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IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs IDERA SQL Secure comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Security Guardium Data ...
Ranking in Database Security
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IDERA SQL Secure
Ranking in Database Security
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Database Security category, the mindshare of IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is 26.4%, down from 32.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IDERA SQL Secure is 2.5%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Security Guardium Data Protection26.4%
IDERA SQL Secure2.5%
Other71.1%
Database Security
 

Featured Reviews

Marylennis Franco - PeerSpot reviewer
Jefe De Continuidad Operacional at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
Has improved data visibility and streamlined compliance reporting across multiple database platforms
The best feature is how many databases we can protect with one solution because it has compatibility with different databases, including Oracle, SQL, and DB2. The data activity monitoring feature is very good because we can check the PDS and have the information for that. We can schedule the reporting and receive it by email, which provides very important information for different areas of the company. We don't need to have a seat and a case or access to the portal, we just receive the report. The user-friendly interface is very good.
it_user530130 - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Enginner at a tech company with 51-200 employees
It provides printable reports and security configuration advice.
We were about to receive a group level audit when we deployed Idera SQL Secure. In a previous audit, we had received some bad ratings and advice on security for our SQL Server instances. Idera SQL Secure comes bundled with the best practices rules, advice and polices from Microsoft and other standards organizations. It is able to take snapshots of the current state of the servers for which it was configured to monitor, match that state against these best practice rules, and present you with a report. With that report, you can take action on what is right or wrong. With this tool at hand, we were able to fix all of our issues, but there were a few which didn't apply to our specific case. Furthermore, our Information Security Officer and internal auditing department are now able to monitor better and have a clear picture on the security state of our SQL Server instances at any point in time.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In terms of the ease of access and ease of deployment, IBM Guardium was much easier to deploy."
"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."
"Every time an inquiry comes in, instead of it taking tens of hours, now it's taking minutes."
"The product has proven to be flexible"
"Our primary use case for IBM Guardium Data Protection is audit logging, and we monitor transactions and access particular tables in the database with it."
"It's one of the first to encrypt DB2 databases."
"We are using IBM Guardium Data Protection for activity monitoring, blocking users, entitlement for knowing the privilege for users, and Guardium data features."
"I like IBM Guardium Data Protection because of its good performance, the resources aren't used up to the detriment of the application, it's robust, and we don't really have any serious downtime on it."
"Shut up and pay."
 

Cons

"There was a slight performance tax on the system and load balancing could be better."
"I would like to see AI and machine learning added in the future."
"Real-time masking is a bit simple and doesn't allow you to create complex masking rules."
"More predictive, using Watson AI would be good."
"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."
"Personally, I would not recommend this product."
"The price of this solution is quite high for smaller organizations, so they should release a version that is affordable for small and medium-sized businesses."
"Performance and the ability to use resources could be improved."
"Usability and installation procedure could be made easier."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We haven't talked much about pricing and licencing. But it is not cheap for sure"
"Guardium won mostly because of our scope and scale. It was able to perform at the scale that we wanted to use it. ​"
"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."
"I would suggest to review the type of data, need for security, and if the organizational structure needs the options IBM Guardium provides."
"It's an expensive solution"
"One of the deployments that I know of had three databases, and the yearly fees are approximately $50,000 USD."
"​If you are researching this type of solution, work with IBM."
"The biggest challenge is the cost associated with the product, and the cost of maintaining. Everything is not translated directly to the benefits we see. There are benefits, yes, but if I were writing the check, would I buy Guardium? No."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
23%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Insurance Company
5%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise44
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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.
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.
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Also Known As

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium
SQL Secure
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Charles Schwab; Old National Bank; Sharp; Premera; HomeServer USA; Target Australia Pyt Ltd.; Skygen USA; South African National Blood Service
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM, Imperva, Oracle and others in Database Security. Updated: May 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.