IBM Security Verify Access vs Microsoft Active Directory comparison

IBM Security Verify Access vs. Microsoft Active Directory

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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 Verify Access

Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)

14th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Identity Management (IM) (25th), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (19th), Access Management (13th)

Microsoft Active Directory

Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)

7th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Active Directory Management (6th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of IBM Security Verify Access is 2.2%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 2.9%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Featured Reviews

AsifIqbal

Chief Information Security Officer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Has good scalability and is stable with no glitches; has a multi-factor authentication feature

What we'd like improved in IBM Security Access Manager is its onboarding process as it's complex, particularly when onboarding new applications. We need to be very, very careful during the onboarding. We have no issues with IBM Security Access Manager because the solution works fine, apart from the onboarding process and IBM's involvement in onboarding issues. If we need support related to the onboarding, we've noticed a pattern where support isn't available, or they don't have much experience, or we're not getting a response from them. We're facing the same issue with IBM Guardium. As we're just focusing on the multi-factor authentication feature of IBM Security Access Manager and we didn't explore any other features, we don't have additional features to suggest for the next release of the solution, but we're in discussion about exploring ID management and access management features, but those are just possibilities because right now, we're focused on exploring our domain.

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Srikanth Subramanian

Senior consutant at HCLSoftware

Centralized access control and identity management simplify user management

Even better group management would be beneficial. Creating and searching through groups can be challenging, especially if I need to export data. Exporting and verifying group memberships require command line scripts, which isn't simple. The current Active Directory UI is limited in report generation, necessitating script knowledge to generate various reports.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Its stability and UI are most valuable."

"The most valuable feature of IBM Security Access Manager, at least for my company, is multi-factor authentication. That's the only feature my company is using. The solution works well and has no glitches. IBM Security Access Manager is a very good solution, so my company is still using it."

"The tool provides a password vault, single sign-on, and multifactor authentication. It offers various authentication methods like fingerprint integration, one-time passwords, or tokens sent via email or SMS. This ensures secure access to your accounts by providing multiple authentication options."

"I have found this solution to be really practical and when a user wants to log in, it is effortless and runs smooth."

"From the integration point of view, it supports SAML, OIDC, and OAuth. For legacy applications that don't have support for SAML and other new protocols, it provides single sign-on access to end-users. From the integration compatibility point of view, it is highly capable."

"It's a good solution for identification and access management."

"The solution has powerful authentification and authorization. It offers a good way to increase security."

"One noteworthy aspect we discovered is the ability to exercise tight control over systems, specifically Windows PCs. This pertains to the management of policies, usage patterns, and user access on these devices, particularly within the framework of Active Directory which is extremely well thought. This actually works better with on-premises solutions. However, as the global trend shifts towards cloud and hybrid environments, Active Directory and its use is diminishing. Yet, it hasn't entirely lost its relevance and remains a presence that cannot be entirely disregarded."

"The Solution's most important feature is that it can merge with a cloud-based active directory via Azure AD Connect."

"We use the tool for FSMO, policies, and customized user registrations."

"The most valuable features are it is easy to use, manage, create a repository, and create the OM."

"The most valuable feature is the configured appliance system in Hypervisor."

"Stability and performance are good. So far, we have not observed any major downtime or performance issues since we deployed it."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Active Directory is the group policies."

"We can also have separate domain controllers in different Active Directory sites based on their location."

More Microsoft Active Directory pros

Cons

"The solution could be classified as a hilt system. There are a lot of resources being used and it is suitable for very large enterprises or the public sector."

"They can improve the single sign-on configuration for OIDC and OAuth. That is not very mature in this product, and they can improve it in this particular area. OIDC is a third-party integration that we do with the cloud platforms, and OAuth is an authorization mechanism for allowing a user having an account with Google or any other provider to access an application. Organizations these days are looking for just-in-time provisioning use cases, but IBM Security Access Manager is not very mature for such use cases. There are only a few applications that can be integrated, and this is where this product is lagging. However, in terms of configuration and single sign-on mechanisms, it is a great product."

"Configuration could be simplified for the end-user."

"What we'd like improved in IBM Security Access Manager is its onboarding process as it's complex, particularly when onboarding new applications. We need to be very, very careful during the onboarding. We have no issues with IBM Security Access Manager because the solution works fine, apart from the onboarding process and IBM's involvement in onboarding issues. If we need support related to the onboarding, we've noticed a pattern where support isn't available, or they don't have much experience, or we're not getting a response from them. We're facing the same issue with IBM Guardium. As we're just focusing on the multi-factor authentication feature of IBM Security Access Manager and we didn't explore any other features, we don't have additional features to suggest for the next release of the solution, but we're in discussion about exploring ID management and access management features, but those are just possibilities because right now, we're focused on exploring our domain."

"The user interface needs to be simplified, it's complex and not user-friendly."

"There are a lot of areas that can be improved, but the main area is the lack of customization. You cannot easily customize anything in the product. It is not easy to tweak the functionality. It is challenging to change the out-of-the-box functionality."

"The user interface for users and administrators could be improved to make it easier. Automating some functions could also be beneficial."

"UI is not very user-friendly."

"I expect additional features like maximizing user flow, improving the branding of the UI, and enabling non-interactive login. Customizing the login page is limited to changing the background and logo, and adding terms and conditions during registration requires JavaScript."

"Even better group management would be beneficial."

"The scalability of the solution needs improvement."

"I have encountered a few stability issues."

"The solution needs to be simplified to navigate."

"It could be more scalable. We still need another software solution to monitor the network in addition to Active Directory and OpManager, our domain controller. We use SolarWinds."

"Typically, it depends on the customer's situation. If the customer operates in smaller locations where most PCs are in a common location, we usually aim to consolidate the directory infrastructure for easier maintenance. However, for distributed setups spanning multiple countries, configuring multiple sites becomes necessary and more intricate to handle. Our objective is to minimize the number of sites, simplifying operations for IT administrators and reducing errors. Mistakes in Active Directory can be costly for organizations, as disruptions can occur rapidly. Moreover, when it comes to hybrid single sign-on across various applications, Microsoft hasn't put forth significant effort. Single sign-on has become a challenge for many customers who utilize diverse solutions beyond Microsoft products. While implementing single sign-on is relatively straightforward in the Azure cloud, it's considerably more complex when dealing with the local Active Directory. This presents a big challenge for many of our customers."

More Microsoft Active Directory cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is not expensive. It depends on the number of users."

"It costs about 300K AED for a year. Its pricing is a bit on the higher end, but in comparison to other products in the market, its price is still better. There are lots of other products that are very costly."

"The license and costs depend on the amount range of users you have. For just approximately 2,000 users, the price is practical and fair. However, when you have 20,000 users, it starts to become really expensive, and the discount per user is not attractive enough to go ahead and purchase."

"I'm unsure about the cost of the solution, as I was never involved in that aspect. However, I don't think it would be expensive. It might be average, around four or five out of ten."

"Active Directory is built-in into Microsoft Windows 10. I'm not an administrator and would not be involved in purchasing decisions for new versions of the software. I have only used the client portion of it, I do not know if there is a cost to using the solution."

"My company makes payments every quarter towards the licensing costs of the product."

"I rate the product’s pricing a five out of ten."

"Microsoft Active Directory is not an expensive solution."

"The product's premium support services are expensive."

"We have to purchase a license for the solution."

"The pricing is not very expensive. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."

More Microsoft Active Directory pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

23%

Insurance Company

17%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Security Access Manager?

The tool provides a password vault, single sign-on, and multifactor authentication. It offers various authentication methods like fingerprint integration, one-time passwords, or tokens sent via ema...

What needs improvement with IBM Security Access Manager?

The user interface for users and administrators could be improved to make it easier. Automating some functions could also be beneficial.

What advice do you have for others considering IBM Security Access Manager?

I rate the product an eight out of ten.

What do you like most about Microsoft Active Directory?

The solution is easy to install and has good reliability.

What needs improvement with Microsoft Active Directory?

Technology is evolving. AI is offering solutions. However, short-term fixes are like band-aids.

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Active Directory?

I utilize it in almost every scenario. I use the Hazer database and meet daily needs across every industry, every time.

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Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Microsoft Entra ID vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 17% of the time

CyberArk Identity vs Microsoft Active Directory

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Product Reports

Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)

Download IBM Security Verify Access product report

Microsoft Active Directory

Download Microsoft Active Directory product report

Also Known As

IBM Security Verify Access (SVA), IBM Security Access Manager, ISAM

No data available

Overview

IBM Security Verify Access is a complete authorization and network security policy management solution. It provides end-to-end protection of resources over geographically dispersed intranets and extranets.Provides a wide range of built-in authenticators and supports external authenticators.Provides permit and deny decisions for protected resources requests in the secure domain through the authorization API.Manages secure access to private internal network-based resources by using the public Internet's broad connectivity and ease of use with a corporate firewall system.

IBM

Active Directory stores information about objects on the network and makes this information easy for administrators and users to find and use. Active Directory uses a structured data store as the basis for a logical, hierarchical organization of directory information.

This data store, also known as the directory, contains information about Active Directory objects. These objects typically include shared resources such as servers, volumes, printers, and the network user and computer accounts.

Security is integrated with Active Directory through logon authentication and access control to objects in the directory. With a single network logon, administrators can manage directory data and organization throughout their network, and authorized network users can access resources anywhere on the network. Policy-based administration eases the management of even the most complex network.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

POST Luxembourg

Information Not Available

IBM Security Verify Access vs. Microsoft Active Directory