Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection vs Vormetric Application Crypto Suite 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 ...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
Database Security (1st)
Vormetric Application Crypt...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Data Masking (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Database Development and Management Tools solutions, they serve different purposes. IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is designed for Database Security and holds a mindshare of 32.0%, up 31.1% compared to last year.
Vormetric Application Crypto Suite, on the other hand, focuses on Data Masking, holds 2.9% mindshare, down 3.6% since last year.
Database Security
Data Masking
 

Q&A Highlights

CR
Jul 07, 2020
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmer Faisel Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers mature agents, compliance reporting and reliable database security
The solution should allow the data to shift to a centralized repository with elastic servers and big data infrastructure. If a customer searches for old logs for retention purposes, there are limitations on appliances once they are set with specific hardware, so they can only be changed by uninstalling or reinstalling the hardware. The solution's aggregator feature allows data aggregation, but for instance, if a customer wants a project ready in two years, having an Elasticsearch in DB or the capacity to store huge amounts of data would be beneficial in data investigation or evaluation at an affordable cost. Some AI features should be added to IBM Security Guardium Data Protection. For example, the AI features implemented in the solution can be anomaly detection or suspicious activity identification.
reviewer2537625 - PeerSpot reviewer
Useful to encrypt sensitive data or crown jewel data stored in various places within organizations
One of the most valuable features is the solution's integration with many leading industry solutions, both on-premises and cloud-based. It has API integration with a large number of technologies. The key management capability supports security protocols by providing an additional layer of security by separating duties. It's more secure to store encryption keys in a separate system like Thales rather than locally. If a database is compromised, the keys in Thales remain protected, making it harder for attackers to access the information.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Ease of deployment is a valuable feature."
"It does not require our involvement to run it. It runs in the background and the people that do the reporting do so. The reports go to the directors who are in charge of the various data areas. It's pretty clean. Clearly there is some setup, but after you get it set up it just goes."
"The most valuable features have been how easy it is to deploy and use, as well as the comprehensive monitoring options. These are a few things that customers like most about this product."
"Database logging and audit functions are the most valuable features."
"The most valuable feature I have found is the performance of client monitoring. The other competitors are unable to do this."
"Satisfies audit requests, to give us an idea if anybody is accessing our privileged user IDs without our knowledge."
"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.​"
"I rate Guardium 10 out of 10 for data activity monitoring and nine for vulnerability assessment. It's easy to implement and does its job. But I would rate it seven out of 10 in terms of advanced features."
"One of the most valuable features is the solution's integration with many leading industry solutions, both on-premises and cloud-based. It has API integration with a large number of technologies."
"Transfer encryption is a great feature of Crypto Suite."
 

Cons

"Initially it did not have support external applications like, say, Tableau, ServiceNow, Remedy, and the like. They have started growing into it, but I would like to have more and more integration with outside applications."
"Deployment process is very complicated as you need to now all advanced parameters. Almost not possible to figure out for yourself."
"One of the limitations that everyone who uses Guardium knows is its ability for back-end reporting. The ability to collect it sometimes is easier than the ability to retrieve it, use it, or give a good representation of it for incidence response or questions which come from the different people who want to use the data."
"I would like to see IBM Guardium have other encryption algorithms employed."
"I have already mentioned to IBM that a primary need is to improve the number of records in the reports above 65,535."
"Since we are resellers we do not have enough information about the technical aspects and the areas of improvement. However, one consistent report that we receive from our customers is that IBM does not offer timely support due to the size of the organisation. It would be great if they could improve their response time."
"Needs easier integration with custom applications."
"Initial setup is very complex. Once you start interacting with people's databases, they get very hesitant. Then, the amount of social tasks to socialize the solution ensuring people are comfortable with it became a much heavier lift."
"Could be more agent-led with options for simplifying implementation."
"Some feature sets could be improved, particularly alerting, reporting, and monitoring capabilities."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"The product's pricing is reasonable and affordable. It is in the moderate range."
"For IBM Guardium, licensing is very simple and straightforward. There are no issues I can speak of."
"We haven't talked much about pricing and licencing. But it is not cheap for sure"
"Reasonable cost but could be lower."
"I would suggest to review the type of data, need for security, and if the organizational structure needs the options IBM Guardium provides."
"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
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Database Security solutions are best for your needs.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Answers from the Community

CR
Jul 7, 2020
Jul 7, 2020
I have been working with Guardium for 5 years, but I had not heard of Vormetric. So, I will not be able to help. Something I can report is from the IBM website: " IBM Security Guardium Data Encryption runs on a variety of Microsoft Windows, UNIX, and Linux platforms. It requires prerequisite software available from Vormetric, Inc. Visit the Vormetric website for information. For additional inf...
See 2 answers
ET
Jul 7, 2020
IBM is reselling Vormetric. IBM Guardium Data Protection includes Vormetric as part of the Data Protection Family.
SM
Jul 7, 2020
I have been working with Guardium for 5 years, but I had not heard of Vormetric. So, I will not be able to help. Something I can report is from the IBM website: " IBM Security Guardium Data Encryption runs on a variety of Microsoft Windows, UNIX, and Linux platforms. It requires prerequisite software available from Vormetric, Inc. Visit the Vormetric website for information. For additional information, refer to the Software requirements section. Vormetric is not affiliated or associated with IBM. Vormetric software products and licenses are subject to change in accordance with the policies and procedures of Vormetric. " Source: https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_ca/2/897/ENUS216-412/index.html&request_locale=en
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
30%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
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?
The pricing is good, and I have no problem with it. Although there is no flexibility to compete with other products, it generally costs between one hundred and three hundred thousand per year depen...
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 needs improvement with Vormetric Application Crypto Suite?
Some feature sets could be improved, particularly alerting, reporting, and monitoring capabilities.
What is your primary use case for Vormetric Application Crypto Suite?
I use the system to encrypt sensitive data or crown jewel data stored in various places within organizations. For example, we can encrypt databases with it. We store and manage the encryption keys ...
 

Also Known As

InfoSphere Guardium, Guardium, IBM Guardium
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
BD, Delta Dental, CMI
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM, Imperva, Oracle and others in Database Security. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.