Fortra's Vera vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection comparison

Fortra and IBM are both solutions in the Database Security category. Fortra is ranked #8 with an average rating of 9.0, while IBM is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7. Fortra holds a 1.1% mindshare in DS, compared to IBM’s 29.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Fortra users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Fortra's Vera

Read 1 Fortra's Vera review

191 Views
134 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Security Guardium Data ...

Read 79 IBM Security Guardium Data Protection reviews

4,782 Views
3,969 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Fortra's Vera

IBM Security Guardium Data ...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Fortra's Vera and IBM Security Guardium Data Protection based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM, Imperva, Oracle and others in Database Security.

To learn more, read our detailed Database Security Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Database Security

August 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 868,759 peers since 2012

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

Fortra's Vera

Ranking in Database Security

8th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud and Data Center Security (16th)

IBM Security Guardium Data ...

Ranking in Database Security

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Database Security category, the mindshare of Fortra's Vera is 1.1%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is 29.3%, down from 33.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database Security Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM Security Guardium Data Protection	29.3%
Fortra's Vera	1.1%
Other	69.6%

Database Security

Featured Reviews

Brando Diego

System Engineer/Consultant at Notable Frontier Sdn Bhd

Has good encryption features

Vera encryption is the most valuable feature. Additional improvement can be done as the issues are encountered. I have been using Fortra's Vera for two years. The stability is a nine out of ten. The scalability is a nine. The clients are small enterprises. The initial setup is an eight…

Read full review

Ahmer Faisel Khan

Director | CTO at COMMTEL

Offers mature agents, compliance reporting and reliable database security

The solution should allow the data to shift to a centralized repository with elastic servers and big data infrastructure. If a customer searches for old logs for retention purposes, there are limitations on appliances once they are set with specific hardware, so they can only be changed by uninstalling or reinstalling the hardware. The solution's aggregator feature allows data aggregation, but for instance, if a customer wants a project ready in two years, having an Elasticsearch in DB or the capacity to store huge amounts of data would be beneficial in data investigation or evaluation at an affordable cost. Some AI features should be added to IBM Security Guardium Data Protection. For example, the AI features implemented in the solution can be anomaly detection or suspicious activity identification.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Vera encryption is the most valuable feature."

"The most valuable feature is using the capture operation mode “S-TAP/K-TAP agent”, because all activities in the database are captured, including direct access to the database server by privileged users. This is useful because, even if the database server logs were deleted, the Guardium Collector has already stored such data to enable traceability of access."

"Easy to set up data activity monitoring solution that provides competent technical support. Scalable, stable, and has good performance."

"The maturity of the agent is the most valuable feature of the solution"

"Guardium lets you centrally manage aggregators and collectors."

"I like the reporting mechanism. It's very good."

"The front-end works very well."

"The possible number of databases and database servers which can be monitored by Guardium is high. For me, this is a differentiator of IBM."

"Database logging and audit functions are the most valuable features."

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection pros

Cons

"The additional improvement can be done as the issues are encountered."

"Additional improvement can be done as the issues are encountered."

"Initially it did not have support external applications like, say, Tableau, ServiceNow, Remedy, and the like. They have started growing into it, but I would like to have more and more integration with outside applications."

"The analysis part of this product could be improved. It's a very comprehensive product, so the features it has complement customer requirements. But I would like to see more emphasis on analytics, and it would be great if they added machine learning. They already have analysis insights, but a comprehensive analytical feature that's already incorporated into the solution would be very helpful."

"An improvement would be to make the pricing relative in terms of regions."

"The solution could be improved for NoSQL databases."

"Setup can be complex. The documentation is in so many different locations, and a lot of times we have to leverage support and higher level resources to figure out the right steps to take."

"I'd like to see a smoother GUI interface for the CAS agent - CAS does configurations on the database - to interface better with the vulnerability assessments."

"IBM Guardium Data Protection is a mature product. There is a lot of encryption that is not owned by IBM and is done by a third party and is not an integral part of the solution."

"We deal with updates manually on Sundays and sometimes face bugs with the newer versions."

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"Reasonable cost but could be lower."

"Guardium has not saved us time or money."

"The price is good for the quality of the solution."

"IBM solutions have fair price strategy, and operates on a yearly basis. If it's a SaaS solution, then you can opt for yearly basis."

"It's an expensive solution"

"We haven't talked much about pricing and licencing. But it is not cheap for sure"

"If you are researching this type of solution, work with IBM."

"My company purchased IBM Guardium Data Protection in a package, so I'm unable to give its exact licensing cost, but for the package of three IBM solutions, it wasn't very expensive. I'd rate the pricing for all three solutions three out of five. When my team deployed IBM Guardium Data Protection, all features were included."

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Database Security solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

27%

Computer Software Company

Insurance Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	28
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	45

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortra's Vera?

Vera encryption is the most valuable feature.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortra's Vera?

Additional improvement can be done as the issues are encountered.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Fortra's Vera?

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

See all answers

How does IBM Guardium Data Protection compare with Imperva SecureSphere Database Security?

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is a solution for database security from IBM that gives complete visibility, control, and analysis to secure sensitive data and comply with regulations. IBM S...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Guardium Data Protection?

I don't remember the exact prices, but Guardium is an expensive tool because it is targeted towards corporate enterprises.

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Security Guardium Data Protection?

The features I like are the robust policies, which allow us to create customized monitoring based on specific activities.

See all answers

Comparisons

No data available

Imperva Data Security Fabric vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 52% of the time

Oracle Audit Vault vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 19% of the time

DataSunrise Database Security vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 5% of the time

IBM InfoSphere Optim Data Privacy vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 3% of the time

Trustwave DbProtect vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 3% of the time

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Database Security

August 2025

Download Fortra's Vera product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

September 2025

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection report

Download IBM Security Guardium Data Protection product report

Also Known As

No data available

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium

Overview

The Vera platform enables businesses of all sizes to protect any kind of data, and then track, audit and manage the policies securing files in real-time, no matter how far they travel.

Fortra

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection automatically discovers and classifies sensitive data from across the enterprise, providing real-time data activity monitoring and advanced user behavior analytics to help discover unusual activity around sensitive data.

Deploy the solution to help discover regulated data in your data stores and use pre-built templates for regulations such as PCI, SOX, HIPAA, CCPA and many more, to streamline and automate compliance workflows.

IBM

Sample Customers

Box

Information Not Available

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM, Imperva, Oracle and others in Database Security. Updated: August 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our list of best Database Security vendors.

We monitor all Database Security reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.