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IBM X-Force Exchange vs USM Anywhere 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 X-Force Exchange
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.6
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Threat Intelligence Platforms (12th)
USM Anywhere
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
115
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (44th), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (30th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (51st), Compliance Management (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Security Software solutions, they serve different purposes. IBM X-Force Exchange is designed for Threat Intelligence Platforms and holds a mindshare of 1.7%, down 2.5% compared to last year.
USM Anywhere, on the other hand, focuses on Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), holds 0.9% mindshare, down 1.9% since last year.
Threat Intelligence Platforms
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

JohnTamakloe - PeerSpot reviewer
A threat intelligence platform aiming to enhance its intelligence
It falls under the category of AI-embedded threat intelligence, which makes detection more efficient by reducing the rate of false positives and improving the overall detection rate. When the threat intelligence alone doesn’t provide enough information, we use other methods to verify the threat. For example, IBM has its threat intelligence team and tools. If the threat intelligence doesn’t yield much information, the tool has a framework that can identify suspicious activity. We then use our judgment and experience to implement compensating controls, whether for a potentially malicious patch, IP address, or any other threat. Customers benefit from it, even if they’re not directly integrating it. Through our service, they receive the benefits of the integration. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Kris Nawani - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers complete coverage without the need to install additional software
USM Anywhere is used for threat detection and investigation. It provides a solution with built-in threat intelligence and various other investigation tools The solution offers complete coverage without the need to install additional software, as it is maintained by the vendor. It helps in saving…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is you have the expertise of human experience directly involved. There is a team of experts."
"This product has helped to increase staff productivity."
"It's quite integratable so you can actually integrate and get IP malware and URL information. It also gives you some form of intelligence into what you're trying to investigate or what you're trying to understand."
"The setup is very easy and straightforward."
"AT&T AlienVault USM is good for ELK Stack, the user experience is great because of its architecture. The ELK has a great performance and it has very good speed in the search and Kibana. Additionally, the visuals and dashboards and very nice and customizable."
"We are able to get alerts perfectly with FIM and VA features."
"The feature that I liked the most is that they have a vulnerability assessment package that comes along with the SIEM solution. So, whenever I find any threat or alert for any of the devices or servers, I could immediately initiate a vulnerability assessment scan on that machine. That is one of a kind. The price at which AlienVault operates is also valuable."
"Asset discovery seems to be good."
"The AlienVault solution has enabled us to create a SOC on a budget with smaller than usual staff requirements, offering a wider range of solutions for our customers."
"The pricing is amazing and really cheap."
"This is a USM, so being able to get all the features under one roof makes it a good product with good new features."
 

Cons

"We would like to have more AI capabilities to detect threats and improve its productivity from a cybersecurity standpoint."
"You have to look for the new information from X-Force. X-Force will provide it but you have to look for it. We need clearer visibility."
"I would like to see better integration with other systems, solutions, and vendors."
"Sometimes the log is unclear, and the report is a bit ambiguous."
"The reporting module could be a little easier to handle, as it requires quite some trial and error until you get the reports you want. Also, it would be great to have a graphical interface for the Network Intrusion Detection System's rule management."
"The vulnerability reporting needs to have options to be able to sort or customize the output."
"I'd like to see a dashboard that's a little more descriptive."
"Source material on the forums to be more up-to-date with the changes happening within the product. Forums being out-of-date with information due to the changes makes troubleshooting a little more difficult - specific to the HIDS agents."
"Windows log collection works with HIDS, but documentation is sparse and confusing."
"It was easy on PoC, but when we got to the product it was different story. We had to learn the product again and got feeling that the PoC was a different product."
"The dashboard could be improved as well as the level of customization."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"One of the fastest ways to cut costs is reducing staff, and this product can reduce staff by 70 percent."
"Cost is clearly a consideration, but the important thing is what we do with the data and how we protect it."
"I don't know exactly, but I know it is based on the number of logs and the retention duration, such as 30 days or something like that. So, the smallest package is about 500 a month for 30 days of logs. There is a virtual machine. You need resources for it. It is a log collecting VM. They provide the software, and you just have to load a virtual machine. So, you're going to incur some CPU RAM and storage for wherever this log collecting appliance is running, which typically is in our cloud and on our platform for the customer."
"Use an MSSP instead. It is much cheaper."
"We ran a few PoCs. The price and feature set were the best with AlienVault."
"Negotiate the best package for your environment."
"It's saved security costs."
"AlienVault is flexible on their pricing for unlimited licenses."
"Its price is much lower than McAfee ESM."
"They charge a license based on the storage. ATT AlienVault USM is a less expensive solution than IBM QRadar."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Computer Software Company
16%
Healthcare Company
7%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your primary use case for IBM X-Force?
It's a threat intelligence platform, and we aim to enhance its intelligence by integrating additional security solutions.
What advice do you have for others considering IBM X-Force?
It falls under the category of AI-embedded threat intelligence, which makes detection more efficient by reducing the rate of false positives and improving the overall detection rate. When the threa...
What do you like most about AT&T AlienVault USM?
The most valuable feature of the solution is the ease of deployment that it provides to users. The integrations that the product has with third-party applications are useful.
What needs improvement with AT&T AlienVault USM?
There are scalability issues due to a 60 TB limit, which restricts its use for large customers like banks. It is also limited when used with bigger products and has complex password requirements.
 

Also Known As

X-Force Exchange, X-Force
AT&T AlienVault USM, AlienVault, AlienVault USM, Alienvault Cybersecurity
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Abel & Cole, Bank of Ireland, Bluegrass Cellular, CareerBuilder, Claire's, Hays Medical Center, Hope International, McCurrach, McKinsey & Company, Party Delights, Pepco Holdings, Richland School District, Ricoh, SaveMart, Shake Shack, Steelcase, TaxAct, Taylor Morrison, Vonage and Zoom
Find out what your peers are saying about CrowdStrike, Recorded Future, VirusTotal and others in Threat Intelligence Platforms. Updated: May 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.