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Actifio vs IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management (TDM) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 1, 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

Actifio
Ranking in Test Data Management
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Backup and Recovery (45th)
IBM InfoSphere Optim Test D...
Ranking in Test Data Management
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Test Data Management category, the mindshare of Actifio is 3.5%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management (TDM) is 6.6%, down from 7.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Test Data Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management (TDM)6.6%
Actifio3.5%
Other89.9%
Test Data Management
 

Featured Reviews

Jeff Poulton - PeerSpot reviewer
Tech Lead / Informix DBA at a wholesaler/distributor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Has reduced storage requirements for development environments but presents challenges during upgrades and support interactions
The most concerning issue is IBM support. The issue I have with IBM support is that sometimes they don't seem to know their product very well at times. I don't know where the support is coming from, whether it's from IBM or from Google through IBM. I'm not sure who physically does the support. Their knowledge isn't great. Plus, the way we use it is not the focus of Google nowadays. Google, as I understand it, bought the product as an add-on to Google Cloud or whatever as a backup and that's not how we use it. I do see some problems with Actifio, specifically keeping current with operating systems. It can be tricky to upgrade Actifio. It can be a challenge. When we've had to do it, we've had to work with their support people, and some of them are just people reading a sheet of instructions. When those instructions are obviously wrong at times because you can tell if you have half a knowledge of what you're doing, it takes ages for them to go off and find someone to explain what's going wrong. So it can be very laborious.
Ajai Lal - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager at Mphasis
Supports both legacy and non-legacy systems
The solution's initial setup is neither complex nor too easy. Around six or seven people, including database administrators, were involved in the solution's deployment. On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution's initial setup a four to five out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution helps reduce costs."
"This product is the best that there is today, as it has replication and it has built–in BCP/DR."
"The ease of use is most valuable."
"Some of the most valuable features are that you can use the backup for a test environment, with the rapid recovery done using just a few clicks."
"Actifio has the right vision of data management, ease of use, and embrace of the cloud."
"Actifio has actually kind of reshaped the backup methodologies, adding a new dimension to the way that data centers were being backed up in the past and forcing other vendors to change."
"This product has unique capabilities that lead the product category in test data management, cloning and recovery."
"They will assist me in achieving whatever budget issue the client may be having."
"The solution can be used on both legacy and non-legacy systems."
"Data archiving reduces application performance issues and storage."
"Data masking features are the most valuable, as non-production environments are used by diverse parties and data privacy has to be guaranteed."
"Data archiving saved much storage and improved production performance."
"Optim is a great tool for enterprise data movement, data masking, data sub-setting, data comparison, and data aging."
"The product has helped to streamline the Test Data Management (TDM) process."
"Reduces the need to keep expanding data storage Faster query performance with shorter batch execution times Consistent data masking and data integrity in non-production environments Efficient test data management"
"IBM Optim solutions are highly scalable."
 

Cons

"There are quite a few ways the product can be improved, actually."
"There is a lot to improve on and a lot of new features that are needed."
"When we've had to upgrade Actifio, we've had to work with their support people, and some of them are just people reading a sheet of instructions."
"The solution doesn't support AIX software or in the cloud, and we have a lot of servers running on AIX and Oracle."
"The initial setup is complex."
"Lacks the option to price backup costs within the solution itself."
"Actifio is not putting much development into their deduplication technology anymore."
"While the product does support various databases, the company needs to make more of an effort to support N-minus-one compatibility."
"In the past, we have waited months for IBM to resolve the problem."
"Improvisation in the area of the self-service user interface for test data management is required to cater to test data needs."
"I would like to be able to combine different masking functions on the same column map, making more complex masking without the need of writing an Lua procedure."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution's initial setup a four to five out of ten."
"The tool does not support new test data generation."
"Data masking with InfoSphere Optim products creates intermediary extract files and writing the data to persistent storage, which means that extraction, masking, and insertion happen being separate processes, taking more for the process to run."
"The tool needs to have more test data management features like synthetic data generation and data reservation."
"Pricing and licensing is higher compared to other products."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Support is very good. They send out a VM link and help you fix any issues."
"Pricing is on a case by case basis."
"Actifio is cheaper than other tools."
"We purchase TDM's yearly license."
"You have to pay yearly for the license, which comes at a reduced cost. The monthly payment option for a shorter project duration is also good."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Construction Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
13%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Actifio?
The most concerning issue is IBM support. The issue I have with IBM support is that sometimes they don't seem to know their product very well at times. I don't know where the support is coming from...
What is your primary use case for Actifio?
The main use case for me with Actifio is to provide databases to our development teams. We utilize snapshots or images to manage multiple copies of our production database efficiently without using...
What advice do you have for others considering Actifio?
I do not work with the point-in-time recovery feature in Actifio. Our database has that capability. We don't use Actifio as a backup per se. In terms of Actifio's impact on reducing downtime for pr...
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Also Known As

No data available
IBM Optim Test Data Management, Optim Test Data Management, IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

IBM, Waste Industries, Nasdaq, Verizon, Sharp, Rosetta Stone, Dakine, JBS Australia, Texas Wesleyan University, Cintra, People's Choice Credit Union, Lotto NZ, Electric Insurance, Tyler Technologies, Intility, Corporate One Federal Credit Union, Bryant University, pc/nametag, Isagenix, Sungard Availability Services, Databank, Electrocraft, Lifescript, Westfleisch, Interstate National Corporation, RestorePoint, Net3, Access Community Health Network, Newmarket International, Rezolve Group Inc., Piri Reis University, MC Assembly, Grass-Merkur, dbMotion, Christian Broadcasting Network, Bezeq, Abilene Christian University, CNW Group, Softcat, Migliori, City of South Portland, NaviSite, News-Press & Gazette, Comtec, Equity Insurance, Admirals Bank, Assistra, Dassault, Henry Davis York Lawyers, SAI Global, Audax Group, DSM, Triad Retail Media, Euronet Worldwide, Palm Beach County School District, iGate, Emerald Queen Casino
Dignity Health
Find out what your peers are saying about Actifio vs. IBM InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management (TDM) and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,336 professionals have used our research since 2012.