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IBM Security Verify Access vs Microsoft Entra ID Protection comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

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 Identity Management (IM)
17th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (15th), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (16th), Access Management (13th)
Microsoft Entra ID Protection
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
6th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (9th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Identity Management (IM) category, the mindshare of IBM Security Verify Access is 1.5%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID Protection is 2.0%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity Management (IM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Entra ID Protection2.0%
IBM Security Verify Access1.5%
Other96.5%
Identity Management (IM)
 

Featured Reviews

Ateeq Rehman - PeerSpot reviewer
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
Has improved secure user access while managing development through multiple technologies
I have already explained this in my previous call; I don't handle financial terms and commercials. Pricing is generally managed by functional teams and management looking after licensing matters. In Pakistan, vendors such as Oracle and IBM manage account relationships with clients and have tailored pricing models, so I do not have sufficient insights into that aspect.IBM Security Verify Access installation process is not straightforward; it requires underlying specialized knowledge upon which the IBM products are based. The complexity and scalability of the architecture necessitate in-depth technical knowledge and understanding of the system. Thus, installation is not as simple as clicking through; it requires extensive configuration of the underlying application servers, such as IBM WebSphere, where these products are deployed and configured.
Luis Gabriel Mieles Benavides - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Architect at Sonda S.A.
Identity protection has strengthened daily access control and improved passwordless security
The best features of Microsoft Entra ID Protection include the password dictionary, which we do not have in Active Directory. Conditional access is excellent because we can select the location from which users authenticate, and this is the best feature for me. Another valuable feature is the ability to identify critical or suspicious computers. If computers are too old or too suspicious, the system does not allow authentication, which is excellent. The effectiveness of automated remediation for handling identity threats is great. I use passwordless authentication with cellular phone authentication, which is excellent because we do not always need a password. Microsoft Entra ID Protection is a great solution overall because it improves security in the company through identity management. It improves integration with other solutions such as Google, Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook, and Facebook. We can create different applications and integrate with different services.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's a good solution for identification and access management."
"It's a good solution for identification and access management."
"IBM Security Access Manager is a very good solution, so my company is still using it."
"I have found this solution to be really practical and when a user wants to log in, it is effortless and runs smooth."
"It can do a lot of different functions, and different types of teams can use this product for a variety of use cases, such as RSA, OTP, and single sign-on functionalities."
"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."
"The solution has powerful authentification and authorization. It offers a good way to increase security."
"IBM Security Verify Access, formerly known as ISAM, IBM Security Access Manager, now renamed to ISVA, integrates with central directory services for our organization and provides user management functionality."
"Microsoft Entra ID Protection's features are suitable for all sizes of companies; it's a must-have product because traditionally Active Directory was used for identity and authentication on computers, and now with hybrid capabilities, every company of any size needs these features and tools."
"The most valuable features are the API apps, which I use to connect to my cloud Protection."
"The features we find most effective for identity security include access reviews, two-factor authentication, and modification."
"These features ease the job of security analysts, providing a better vision of user activities and potential risks."
"Microsoft Entra ID Protection is a great solution overall because it improves security in the company through identity management."
"The protections for handling identity threats in Microsoft Entra ID Protection, such as the automated remediation, are working effectively."
"I find the most valuable feature to be conditional access. It allows for comprehensive security controls, network security, and application label security."
"For me, automatization is most valuable."
 

Cons

"IBM Security Verify Access installation process is not straightforward; it requires underlying specialized knowledge upon which the IBM products are based."
"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."
"IBM Security Verify Access installation process is not straightforward; it requires underlying specialized knowledge upon which the IBM products are based."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"What we'd like improved in IBM Security Access Manager is its onboarding process as it's complex, particularly when onboarding new applications."
"The solution is not optimized to work with Mac devices on a granular level. They work seamlessly with Windows but have a lot to improve to work with Mac devices. It also needs to improve stability and scalability."
"Identity labeling and sensitivity needs improvement to be comparable to Dell."
"Support or customer service with Microsoft Entra ID Protection can be challenging because you can get lost in the queue. You can open up a case, but sometimes it can be an hour or even a day between communications."
"There is a lot of confusion around the user interface."
"There is room for improvement in the ability for Entra ID Protection to inherit roles and configurations from whatever solution I am migrating from, so that these don't have to be built from the ground up during the implementation process."
"The recent CrowdStrike issue affected most systems."
"Integrating some notifications, not necessarily all, but at least for important events or alerts, would be beneficial as it would function as a team solution or something similar."
"The pricing could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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 product is not expensive. It depends on the number of users."
"From one to ten, if one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the tool a seven out of ten."
"The product cost is on the expensive side."
"Azure Active Directory Identity Protection is not very expensive."
"The pricing is competitive in the SMA segment and runs $5-$6 per user."
"The price of Azure AD is not expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Security Access Manager?
I have already explained this in my previous call; I don't handle financial terms and commercials. Pricing is generally managed by functional teams and management looking after licensing matters. I...
What is your primary use case for IBM Security Access Manager?
We are still using the IBM BPM platform to automate the processes for our organization.I generally use Microsoft Project for project planning and schedule management, especially in relation to Orac...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM Security Access Manager?
My current domain is leading project development, overseeing both technical and functional areas in process automation and orchestration, along with the hands-on implementation of process automatio...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
The pricing for Microsoft Entra ID protection is not expensive. It varies based on the company's size and quality.
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
I do not think there are any areas that could be improved with Microsoft Entra ID Protection at this time.
What is your primary use case for Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
I use Microsoft Entra ID Protection and provide support for features such as multifactor authentication and conditional access. I work with this solution every day.
 

Also Known As

IBM Security Verify Access (SVA), IBM Security Access Manager, ISAM
Azure Active Directory Identity Protection, Azure AD Identity Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security Verify Access vs. Microsoft Entra ID Protection and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.