The most valuable feature is that it allows a user the ability use the same credentials for different secured parts of a website. From a user-experience perspective, that's important because you don't want to have to remember or write down several sets of credentials. When a user comes into our website, they just want to go about their business, not spend half and hour trying to figure out how to log in.
Security Engineer at a aerospace/defense firm with 10,001+ employees
Allows a user the ability to use the same credentials for different secured parts of a website.
What is most valuable?
How has it helped my organization?
SSO has been able to bring together many different pieces for authentications -- directories, databases, networks, etc. It's able to, for example, authenticate against ten different directories to give people just one set of credentials.
What needs improvement?
It seems that when there's a new version, patch, or service pack, we find bugs. There have been times where we've had to revert versions because of bugs. It has gotten better, however, and we used to have a lot more issues. There is still a lot of room for improvement in this area.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
We've had no issues with deployment.
Buyer's Guide
Symantec Siteminder
March 2025

Learn what your peers think about Symantec Siteminder. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
842,651 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability issues we've experienced have some with new versions, patches, and service packs.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have it built way above what we need. We have more servers than we need so that we're not impacted if one goes down. We've built in redundancies as well so that there's no single point of failure. We have a highly available system.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support has gotten a lot better. We have a pretty complex environment and we used to have to explain it every time we opened a support ticket. Now the support engineers know our environment.
I'm actually impressed with technical support now because we have many different pieces to our SSO environment with lots of custom modules. They have their resources and can get back to us with answers.
How was the initial setup?
It was initially complex because we had many directories. Upgrades, however, are simple. But there's no way to downgrade. You have to uninstall and reinstall the previous version.
What other advice do I have?
My advice would be to set up several environments, including a sandbox where you can test upgrades and products without impacting users. Then have a dev environment for some users to test.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

VP Web Authentication Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Securely logging in to our company's intranet does not require a password. It is too much of a beast for small to mid-sized companies.
What is most valuable?
It provides single sign on for our company’s intranet. With that, when you log in, you don't need to enter your name and a password. It provides simple, secure access to company's intranet sites.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It was not stable when I got there. The more recent versions have been stable.
How is customer service and technical support?
They have some strong performers, and then there are some other guys that we get and find that we need to ask for the case to be reassigned. My staff is pretty highly experienced, so they really need to work with the stronger support staff.
What other advice do I have?
If someone came to me for advice, I would ask them specific questions about exactly what they need to secure on the internet, and how much of it they need because I think that one drawback to this product is that it's too big. It's too much of a beast. A lot of times, small to mid-sized companies really just need smaller bits and pieces that are available from other vendors, rather than tackling this whole beast. One thing that other vendors might do better is doing more with less with less cumbersome installation.
The most important criteria when choosing a vendor is the product's stability, so we consider overall impressions of the product’s standing in the market. Does it have good reputation for being stable? Is their company, overall, stable? We also look for ease of use of the product.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Symantec Siteminder
March 2025

Learn what your peers think about Symantec Siteminder. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
842,651 professionals have used our research since 2012.
IT Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
It makes it easier to find all the policies we have in place and run. It’s tough to keep up with all the releases and bugs that get fixed.
Valuable Features
For us, it’s the best-of-breed pick on the market today. More importantly it’s the least complex enterprise solution that we can manage. It integrates well with multiple applications in multiple environments. That’s a big deal for us.
Improvements to My Organization
It makes it easier to find all the policies we have in place and run. Less work for me!
Room for Improvement
One big problem we have is keeping track of the various patches and bug-fix releases. They come out for different platforms (Windows, Linux, etc.) and it’s complex. It’s tough to keep up with all the releases and bugs that get fixed.
Deployment Issues
It’s complex compared with similar products out there.
Stability Issues
It’s stable and mature, but we’ve had challenges as we grow. We see glitches here and there, and a little bit of latency in performance.
Scalability Issues
We have challenges, performance issues for which we’re unable to find the root cause as we scale. But we’re working with CA on this.
Customer Service and Technical Support
It’s excellent. We’re able to get enough attention for fixes. Sometimes the cycles are long, but it’s still good considering what we need.
Initial Setup
The initial setup was not straightforward. It definitely has its learning curve.
Other Advice
It loses points because of the performance issues when we scale, which has to do with the complexity of our environment. If it’s out-of-the-box, maybe others don’t have this issue, but we do because we’re large.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Security Engineer II at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
We can differentiate between good logins with a genuine user and unauthorized ones.
Valuable Features
It provides us with authentications, authorizations, and basically providing the client with better secure services.
We can differentiate between the good logins with a genuine user and unauthorized ones.
It’s easy, versatile, and functionality-wise, it’s very user-friendly as well.
Improvements to My Organization
With SSO, we’ve been able to better serve our clients, and wherever these authentications are required we can effectively manage the authentications. The bottom line is that if the clients are happy with the SSO solutions we’re providing, we’re doing a great job and the product has been helpful.
Room for Improvement
I would say advanced authentication, but they have another product for that. SSO could be merged with automatic authentication, so if I want to use those services I could depending on our requirements, rather than having two different products installed.
Stability Issues
Like every other product there are things that need improvement, but it has been pretty stable. From a job perspective, it does what it is designated to do. Sometimes there are issues with non-sequential navigation, but when there’s an issue we get a fix for it. There are no issues with the core functions.
Scalability Issues
We are applying the solution to a lot of the platforms we are planning for, and we’re pretty confident and positive that it will be the best solution for us.
Customer Service and Technical Support
It’s good. Sometimes you have to wait for the right resources to come up and follow the escalation chain, but they’ve always been very responsible. I would like to get answers right away in most of the cases, not being sent offshore to have some analysis done. But I’ve seen that improvement in the past year – the customer service has improved.
Initial Setup
It was already in production when I joined.
Other Advice
We installed one version and there is a bug in it; from a customer perspective I would want that particular issue to be fixed rather than getting an answer that the bug will be fixed in the next version.
It doesn’t mean we’re not trying to address it from our side, but with clients on it, it does take time and we’ve got to keep in mind all of the consequences. If they could have those exact solutions for a particular issue that would be great.
You should understand their requirements before they select a solution. Then you need to verify that you have the correct infrastructure, resources, and that your applications are compatible with the SiteMinder solution.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Technology Director at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
We have 40 million users who login everyday, so it is very scalable
Pros and Cons
- "It has the ability to authenticate and authorize users. It is the main feature for our security."
- "It is very scalable. We have a very large customer base: 75 million customers."
- "The main thing is we do not have the traceability and good monitoring that CA can provide us to capture problems when they occur."
- "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."
What is our primary use case?
Primary case is to authenticate users and use banking online. It is performing well.
How has it helped my organization?
It has definitely made things easier. We do not have to do that development. It is an out-of-the-box product which does the thing it does best.
What is most valuable?
It has the ability to authenticate and authorize users. It is the main feature for our security.
What needs improvement?
Better monitoring. A better way to debug a problem. When there is a problem with it, it should log enough information for CA to know what is the problem, like a better debugging tool.
It needs better debugging and support.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have had some issues with it, but in general, it is good.
CA was there to help. There is some issues in general.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is very scalable. We have a very large customer base: 75 million customers. We have about 40 million log in a day. So, the scalability is very good.
How is customer service and technical support?
We are not very happy with the support, I am sorry to say.
The reason is mostly because we stayed on an older version and we are behind catching up on a newer version. It has become harder for CA to give us good support.
The main thing is we do not have the traceability and good monitoring that CA can provide us to capture problems when they occur. That is the biggest thing.
It has been an issue. 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. This problem does not happen often. But, when it happens, we do not know why, because we are not able to capture the data. I think that is the biggest drawback. The support and its combination between ability for them to support us on all the older versions and different infrastructure to what CA recommends us to do. We are trying to upgrade and all that. Maybe these things will help.
Technical support is always available and very responsive. I have a direct line to the engineers. They allow me to talk to them directly. They really are trying to help the best they can. It does not work out well. In terms of interaction, no problems there.
How was the initial setup?
When I started two years, it was already setup. Now, I am reengineering it. I am doing a different setup to eliminate any customization for CA to support us better. The process is straightforward.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution. I would recommend the newer version without any customization. That is where we have had a problem because we did our own customization of this product.
Most important criteria when selecting a vendor: It is the supportability right. J.P. Morgan costs more, but we want stability, resiliency, and we want the product to work. However, it has to be scalable and supportable. That is the main thing for any product which we pick.
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Project Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Easy to use, reliable, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to use for our managers."
- "The technical support could be better."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for applications and portals for a bank in Colombia.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has saved our company from a lot of problems.
What is most valuable?
The solution is easy to use for our managers.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We did not have any issues with the stability of this solution. We have approximately 5,000 clients using the solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution has been scalable.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support could be better.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing is fair for this solution.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Symantec Siteminder an eight 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.
Senior Technical Lead at Exelon
You log in once and you can access all of the applications that have been integrated with it.
What is most valuable?
The security and single sign-on (SSO) features are the most valuable.
How has it helped my organization?
It's one login. You log in once and you can access all of the applications that have been integrated into SSO. That's the main advantage that we have seen in the organization.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see more usability; more customer usability.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability is good. The security by CA is good. It's a great company. In England, CA is very good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is also good.
How is customer service and technical support?
We always use technical support when using these solutions. It's okay, with response time, for example. If you have any issues, you open a ticket to support and there are some very good support technicians. I know most of them. However, I do know quite a few of them that are not that knowledgeable. That's where the frustration comes in, when you really need an answer. When the ticket is assigned to that tech, you cannot be switched and start over. That's the only thing I faced. Other than that, if it goes to the right tech that knows the product, boom!
How was the initial setup?
With the initial setup, there was some complexity and some straightforward things.
What other advice do I have?
Cost is the most important criteria when selecting a vendor.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Architect & Technical Director at a tech consulting company with 11-50 employees
Used for single sign-on (SSO) authentication and facilitates third-party integrations
Pros and Cons
- "Symantec Siteminder has simplified user access for our customers from user login to their web applications."
- "The support team could work on their response time and overall competence."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is used for single sign-on (SSO) authentication.
What is most valuable?
Symantec Siteminder has simplified user access for our customers from user login to their web applications.
What needs improvement?
The support team could work on their response time and overall competence.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Symantec Siteminder for ten years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would recommend the solution to both smaller and larger companies.
I rate the solution’s scalability a nine out of ten.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution's pricing is competitive.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend the solution to other users. The solution is easy to use, and our company helps customers implement the product. The solution's centralized policy management provides a simple GUI for the users or administrators to use. We have the right skill set to do third-party integrations very easily.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
Last updated: Aug 31, 2024
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Updated: March 2025
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