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IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.2
IBM Security Guardium's value is acknowledged for security enhancements, despite challenges in quantifying ROI, aiding compliance and auditing.
Sentiment score
7.1
Informatica's cloud platform enhances data management efficiency, cost savings, and data security, requiring effective change management for optimal results.
The investment return was good because IBM Security Guardium Data Protection provided significant security and compliance benefits.
Chief Executive Officer at Kipustec
Leadership prefers to utilize third-party tools, such as Snowflake, which has both storage and ELT features.
Sr. Consultant cum Assistant Manager & Offshore Lead at Deloitte
The stability and performance remain issues.
consultant at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Compared to Collibra Catalog, where the value is noticeable within six months.
Data and Analytics Manager at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
IBM Security Guardium support is generally good, with some variability in response times and effectiveness, scoring 7-9/10.
Sentiment score
6.9
Informatica's customer service is generally rated positively for quick, knowledgeable support, though some report occasional delays and inconsistencies.
The response time is excellent.
Jefe De Continuidad Operacional at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
I did not receive support from IBM.
Chief Executive Officer at Kipustec
Due to the tool's maturity limitations, solutions are not always simple and often require workarounds.
Consulting Principal & Founder at Digital Data Consultancy
Even after going out of service support, they still reached back to me whenever I raised tickets.
IT Manager - Data Quality and Migration at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
We expect more responsive assistance because they have the expertise since Informatica is their tool, but I don't see enough expertise on the Informatica support side.
Sr. Consultant cum Assistant Manager & Offshore Lead at Deloitte
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
IBM Security Guardium is scalable and effective, though some users faced challenges with policy maintenance and large setups.
Sentiment score
7.3
Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud is praised for scalability and flexibility in handling large datasets, despite pricing concerns.
I have used the product over multiple systems and was able to write reports for large data sets without any performance issues.
IT Manager - Data Quality and Migration at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
As a SaaS platform, IDMC is quite scalable and provides complete flexibility.
Consulting Principal & Founder at Digital Data Consultancy
There are many options available, and the licensing model is quite good, supporting our needs effectively.
Data Integration Architect at Endeavour Foundation
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is stable, with occasional resolved issues, requiring resources for deployment and update challenges.
Sentiment score
7.7
Users generally find IDMC stable, with occasional challenges after updates, especially in older versions or specific integrations.
Stability is crucial because IDMC holds business-critical data, and it needs to be available all the time for business users.
Consulting Principal & Founder at Digital Data Consultancy
There are substantial stability issues with Informatica Cloud Data Quality on the cloud.
consultant at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees
I find the stability to be good, with occasional restarts required every two to three months due to glitches.
IT Manager - Data Quality and Migration at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

IBM Security Guardium needs better GUI, reporting, integration, support, data protection, deployment, database support, and performance enhancements.
Informatica IDMC needs UI improvements, better connectivity, streamlined configuration, cheaper pricing, and enhanced support with AI integration.
Improving the tool learning process would be beneficial.
Chief Executive Officer at Kipustec
Currently, it doesn't use encryption for IBM i, because it's impossible.
Jefe De Continuidad Operacional at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
The tool needs to mature in terms of category-specific attributes or dynamic attributes.
Consulting Principal & Founder at Digital Data Consultancy
The current solution requires code-writing and tweaking, while other solutions offer material-level matches.
IT Manager - Data Quality and Migration at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
If the development interface could be optimized to have fewer modules, it would be greatly beneficial.
Data Integration Architect at Endeavour Foundation
 

Setup Cost

IBM Security Guardium is valued for robust data protection but has mixed reviews on pricing compared to competitors like Imperva.
Informatica IDMC provides a robust but expensive pricing model with complex licensing and potential negotiation discounts for enterprises.
Guardium is an expensive tool because it is targeted towards corporate enterprises.
Chief Executive Officer at Kipustec
It ranges from a quarter million to a couple of million a year.
Consulting Principal & Founder at Digital Data Consultancy
Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services is affordable for my specific use cases, with the pricing being rated three or four on a scale where one is very cheap.
Data Integration Architect at Endeavour Foundation
Regarding pricing, compared to other tools I have worked with, Informatica offers competitive pricing, which I find not high in terms of starting strategy.
Sr. Consultant cum Assistant Manager & Offshore Lead at Deloitte
 

Valuable Features

IBM Security Guardium offers real-time monitoring, encryption, and compliance support, excelling in database protection across multiple platforms.
Informatica IDMC offers seamless data integration, AI-enhanced features, and efficient governance, enhancing user experience and operational efficiency.
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.
Jefe De Continuidad Operacional at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
The most valuable features, in my opinion, included the alerts and protections for specific tables and fields.
Chief Executive Officer at Kipustec
The platform's ability to pull in data from other platforms without the need for an additional integration tool enhances its appeal.
Consulting Principal & Founder at Digital Data Consultancy
The connectors serve as the main functionality, making data integration processes more efficient by saving time and effort.
Data Integration Architect at Endeavour Foundation
We could run data quality rules as part of Service Bus, which ensured the integrity of customer information before it was entered into our database.
Data and Analytics Manager at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Security Guardium Data ...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
79
Ranking in other categories
Database Security (1st)
Informatica Intelligent Dat...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
214
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (2nd), Data Quality (1st), Business Process Management (BPM) (7th), Business-to-Business Middleware (3rd), API Management (6th), Cloud Data Integration (3rd), Data Governance (3rd), Test Data Management (3rd), Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) (1st), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (2nd), Data Masking (1st), Metadata Management (1st), Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (3rd), Test Data Management Services (3rd), Product Information Management (PIM) (1st), Data Observability (1st), AI Data Analysis (1st)
 

Featured Reviews

DP
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.
Divya-Raj - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Consultant cum Assistant Manager & Offshore Lead at Deloitte
Handles large data volumes effectively and offers competitive pricing
There is a lot of improvement required, as we still face some cache issues most of the time, which is a challenge that we expect to see resolved in the future. Additionally, there is some limitation when we are working with a tool, especially regarding In and Out parameters, and I feel that this aspect should be improved going ahead. We face issues with the API side, as Cloud Application Integration cannot handle large volumes; according to the API page, there is a limitation of 500 records or 500 MB. The AI integrated into the Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services solution is called Application Integration, where we still face challenges when dealing with huge volumes, as previously explained.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
26%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Insurance Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Retailer
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise45
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business51
Midsize Enterprise27
Large Enterprise153
 

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.
How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica Cloud Data Integration?
Azure Data Factory is a solid product offering many transformation functions; It has pre-load and post-load transformations, allowing users to apply transformations either in code by using Power Q...
Which Informatica product would you choose - PowerCenter or Cloud Data Integration?
Complex transformations can easily be achieved using PowerCenter, which has all the features and tools to establish a real data governance strategy. Additionally, PowerCenter is able to manage huge...
What are the biggest benefits of using Informatica Cloud Data Integration?
When it comes to cloud data integration, this solution can provide you with multiple benefits, including: Overhead reduction by integrating data on any cloud in various ways Effective integration ...
 

Also Known As

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium
ActiveVOS, Active Endpoints, Address Verification, Persistent Data Masking
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
The Travel Company, Carbonite
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Web Services (AWS), Informatica, Salesforce and others in Cloud Data Integration. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.