehensively.

Security enhancements through advanced threat detection, real-time visibility, and vulnerability management boost organizational performance and provide comprehensive protection.

Valued for its integration capabilities, QRadar seamlessly works with various IBM solutions and other tools, enhancing the cybersecurity ecosystem.

IBM's comprehensive support and dynamic functionality position QRadar as a highly reliable tool in maintaining high-security standards.

CONS

Technical support is frequently criticized for being slow and inefficient, with a lack of access to higher-level assistance.

There is a need for improved integration with third-party applications and better compatibility with existing systems.

IBM QRadar requires better storage and processing capacity to handle large volumes of data efficiently.

The AI and threat detection capabilities need upgrades to reduce false positives and improve detection accuracy.

The pricing model is seen as high, and more cost-effective options are desired.

IBM Security QRadar Pros review quotes

reviewer1827399

Executive Vice President at a computer software company with 11-50 employees

Jul 29, 2024

The most valuable feature of the solution is its ability to rectify a situation involving any anomalies expeditiously.

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ST

Cyber Security Services Operations Manager at a aerospace/defense firm with 501-1,000 employees

Aug 6, 2021

The most valuable thing about QRadar is that you have a single window into your network, SIEM, network flows, and risk management of your assets. If you use Splunk, for instance, then you still need a full packet capture solution, whereas the full packet capture solution is integrated within QRadar. Its application ecosystem makes it very powerful in terms of doing analysis.

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AS

Co-owner and CEO at Data Security Solutions

Jan 14, 2021

We have worked with other solutions, such as LogRhythm and Splunk. Compared to others, IBM QRadar has the best price-performance ratio so that you are able to reserve minimum costs. It starts settling in fast and gets the first results very quickly. It is also very scalable.

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IBM Security QRadar

Free Report: IBM Security QRadar Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about IBM Security QRadar. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.

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MM

Muhammad Misbah

RETAIL BANKING AND AML/KYC MANAGER at National Bank of Pakistan

Aug 1, 2024

Regarding the tool's ability to maintain high-security standards, I rate it ten out of ten.

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reviewer1598412

Management Executive at a security firm with 11-50 employees

Sep 7, 2021

What we like about QRadar and the models that IBM has, is it can go from a small-to-medium enterprise to a larger organization, and it gives you the same value.

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Security Analyst at Localiza

Nov 20, 2020

The rule engine is very easy to use — very flexible.

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reviewer1609413

Senior IT Technical Support at a training & coaching company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Jun 24, 2021

Customer service is very good and very helpful.

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reviewer1409433

Cyber Security Specialist at UST Global

May 12, 2022

There are other third-party plugins that we can use.

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Senior Manager Information Security at Conduent (formerly Xerox Services)

Dec 1, 2020

It is a pretty solid product for the type that it is representing. It is a CM solution as compared to Splunk or ArcSight from HP. It is also user friendly. It comes with some internal AI as well, in which it automatically maps multiple lots from unrelated devices and makes a smart decision to link them back and create an offense based on that. It is a smart tool.

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Cybersecurity Practice Lead at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

Apr 3, 2019

One of the most valuable features is its ability to integrate with other solutions. IBM has a lot of solutions and we have managed to make it work with IBM BigFix and MaaS360, and even Microsoft.

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Show 10 more reviews (out of 167)

IBM Security QRadar Cons review quotes

reviewer1827399

Executive Vice President at a computer software company with 11-50 employees

Jul 29, 2024

Communication between the silos sometimes becomes an issue, making it an area where improvements are required.

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ST

Cyber Security Services Operations Manager at a aerospace/defense firm with 501-1,000 employees

Aug 6, 2021

I'd like them to improve the offense. When QRadar detects something, it creates what it calls offenses. So, it has a rudimentary ticketing system inside of it. This is the same interface that was there when I started using it 12 years ago. It just has not been improved. They do allow integration with IBM Resilient, but IBM Resilient is grotesquely expensive. The most effective integration that IBM offers today is with IBM Resilient, which is an instant response platform. It is a very good platform, but it is very expensive. They really should do something with the offense handling because it is very difficult to scale, and it has limitations. The maximum number of offenses that it can carry is 16K. After 16K, you have to flush your offenses out. So, it is all or nothing. You lose all your offenses up until that point in time, and you don't have any history within the offense list of older events. If you're dealing with multiple customers, this becomes problematic. That's why you need to use another product to do the actual ticketing. If you wanted the ticket existence, you would normally interface with ServiceNow, SolarWinds, or some other product like that.

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AS

Co-owner and CEO at Data Security Solutions

Jan 14, 2021

There are a lot of things they are working on and a lot of technologies that are not yet there. They should probably work out a better reserve with their ecosystem of business partners and create wider and more in-depth qualities, third-party tools, and add-ons. These things really give immediate business value. For instance, there are many limitations in using SAP, EBS, or Micro-Dynamics. A lot of things that are happening in those platforms could also be monitored and allowed from the cybersecurity risks perspective. IBM might be leaving this gap or empty space for business partners. Some larger organizations might already be doing this. It would be very nice if IBM can make some artificial intelligence part free of charge for all current QRadar users. This would be a big advantage as compared to other competitors. There are companies that are going in different directions. Of course, you can't do everything inside QRadar. In general, it might be very good for all players to provide more use cases, especially regarding data protection and leakage prevention. There are some who are already doing some kind of file integrity or gathering some more information from all possible technologies for building anything related to the user and data analysis, content analysis, and management regarding the data protection.

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IBM Security QRadar

Free Report: IBM Security QRadar Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about IBM Security QRadar. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.

844,944 professionals have used our research since 2012.

MM

Muhammad Misbah

RETAIL BANKING AND AML/KYC MANAGER at National Bank of Pakistan

Aug 1, 2024

The solution does not support the integration of flat file databases.

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reviewer1598412

Management Executive at a security firm with 11-50 employees

Sep 7, 2021

The only challenge with products like IBM is the EPS. You just have to be really on the events per second, as that's where the cost factor becomes a huge issue.

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Security Analyst at Localiza

Nov 20, 2020

The user interface is a bit clunky, a bit hard to find what you need.

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reviewer1609413

Senior IT Technical Support at a training & coaching company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Jun 24, 2021

The custom rules could be simplified more or it should be possible to use a different language, other than the ones that the solution is already using. They should add other languages into the mix.

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reviewer1409433

Cyber Security Specialist at UST Global

May 12, 2022

The AQL queries could be better.

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Senior Manager Information Security at Conduent (formerly Xerox Services)

Dec 1, 2020

A lot of information that we receive for the devices is IP-based, but it would help if we could have a default dashboard in which we can add more details about the assets for which we are receiving the information. For example, if it is a Windows or Linux device, we only get the IP for that particular device. We don't really get the name and other details of that particular device. For that, you have to drill down into your own asset management system. It would be good to have a place where we can probably add this information so that we don't have to look into other tools.

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Cybersecurity Practice Lead at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

Apr 3, 2019

In terms of additional features, a mobile app would be nice. Also, the reporting is definitely okay, but you have to make sure that everybody with different roles can understand it. There is room for improvement in the reporting.

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Show 10 more reviews (out of 166)

Product Categories

Product Categories

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA)

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR)

Managed Detection and Response (MDR)

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

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Product Categories

Product Categories

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA)

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR)

Managed Detection and Response (MDR)

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

Popular Comparisons

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CrowdStrike Falcon vs IBM Security QRadar

Wazuh vs IBM Security QRadar

Microsoft Sentinel vs IBM Security QRadar

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