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IBM Security zSecure vs Idira Privileged Access Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 2, 2026

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 zSecure
Ranking in Mainframe Security
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
8.8
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Idira Privileged Access Man...
Ranking in Mainframe Security
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
230
Ranking in other categories
User Activity Monitoring (1st), Enterprise Password Managers (3rd), Privileged Access Management (PAM) (1st), Operational Technology (OT) Security (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Mainframe Security category, the mindshare of IBM Security zSecure is 15.0%, down from 23.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Idira Privileged Access Manager is 5.3%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mainframe Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager5.3%
IBM Security zSecure15.0%
Other79.7%
Mainframe Security
 

Featured Reviews

it_user635553 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mainframe Systems Programmer with 51-200 employees
Provides administration of the RACF database. We can identify and remove old security database records.
* The zSecure Admin provides us with a much more user-friendly administration of the RACF database. * TopSecret and ACF2 are also supported (if they were ordered). * The Database Cleanup utility feature: Used for identifying and removing old security database records that are no longer relevant or being used.
Atul-Gujar - PeerSpot reviewer
CyberArk manager at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Secures critical infrastructures with essential user session audit records
A potential area for improvement is enhancing support for cluster environments and distributed Vaults. Clients in multiple countries that need central access have different challenges that require better solutions from CyberArk. For financial services, CyberArk can improve incident response by ensuring fast support for critical priority tickets to meet compliance requirements. Providing more documentation on CyberArk is recommended for new team members to enhance their troubleshooting capabilities. I understand it's up to the client, but 99% fail to change the demo key, so it's crucial for CyberArk to emphasize changing the key and documenting it as part of the installation process.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Technical support is optimal."
"The productivity and consistency in our organization has been improved by the ability to easily generate reports and a common interface for the security administrators."
"The zSecure Admin provides us with a much more user-friendly administration of the RACF database."
"Due to meaningless error messages, it is not possible to repair non-trivial errors without support, however, with support, we solved every problem."
"Comparing it to other providers, Cyberark provides a more user-friendly environment with many more features and benefits."
"Password Vault's policy configuration is very good - when you receive an attack, you can segment the structure of the project in order to isolate parts or users."
"It is useful for protecting passwords. If you need to do access security management, you can first use the CyberArk console, and after that, you can connect the firewall interface or firewall command line. Similarly, if you need to do an RDP session, you need to first log in to CyberArk before connecting to the Windows RDP session. This way, the admin doesn't know the password, and that password is changed immediately. To change the password, you first discover the old password in the network, and after that, you can change the password."
"It is scalable."
"CyberArk is a solution to problems being faced by multiple companies and organizations, as it removes security threats and vulnerabilities from an organization in a secure way, and your credentials are handled in a secure way, so it solves this pain area in a company, and that is why I think they are one of the top tools."
"You can gradually implement CyberArk, starting with more easily attainable goals."
"Password rotation is the most valuable feature"
 

Cons

"The reporting feature needs to improve."
"I would like to see improvements in the certification (SSL). It must be less complicated."
"There should be more supplied reports and CARLa samples."
"The turnaround time for technical support is lengthy."
"Report creation could be improved. The policies could be more customized."
"Updates have been somewhat difficult, resulting in challenges when moving from one version to another. The current version includes automatic updates."
"Performance of PIM could be better and intended for usability as well as security."
"We require IAM (identify and access management) capability at the administrator level because we need more identification."
"The current interface doesn't scale that well, and has some screens still in the old layout."
"They can work on the pricing part. Its pricing is a big challenge here."
"CyberArk has brought a feature called Vendor Team Manager, but it does not provide full access. It requires the vendor team leader to be onboarded as a local account instead of using their email address. Improvements could be made to onboard the vendor team leaders using their email, allowing them to manage their own team. That would greatly reduce the overhead in managing vendor team members."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Pricing is quite high and it could be improved."
"I have heard from my leaders that CyberArk is costlier in terms of licensing. The support and maintenance are also costly. We use their premium support, but for the price we pay, we do not get the value."
"I would rate the cost of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager seven out of ten with ten being the most expensive."
"The license CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is on an annual basis."
"This solution is considered to be more expensive than others out there on the market today."
"The price of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager could be less expensive."
"The price of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is expensive. There are no other fees other than the standard licensing fees."
"My company always complains about the cost of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager because it's too high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
17%
Media Company
8%
Insurance Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
6%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise42
Large Enterprise175
 

Questions from the Community

How does IBM Security zSecure handle encryption and secure transmission of data?
zSecure, a suite of products, simplifies security management on z/OS and z/VM with an intuitive interface, surpassing ISPF panels and RACF commands. It focuses on enhancing technology management, n...
How does Sailpoint IdentityIQ compare with CyberArk PAM?
We evaluated Sailpoint IdentityIQ before ultimately choosing CyberArk. Sailpoint Identity Platform is a solution to manage risks in cloud enterprise environments. It automates and streamlines the m...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager?
My thoughts on the pricing of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager depend entirely on the vendors' requirements. If they want their things to be secure, they have to spend accordingly. We have four t...
What needs improvement with CyberArk Privileged Access Manager?
I believe account discovery and rolling support need to be improved. Account discovery is important when integrating with other systems, as other PAM solutions can perform account discovery and onb...
 

Also Known As

No data available
CyberArk Privileged Access Security, CyberArk Enterprise Password Vault
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Swiss Re
Rockwell Automation
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Security zSecure vs. Idira Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.