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Active Roles by One Identity vs IBM Tivoli Access Manager [EOL] comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 20, 2026

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

Active Roles by One Identity
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (3rd), Active Directory Management (1st), Non-Human Identity Management (NHIM) (1st)
IBM Tivoli Access Manager [...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
3.8
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Puru Solanki ( ITIL. CISM , CCSP ) - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Head at Citadel Global
Automation has streamlined onboarding and governance and delivers faster, more secure access
Overall, we are very satisfied with Active Roles by One Identity, but there are a few areas that could be improved. The user interface could be more modern and intuitive, especially for new administrators. Some advanced configuration and policy settings have a steep learning curve and could be simplified. We would also like to see more built-in integrations with cloud platforms and SaaS applications, along with additional out-of-the-box reporting templates. These improvements would make the product even easier and more flexible for organizations managing hybrid environments. One thing that would make our daily work even smoother is having more ready-to-use templates for common administrative tasks and reports. This would reduce the need for customization and help teams get up and running more quickly. Additionally, faster and simpler synchronization for hybrid and cloud environments would be beneficial, especially for organizations managing both on-premises and cloud identities. More detailed documentation and guided setup for advanced features would help new administrators learn the platform faster and more easily. One additional improvement I would like to see for Active Roles by One Identity is a better built-in dashboard with more real-time insights into identity and access activities. It would be helpful if upgrades and migrations were simpler and required less planning. Finally, expanding native integrations with more cloud services and third-party applications would make the platform even more versatile and reliable. These enhancements would improve the overall user experience while keeping the product's strong security and automation capabilities.
it_user711612 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Reverse proxy provides central control over authentication and authorization.
It is a single product that caters for all the business needs throughout the organization. It provides a seamless integration that in turn encourages most of the applications to use the SSO features Reverse proxy is the most valuable feature as it provides central control over authentication and…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One Identity Active Roles has positively impacted our organization by improving AD administration efficiency, reducing manual errors, strengthening access governance, and helping to standardize user provisioning and compliance processes across the team."
"One Identity Active Roles takes us less time, probably half the time, to complete delegations that are very granular and complex, compared to having to use native tools and scripts."
"Overall, the return on investment comes from time savings, reduced errors, better resource utilization, and improved compliance, which together justify the investment."
"The return on investment from One Identity Active Roles has been incredibly clear and measurable for us, with the efficiency in user provisioning and offboarding, which used to take almost 24 to 48 hours due to a multi-step process, now down to just 5 minutes, and a nearly 80% drop in ticket escalation queues after safely delegating tasks to the help desk through clean access templates."
"One Identity Active Roles has helped us improve security with smooth processes."
"Since we have implemented One Identity Active Roles, we have seen significant improvements, with faster user management, better control over Active Directory, reduced errors, and improved security."
"Active Roles is a thousand times better than native Microsoft tools."
"The AD and AAD management features of this solution are really good... They offer added value by showing more fields such as password age and the statuses of some things that we normally wouldn't see."
"Tivoli Access Manager (or IBM Security Access Manager) is a fully featured web authentication, sso and authorization product."
"Centralized policy management and reverse proxy-based architecture make it very flexible in terms of deployment, adoption, and implementation."
"Tivoli Access Manger lets you separate security from applications and manage at one place."
"It is one of the best products in the present market in the area of access management."
"Several SSO methods are supported out of box, federation based SSO (SAML / Oauth / OpenID etc) setup is easy, performance and scalability are very good, and the internal STS token service can be used for custom SSO tokens."
"TAM component integration and their SSO capabilities and transparency are the most valuable features I have found."
"Some of the valuable features are: Reverse proxy Protected object space Ease of integration Multiple and robust AuthN and AuthZ mechanisms built-in No single point of failure (SPOF)"
"I like the primary function of this product allowing the administration of user/network accounts with a fair amount of ease."
 

Cons

"One Identity Active Roles does not require many improvements, but for upcoming or new users, there should be an easier initial setup and configuration."
"A few improvements I would like to see in One Identity Active Roles are mainly around usability, reporting, and modern integration."
"Web console – it should have more customization options in terms of look and feel of the landing page."
"One Identity Active Roles could be improved with better cloud-native management and SaaS options, simpler reporting, and easier customization."
"One thing I can add is that One Identity Active Roles could be more simplified for the initial setup and configuration."
"One Identity Active Roles can be improved by simplifying the setup process since a small team in a small business requires implementation without extensive IT support."
"One area where One Identity Active Roles could be improved is troubleshooting and visibility."
"The initial setup of One Identity Active Roles can be more simplified."
"Complex to install and run."
"The license model is pretty complex."
"This product is also available in the appliance offering which has not yet matured and has many issues."
"The product has not been updated with emerging technologies over the years specifically around AJAX, REST and Mobile app integration."
"An Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for the newer appliance versions for hosting the virtual appliances on AWS will help."
"Older TAM versions are not compatible for connecting to a DB."
"There is only a single step-up authentication path, but I have sometimes seen the need for several steps or a divergent path."
"Looking at their roadmap, they have a broad grasp of the security features which the industry needs."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is high. I have not been involved with the renewal or cost aspect, but I know it is not cheap by any means. However, it is very useful for our environment."
"It's expensive."
"It's fairly priced."
"The pricing is on the higher end."
"The price is reasonable. It costs us about 1 million Danish kroner annually, and we also spend about half as much on consultants."
"The pricing for Active Roles is expensive but not as expensive as other solutions like Okta."
"The licensing model is a simple user-based model, not that much complicated."
"The IBM prices are, as ever, extortionate, even with a business partnership, and high levels of discounts."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
28%
Healthcare Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Outsourcing Company
15%
Construction Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business101
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise45
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise18
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for One Identity Active Roles?
Our experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing of Active Roles by One Identity has been very positive. Although Active Roles by One Identity is not the lowest-priced solution, we believ...
What needs improvement with One Identity Active Roles?
Overall, we are very satisfied with Active Roles by One Identity, but there are a few areas that could be improved. The user interface could be more modern and intuitive, especially for new adminis...
What is your primary use case for One Identity Active Roles?
Active Roles by One Identity is our main solution for simplifying and automating user account management in our Active Directory environment. We use it for tasks like user provisioning, deprovision...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Quest Active Roles
Tivoli Access Manager, IBM Security Access Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

City of Frankfurt, Moore Public Schools, George Washington University, Transavia Airlines, Howard County, MD. See all stories at OneIdentity.com/casestudies
Essex Technology Group Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about One Identity, SailPoint, Omada and others in User Provisioning Software. Updated: August 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.