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IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs Oracle Database Vault comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 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 Security Guardium Data ...
Ranking in Database Security
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
79
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Oracle Database Vault
Ranking in Database Security
5th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
4.4
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Database Security category, the mindshare of IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is 26.4%, down from 33.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Database Vault is 3.7%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Security Guardium Data Protection26.4%
Oracle Database Vault3.7%
Other69.9%
Database Security
 

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.
Johny Baby - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Architect at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Role-based security has protected structured workloads but integration still needs improvement
I need to check certain aspects at this point as I do not have comments on price or those options at this moment. Support and service level agreements depend more on your agreement with Oracle and your TAT in terms of the agreement type, which has a certain SLA based on that. The overall review rating for this product is seven out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of the solution for the customers is the monitoring and full log of the database activity of privileged users."
"I like the reporting mechanism. It's very good."
"We are using it to do a lot of data discovery from a data classification for structured data."
"Guardium is easily integrated with other IBM solutions, a significant advantage and a key reason we chose Guardium. Both platforms share the IBM infrastructure, enhancing compatibility and integration. Additionally, Guardium offers a vulnerability analyzer, which is another compelling feature of the platform."
"I think it scales pretty well. It can run on most of the database platforms currently out there. That is something we really like as a feature, because we try to hit everything in our environment to make sure we're meeting those regulations."
"Guardium lets you centrally manage aggregators and collectors."
"IBM Guardium Data Protection has better integration options than most of the leading competitors on the market, and the price is always better."
"It has automated a bunch of manual tasks, giving us insights into activities that we would not otherwise be able to capture."
"The product is easy to use and provides good performance."
"It encrypts data traveling across the network."
"I haven’t seen any other database perform as well as Oracle."
"The product is fairly easy to implement."
"Oracle Database Vault has been valuable for database security in maritime companies and ports."
"Oracle Database is one of the most reliable structured databases, making it highly trustworthy."
 

Cons

"It would be helpful, and convenient to improve the Chat support."
"Right now we're having some issues where it's using a high CPU, we don't know why. So, better testing before the product is ready would help."
"Flexibility could be improved."
"Deployment process is very complicated as you need to now all advanced parameters. Almost not possible to figure out for yourself."
"Sometimes the connectors to the databases need to be manually updated and we have to configure them again, which is something that should be improved."
"An improvement would be to make the pricing relative in terms of regions."
"The deployment is complex and requires expertise to deploy."
"The biggest complaint that I hear from customers and users is that using this solution requires database skills, yet it is a security and monitoring tool."
"The solution is excessively expensive. There is a lot of room for improvement, considering the pricing model of the solution."
"Oracle Database Vault is not easy to set up, and if I lose the key, it can lead to significant issues."
"The product's cost could be better."
"Oracle's technical support could be improved."
"The solution is relatively expensive."
"The integration aspect could be improved through additional APIs to integrate with various SAML protocols and Active Directory protocols, which would be more helpful."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"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."
"The price is good for the quality of the solution."
"The price of the solution could be better."
"I would suggest to review the type of data, need for security, and if the organizational structure needs the options IBM Guardium provides."
"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."
"​If you are researching this type of solution, work with IBM."
"The product is more costly than its competitors."
"I rate the product's pricing a ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
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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
19%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
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 Business1
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise4
 

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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Database Vault?
I do not handle pricing, so I am not aware of pricing details related to Oracle Database Vault.
What needs improvement with Oracle Database Vault?
The integration aspect could be improved through additional APIs to integrate with various SAML protocols and Active Directory protocols, which would be more helpful.The solution is somewhat comple...
What is your primary use case for Oracle Database Vault?
We continue to work with Oracle Database in various capacities. Oracle Database Vault is part of our infrastructure. We work with it, especially for structured databases and high-volume workloads, ...
 

Also Known As

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium
No data available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs. Oracle Database Vault and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.