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IBM InfoSphere Optim vs SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 2025

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

IBM InfoSphere Optim
Ranking in Database Development and Management
14th
Average Rating
6.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds Database Perform...
Ranking in Database Development and Management
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Database Development and Management category, the mindshare of IBM InfoSphere Optim is 2.3%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is 3.2%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Development and Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer3.2%
IBM InfoSphere Optim2.3%
Other94.5%
Database Development and Management
 

Featured Reviews

Kenneth Estanislao - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Designer at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Backups become efficient while cost concerns remain
I am still working with IBM and we are transitioning to other tools rather than using IBM InfoSphere Optim. We use other tools, but I cannot recall the name because I am not the one currently handling it. It has transitioned to other architects. For IBM InfoSphere Optim, we are still currently using it, but we have transitioned to the newer version, the latest one with support for AWS S3. I cannot identify a main competitor for IBM InfoSphere Optim because we have transitioned to other architects, and they are the ones looking for other tools. The last comparison I did was almost 4 years ago. I am not using any AI technology with IBM InfoSphere Optim. I rate IBM InfoSphere Optim a seven out of ten. The tool is good, but the price is not favorable as it is the most expensive part. I can recommend IBM InfoSphere Optim for enterprises.
SufiyanAminu - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Operation Center Engineer at Central Bank of Nigeria
Comprehensive monitoring has delivered accurate insights and supports reliable banking operations
In terms of technical support, there was a time we experienced issues, but that has been resolved. We encountered a downtime and attempted to contact technical support, which was quite challenging, but that has improved after we reported the issue and everything is now fine. Therefore, we do not have any issues with technical support currently. Regarding the AI functionality and observability, we tried to understand how the AI functionality works, and I believe there is a gap in our understanding. I do not know if a session can be organized for our team to gain more insight into the AI module or functionality. For now, the only two aspects that caused me some difficulties are support and AI. Aside from that, everything works flawlessly.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I feel the solution to be a bit faster than the traditional methods, which makes it easy to customize."
"We like that we can easily restore the database with just a few clicks. The database is linked as well."
"The compression feature is valuable because it achieves around 80% compression."
"We are receiving significant value from them, especially the NetFlow Site Analyzer and NetFlow Analyzer, which analyze inflow and network traffic."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is anomaly detection. It alerts you when things outside the norm are happening, and the feature that analyzes your indexes informs you if you have wide or overlapping indexes. It also helps identify SQL query bottlenecks, letting you know if something is taking longer than usual, if a query plan has changed, and if you need to update statistics. In terms of usage, it is straightforward to use, learn and understand. The patching process is smooth and explains each feature, including links to external resources for further reading."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer's most valuable features include the notification of consuming the SQL queries, collecting data, and notifying about managing space and tables."
"The platform solves and prevents delays in receiving answers from databases."
"We find that the price to value ratio is very good, and it is much less expensive than other products we were considering."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer has positively impacted my organization by monitoring my critical systems serving millions of customers with a couple of hundred licenses of SQL SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer can help us identify issues we cannot see manually."
"What I like most about SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is that it's a powerful solution that lets me advise customers about performance, and it also gives a lot of supporting information."
 

Cons

"We're looking for a solution that can be implemented on AWS. IBM InfoSphere Optim can be implemented on AWS, but it costs more than double what we're currently paying. So, it's not really of good value for us."
"While masking PII information in huge tables [more than 500 million record count with more than five PII columns present] the Extract-Convert-Load [ECL] process becomes extremely slow and can take a huge amount of time."
"While the solution is very supportive of Db2, it is not so friendly when it comes to IMS databases."
"The potential room for improvement for IBM InfoSphere Optim is usually its cost, as it is too expensive."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer should include more details on how everything works."
"The areas where it currently lags are in reporting and dashboarding. The reports and dashboards are somewhat static, and we cannot create custom dashboards for specific customer needs."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer should be easy to implement and it should have more facilities to make it better."
"I do not think that SolarWinds support is very good because it just takes too long to solve the problem."
"Technical support for this solution needs to be improved."
"The solution should add little details on the server so that an independent team could easily do the implementation."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer should provide customization options allowing users to add different columns."
"I would rate their technical support a little lower than expected, so there is room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM InfoSphere Optim is a very expensive solution. Actually, it's the most expensive archiving solution that we have."
"Customers need to pay for the subscription-based license annually."
"There are no extra costs for maintenance or using the solution's support."
"It could be less expensive."
"SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is a little bit expensive."
"The pricing is fairly reasonable, and it becomes more cost-effective with larger volumes of instances."
"I don't remember the exact licensing cost for SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer, but it's within the range of $2,000 to $3,000 a year."
"The pricing of the solution is average."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Construction Company
9%
Insurance Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
10%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM InfoSphere Optim?
The potential room for improvement for IBM InfoSphere Optim is usually its cost, as it is too expensive. Currently, there are no issues with IBM InfoSphere Optim; the only problem is the cost, whic...
What is your primary use case for IBM InfoSphere Optim?
My current use case for IBM InfoSphere Optim is just for doing backups. We are using IBM InfoSphere Optim specifically for backup purposes.
What advice do you have for others considering IBM InfoSphere Optim?
I am still working with IBM and we are transitioning to other tools rather than using IBM InfoSphere Optim. We use other tools, but I cannot recall the name because I am not the one currently handl...
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer?
In terms of technical support, there was a time we experienced issues, but that has been resolved. We encountered a downtime and attempted to contact technical support, which was quite challenging,...
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer?
SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer's WPM and SAM modules are what I personally prefer. I am satisfied with the overall performance and how the dashboards are arranged. We are currently using ...
What advice do you have for others considering SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer?
For database performance, we have the module, but I would say we are not really consuming it because we are currently using PostgreSQL. We are exploring this module, but we have not yet started con...
 

Also Known As

IBM Optim, Optim
Confio, SolarWinds DPA, Ignite8
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Durham Police Department, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., Continental, KCE Electronics Public Company Limited, The University of Adelaide, Migros Zurich, COPROB
GSI Commerce, Liquid Digital Media, ProLogis, Indiana University
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM InfoSphere Optim vs. SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.