Our primary use for this product is as an application firewall.
Deputy Director/IT Infrastructure & Security at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
Good in terms of stability, but it is expensive and would benefit from better integration with other environments
Pros and Cons
- "This is a stable product."
- "I would like to see integration such that there is support for different kinds of environments, such as on-premises versus cloud."
What is our primary use case?
What needs improvement?
The system reports vulnerabilities in my vulnerability assessment, but I need something to generate warning messages.
I would like to see integration such that there is support for different kinds of environments, such as on-premises versus cloud.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Imperva SecureSphere Database Security for more than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is a stable product.
Buyer's Guide
Imperva SecureSphere Database Security
February 2025
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Learn what your peers think about Imperva SecureSphere Database Security. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We are not concerned with scalability because we do not have the need.
How are customer service and support?
We don't speak directly with the vendor. We only call the managed solution provider.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use another similar product prior to this one.
What about the implementation team?
This is a managed service, so I did not handle the installation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This is an expensive solution and the price should be reduced.
What other advice do I have?
We may or may not continue using this product in the future, and I may recommend it to others, depending on their environment.
I would rate this solution a six out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Data Analyst at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The tool has good database reporting features, but setup and licensing are quite expensive
Pros and Cons
- "Database reporting features are valuable to us."
- "The GUI is bad."
How has it helped my organization?
The solution helps us with monitoring the databases, servers, and activities.
What is most valuable?
Using the product is a good experience. Database reporting features are valuable to us.
What needs improvement?
The GUI is bad. The product must focus on improving its reporting features and the dashboard.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for nine months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the tool’s stability a five or six out of ten. The glitches and errors have recently been quite high because they allow connection to databases without verifying or discovering the database. We have to keep in mind that we must monitor all the time.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is pretty good. I rate it a seven out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The setup can be a little complicated.
What was our ROI?
For the pricing that the solution provides, the return on investment is good for large companies. It's quite expensive for small to medium businesses.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Overheads like physical databases and servers can be a little bit expensive. The setup and license are quite expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I would not recommend the product to small and medium businesses. Overall, I rate the tool a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Imperva SecureSphere Database Security
February 2025
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Learn what your peers think about Imperva SecureSphere Database Security. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Chairman & CEO at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
A stable solution with cyber intelligence feature for preventing threats to the database
Pros and Cons
- "The cyber intelligence feature is the most valuable."
- "It is very expensive. Its price can be better."
What is our primary use case?
We use it to prevent threats to the database. It is like a firewall in front of the database servers.
What is most valuable?
The cyber intelligence feature is the most valuable.
What needs improvement?
It is very expensive. Its price can be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is easy to scale technically, but it is so expensive.
We have about five administrators who use this solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
Their technical support is very good. In a few situations, they took too long to respond. I would rate them a nine out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy. It took us four weeks to deploy it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is very expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I would advise others to use a professional service to certify for the latest implementations. I would rate Imperva SecureSphere Database Security a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Cloud Solutions Architect at Snapnet Limited
A stable product that provides good security through data masking
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the Data Masking."
- "The firewall features are not very strong and should be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We do not use this solution directly. Rather, we procure it for our customers and assist with the implementation.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the Data Masking. Most of our customers inquire about it, so it is very important to us.
What needs improvement?
There is room for improvement in the firewall capabilities when it comes to additional features such as Traffic Shaping, Connection Pooling and Load Balancing. Barracuda and F5 are leading in this aspects.
For how long have I used the solution?
Less than one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Once the installation is complete there are complaints here and there. Afterward, however, it is stable. Our support continues from this point, so over time, we will have a better understanding of this.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
One of our customers currently has five hundred users.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is ok, and we have had good assistance from them.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not straightforward for a single person or IT administrator. However, when many IT administrators get together then they can resolve all of the issues.
What about the implementation team?
We have consultants that assist our IT administrator with the deployment.
The length of time for deployment varies, but the last one took us approximately three months.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Many of our customers compare this solution to Oracle Audit Vault, although we are confident that Imperva satisfies all of their requirements.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to anybody who is implementing this solution is to get the right people on board, and with that, there shouldn't be any problem.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
CTO- Consulting Services at 2bsecure
Provides valuable security when it is properly implemented and maintained
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of this solution is the database security policy."
- "Technical support for this solution needs improvement."
What is our primary use case?
My team and I deploy this solution for customers. In Israel, I'm the team leader of the whole Application Security Division.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of this solution is the database security policy.
What needs improvement?
Technical support for this solution needs improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
Eight to ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of this solution depends on the version of the operating system, itself. Often, when a new version of the OS comes out, it is not stable by nature. Once the new patch comes out then it is fixed.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is dependent on the deployment surface. If you plan for scalability then you will have it. If you are going to a single, or one box solution, then you don't have scalability.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support for this solution is insufficient. If you have a professional then you can handle it, but if you are a regular customer then it is difficult.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have different solutions in our portfolio, including IBM Guardium and McAfee Sentrigo.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of this solution is complex. However, I understand the complexity.
The length of the time it takes for deployment depends on the customer and their environment. It can take up to three months.
What about the implementation team?
We have a team that handles the implementation and deployment of this solution for our customers. I am the team leader.
What other advice do I have?
My advice for anybody implementing this solution is to know what you are doing before deploying. You need to learn the security concept of this product. You need to know what you want to protect, and then learn how to protect it. You cannot just deploy this solution and leave it like that. You need to know how to maintain this product.
Things are being constantly improved in this solution, but there is no such thing as perfect.
I would rate this solution eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
Officer- Informations Systems Security Audit at a government with 501-1,000 employees
It provides you with audit logs for changes to the database.
What is most valuable?
- Database activity monitoring
- Web application firewall
How has it helped my organization?
This product has limited attacks to the core tax collection application. It also provides audit logs for changes to the database and gives user account details.
What needs improvement?
None so far.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used it for over two years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
I was not around during the implementation, but reports do not show any issues noted.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
None so far.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
None so far. Our solution has not had bottlenecks so far
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
Customer service has always been available.
Technical Support:Technical support is rated highly.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Only a firewall was in place before. WAF was needed for web application specific protection as firewalls are not the best solution.
How was the initial setup?
No issues noted in the implementation reports.
What about the implementation team?
A third party vendor was used to implement the product and to get the IT security staff trained.
What was our ROI?
We have had a high ROI with this product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Budget for licenses in synch with your financial years, and it's best to have licenses covering over a year so that planning for procurement of new licenses is done earlier. Of course, if you operate in AWS cloud, its much easier to justify as you can pay for three or more years at once.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I am not privy to procurement details, but we use Gartner as a source. Imperva is the sole leader in its field.
What other advice do I have?
Implement this product across all systems running applications as access to one unprotected system can be elevated to a protected one. Also, have reports produced frequently using the tools available in the system and analyze them to know and investigate the sources of attacks the WAF has blocked. That's because they could be internal indicating a compromise or a malicious user within. Ensure that your SharePoint environment is also protected as though it may be internal, attacks can be directed at it.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Business Development Manager at gwc networks
A comprehensive monitoring and auditing solution
Pros and Cons
- "It has a very user-friendly interface that's very detailed."
- "Overall, it's a very good product but they could do with some modifications log-wise."
What is most valuable?
It has a very user-friendly interface that's very detailed.
What needs improvement?
Overall, it's a very good product but they could do with some modifications log-wise — it should be more comprehensive. Otherwise, 95% of the product is very good.
The interface could be more user-friendly.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for roughly two to three years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Imperva SecureSphere Database Security is both completely scalable and stable.
How are customer service and technical support?
I don't have much experience with technical support, but when I have spoken with them, they have been helpful.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was very straightforward; not complex at all.
Deployment time varies, but in terms of implementation, it's a very good product. There is no hectic environment during the implementation. It is a very straightforward implementation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price is very high but compared to the price of the overall solution, then I think it's a good deal because the solution itself is great.
What other advice do I have?
I would highly recommend this solution. It's a very expensive solution, but if you have the budget for it, I would definitely recommend Imperva Database Security.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give Imperva Database Security a rating of nine.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Database Administrator II at a pharma/biotech company with 501-1,000 employees
It's a pretty decent product but the learning mode feature should be improved.
What is most valuable?
The alerts on threats and system statuses.
How has it helped my organization?
I can drill down/troubleshoot errors much quicker.
What needs improvement?
Design/ease of the learning mode feature.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used the product for about a year.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
No, the engineer did a very smooth job at deployment.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No I have not.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No I have not.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
8/10.
Technical Support:I haven’t had an issue in the year I have used the product.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I did, and I switched because of the poor level of customer service and the solution wasn’t meeting my expectations.
How was the initial setup?
The setup was pretty straightforward as right away, I was very familiar with the architecture.
What about the implementation team?
Their rep did the initial setup and I shadowed him.
What was our ROI?
If I calculated the man hours trying to figure out the alerts I would say a few thousand hours a month have been saved
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I did evaluate about four other similar products –
- Gardium
- Application Security
- Sentrigo
- Veracode
What other advice do I have?
It's a decent product.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: February 2025
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