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IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs Protegrity’s Data Protection Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 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
7.0
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Protegrity’s Data Protectio...
Ranking in Database Security
10th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Data Governance (30th), Data Masking (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Database Security category, the mindshare of IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is 27.5%, down from 33.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Protegrity’s Data Protection Platform is 2.5%, up from 0.9% 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 Protection27.5%
Protegrity’s Data Protection Platform2.5%
Other70.0%
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.
Vinoth Raj Prabhakaran - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Data Architect at Tata Consultancy Services
Beneficial data security, good support, and straightforward initial setup
The initial setup of Protegrity Data Security was straightforward. However, we had a few problems, it's not multi-tenanted. It does not have a hierarchy of roles and differential priorities. To have the initial sandbox version of Protegrity Data Security up and running, took approximately one week. However, it needed to be set up in a resilient way because if it fails, then it is going to be a challenge bringing back the lost information. We have to be particular in terms of architecting it correctly which is taking us a bit of time. We are anticipating anywhere between four to six weeks to be finished.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The maturity of the agent is the most valuable feature of the solution"
"Ability to define reports based on SQL query, especially when you have complex report criteria."
"You could easily throw it onto a VM or add additional hardware. One central manager supports about a hundred managed units, so scalability is excellent.​"
"Audit Process Builder – Workflow generator to enhance audit tasks and compliance workflows."
"IBM Guardium Data Protection is very good at keeping your database secure."
"The product has proven to be flexible"
"It is very easy to obtain reports and manage the reporting interface."
"Encryption is not straightforward, but Guardium made the setup easy for us."
"The most valuable feature of Protegrity Data Security is the reduction of information being exposed."
"Its technical support team is helpful."
"The product is stable."
"The solution’s pricing is moderate."
 

Cons

"Guardium Data Protection is far better in terms of external integration. But in terms of firewall features, like when you're blocking activities, it's as if Oracle AVDF simply has superior features. This is just from third-party observations, but the users of Oracle AVDF are saying that when it comes to the firewall and protection functionality, they're much more inclined to AVDF."
"An improvement would be to make the pricing relative in terms of regions."
"The backup and recovery is very resource-hungry and requires a huge amount of storage capacity."
"The solution lacks control over database security."
"We have had some issues with patches breaking things unexpectedly in our environments."
"The one thing that I would like to see improved, but I don't think it's going to be in the next release, is its reporting capabilities. I think that's been offloaded to another third-party product that I think IBM actually endorses for that."
"The manuals should be clearer. There needs to be an online course or tutorial for faster management training."
"An area for improvement would be the user interface - currently, it takes around two to three months to become comfortable using it."
"The solution's UI could be better."
"Protegrity Data Security could improve by having more integration."
"Protegrity is using a different OS which has some bugs. Sometimes it's causing an initialization error."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution could be better."
"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."
"The price of Guardium is higher than the main competitor, Imperva. In addition, it's complex as the calculation of the licensing is done by Processor Value Unit (PVU). However, before purchasing a DAP solution, it is important to analyze specific points to evaluate the cost-benefit of each tool. For example: Does the environment to be monitored have mainframes? If so, it's a point for Guardium. If not, a point for Imperva. Note: IBM is looking into a new licensing policy and reducing the price of Guardium."
"One of the deployments that I know of had three databases, and the yearly fees are approximately $50,000 USD."
"I would suggest to review the type of data, need for security, and if the organizational structure needs the options IBM Guardium provides."
"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."
"It is not an expensive product. We purchase its yearly license."
"We pay for a few additional services apart from its licenses."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
25%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Insurance Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
34%
Computer Software Company
10%
Insurance Company
10%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

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
Protegrity Data Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
A $4 billion retail conglomerate and holding company
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs. Protegrity’s Data Protection Platform and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.