Fortra's Vera vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection comparison

Fortra and IBM are both solutions in the Database Security category. Fortra is ranked #7 with an average rating of 9.0, while IBM is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4. Fortra holds a 1.7% mindshare in DS, compared to IBM’s 26.4% 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

279 Views
145 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Security Guardium Data ...

Read 79 IBM Security Guardium Data Protection reviews

4,973 Views
4,128 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: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Database Security

January 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 881,082 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

7th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud and Data Center Security (13th)

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 January 2026, in the Database Security category, the mindshare of Fortra's Vera is 1.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is 26.4%, 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	26.4%
Fortra's Vera	1.7%
Other	71.9%

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

David Plazer

Chief Executive Officer at Kipustec

Ensures data security and compliance with reliable alerts and protections

The manuals should be clearer. There needs to be an online course or tutorial for faster management training. The maintenance was slightly complicated. I had to read the manuals carefully and even failed the Guardium certification exam due to insufficient information or time. Improving the tool learning process would be beneficial.

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."

"What I like about IBM Guardium Data Protection is that some of its features were deployed by collectors during the installation phase. The solution has collector and aggregator features, license installation, and even server patches that you won't find in other security providers. I like the collector-aggregator capabilities of IBM Guardium Data Protection where you install each component on separate servers, then on the aggregator, you collect all the logs on a central server or central console."

"The investment return was good because IBM Security Guardium Data Protection provided significant security and compliance benefits."

"Guardium does a great job of capturing data and having the ability of trying to pull it out and make sense of it. Using it for business applications is its biggest capability."

"The ability to collect the data without database administers being able to modify it."

"We have integrated IBM Guardium with IBM Watson Curator. They access Curator to identify and correlate other actions the user is doing to determine if this is a legitimate action or not."

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

"It is very easy to obtain reports and manage the reporting interface."

"Ease of deployment is a valuable feature."

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."

"We've had some issues recently that we're working through, on the agent software that runs on the databases."

"Many clients inquire if the solution includes a database firewall, which it doesn’t."

"We are currently facing a challenge because it does not offer data encryption by default, only data masking."

"Using the data in native Guardium is difficult, at best."

"Needs nore cloud support."

"It would be helpful, and convenient to improve the Chat support."

"Right now, we're in the development phase for IBM Guardium Data Protection, so I don't have any recommendations about additional features and room for improvement in the solution. We're very excited to work on IBM Guardium Data Protection because we are new to the solution, and we're still exploring product features. We're very excited about integrations and use case creation, and it's only after six to eight months that I'll be able to share my recommendations in terms of additional features the solution should have. We did find some difficulty in deploying IBM Guardium Data Protection here in Pakistan because of the lack of resources."

"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."

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"Guardium has not saved us time or money."

"The product's pricing is reasonable and affordable. It is in the moderate range."

"IBM Guardium Data Protection charges you based on the number of users, e.g. based on the number of licenses, and it's either on a per-license or a per-data basis."

"For IBM Guardium, licensing is very simple and straightforward. There are no issues I can speak of."

"It is a very costly product."

"Its cost is good. With the new metric of licensing, such as PDO not being available now, customers are expecting a good price for the solution."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is very high price, I rate the solution's pricing a nine out of ten."

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

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

881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

26%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Insurance 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

SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security vs Fortra's Vera

Compared 51% of the time

More Fortra's Vera Competitors

Imperva Data Security Fabric vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 55% of the time

Oracle Audit Vault vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 15% of the time

DataSunrise Database Security vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 4% of the time

IBM InfoSphere Optim Data Privacy vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 3% of the time

Vormetric Application Crypto Suite vs IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

Compared 1% of the time

More IBM Security Guardium Data Protection Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Database Security

January 2026

Download Fortra's Vera product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection

January 2026

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 offers automatic discovery and classification of sensitive data, real-time monitoring, and advanced analytics to identify unusual activities around data.

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is designed to safeguard sensitive data across enterprises with real-time activity monitoring and comprehensive security features. Its capabilities include data discovery, classification, and compliance automation with pre-built templates for regulations like PCI, SOX, HIPAA, and CCPA. Supporting a variety of platforms, it facilitates seamless monitoring, making it a valuable asset for diverse environments in maintaining data security and compliance.

What are the key features?

Real-Time Monitoring: Provides alerts for unauthorized activities.
Data Masking: Protects data through masking techniques.
Access Control: Ensures only authorized users gain access.
Query Rewriting: Alters queries to maintain data integrity.
Platform Support: Monitors across multiple environments.

Why consider this for ROI?

Ease of Deployment: Simplifies the setup process for enterprises.
Robust Reporting: Enhances transparency through detailed audit trails.
Compliance Automation: Streamlines compliance with regulatory requirements.
Risk Management: Identifies and mitigates potential risks efficiently.

Industries like banking and finance utilize IBM Security Guardium Data Protection to enhance database security and compliance efforts. Enterprises employ it to detect incidents and manage vulnerabilities, focusing on protecting customer data and maintaining privacy standards. The technology aids in incident detection and supports adherence to security regulations.

IBM

Sample Customers

Box

Information Not Available

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM, Imperva, Oracle and others in Database Security. Updated: January 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

881,082 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.