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reviewer1348482 - PeerSpot reviewer
Practice Head at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Flexible correlation, easy to use, and stable
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a bit easier to use than other products, such as Splunk or ELK Elasticsearch."
  • "The technical support can be improved a little bit, and the price could be cheaper."

What is our primary use case?

We have a POC environment but have not onboard it to any of our clients.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the correlation function, which is flexible.

It is a bit easier to use than other products, such as Splunk or ELK Elasticsearch.

What needs improvement?

The technical support can be improved a little bit, and the price could be cheaper.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using IMB QRadar for one year.

Buyer's Guide
IBM Security QRadar
September 2025
Learn what your peers think about IBM Security QRadar. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

IBM QRadar is a stable solution.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support needs improvement.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I know a little bit about Splunk and ELK Elasticsearch. We did not have a PoC with Splunk so it was just theoretical, but I did learn about it.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very easy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

IBM QRadar is a little bit expensive compared to other products.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others who are looking for an on-premises solution. For a SIEM solution, it is the best one to go with. If they are interested in using the cloud, I would not recommend it. The cloud version of QRadar is QRoC and it is a bit complicated.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
PeerSpot user
AVP - Cyber Secuirty at Cloud4C Services
Real User
A stable solution which allows a single system to be onboarded for all 200 existing customers for monitoring purposes.
Pros and Cons
  • "No doubt about it, the solution is extremely stable."
  • "The implementation of the solution's technology needs to be simplified."

What is our primary use case?

We are using the current version.

What is most valuable?

The solution supports MSSP models, which most service providers have. This means that a single system can be onboarded for all 200 existing customers for monitoring purposes. 

What needs improvement?

The implementation of the solution's technology needs to be simplified. It is overly complex. 

The integration also must be simplified. 

The licensing is also overly complex, as there is a need to buy the work load performance monitoring separately. These are the different modules we need to buy. 

IBM does not provide a combined, combo suitor solution which the customer can easily look at. The multiple functionalities are segmented and do not allow for an idea which is complete. It makes it difficult for us to do a realistic comparison with other products. I hope that others follow suit. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using IBM QRadar for almost eight-and-a-half years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No doubt about it, the solution is extremely stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution needs to be redesigned to allow for scalability or for extending it to the existing one. There is a need to do long-term planning and migration from an existing to a new one and this cannot be easily accomplished. Storage cannot be added to the installation. One must completely migrate to the new storage to add additional terabytes. 

As such, the solution is not quite scalable. The scalability exists, but it requires migration. 

How are customer service and technical support?

We are very happy with the technical support. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was extremely complex. 

What about the implementation team?

We made use of an integrator. 

What other advice do I have?

We have nearly two hundred customers making use of the solution.

We have direct contact with Ingram Micro or have a service partner relationship with it, but work directly with IBM as our ISP. 

We are a managed security service provider and wholesale customer of IBM QRadar

We buy a bulk license from IBM QRadar and host around 200 plus customers in a single integration so that all the customer events will be integrated in one solution. We are not integrators and do not resell their services.

As such, we don't buy the license or sell the tools to others. We will buy a license, inclusive of the services, host it with our private cloud and provide services to the end clients.

Our customer base of IBM users is limited. When it comes to a security operations center team, IBM will be looked to for providing security monitoring on an ongoing basis. We must see that it is working as it should be. 

I would recommend this solution to others. 

I rate IBM QRadar as an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
IBM Security QRadar
September 2025
Learn what your peers think about IBM Security QRadar. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1623684 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Analyst at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Well priced with information granularity, but has lousy tech support and provides false positives of attacks
Pros and Cons
  • "Most valuable features include the granularity of information."
  • "IBM technical support is always terrible."

What is most valuable?

Most valuable features include the granularity of information. Queries provide leads for finding information. We also deal with the Symantec team, which is a different one. 

What needs improvement?

The solution has definite room for improvement. There were certain bugs we had to deal with. Bigger issues involve the quantity of rules involved in its deployment. Also, false positives can be obtained and there is a need to fine tune the solution once every month or two until everything is correct. 

The stability and product support should also be addressed. 

When an offense occurs, the source IP will automatically provide a source username which is not correct. For reasons I don't understand, it uses the team or the name of the last user of the computer and this is not always accurate. This means that there are times that I obtain offenses that are ascribed to my boss and which serve him. The solution ensures that the host is vulnerable to another attack. The solution will estimate that the targeted host is vulnerable to certain attacks. 

Moreover, the solution may provide information of attacks that failed or that are irrelevant, such as vulnerabilities involving modems in which the target host is the Windows Server. This begs the question of why an offense that was and will always be blocked must be generated, such as that involving vulnerability from a modem. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using IBM QRadar for five years. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

When it comes to the scalability of the solution, it is possible to install many apps on top of IBM QRadar which can provide a host of views, such as those involving user behavior and analytics. There is no need to construct an SQL report, for example, as there are many free apps available which can be used to extend one's IBM QRadar functionalities. 

How are customer service and technical support?

:
IBM technical support is always terrible. I have much experience with IBM, dating back 25 years in IT. I worked with IBM as a partner for almost 10 years. The organization is so big that it cannot tell one person from another. One can send an email and then get transferred from one support person to another, needing with the need to reiterate the issue anew with each one. In France they go on vacation and there is no one to whom one can address his issue. They also have problems with directing and redirecting phone calls. 

I found myself in charge of all hardware issues involving IBM. Whenever we had a case with IBM which was escalated, I managed to resolve the issue before them. I would find a solution while they would still be making queries about some version. Sometimes I feel they are buying time. At other times, they start by enquiring about what I did in an attempt to resolve the issue. There are times that they insist on the purchase of a subscription as a condition of benefiting from high level support and at these moments I'm inclined to tell them that they should be paying me for this. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is quite straitforward and not so difficult. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is always fine. 

What other advice do I have?

We use the solution with multiple customers on a daily basis. We have experience with its installation, configuration and use. 

I rate IBM QRadar as a six or seven out of ten. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
PeerSpot user
Founder at a university with 11-50 employees
Real User
Stable, easy to set up, and has good support
Pros and Cons
  • "I think the QDI is very good."
  • "The threat detection needs improvement, they have many false positives."

What is our primary use case?

This product helps to build a strong architecture, which is important to avoid problems.

What is most valuable?

I think the QDI is very good.

What needs improvement?

The biggest drawback of this solution is the price.

The threat detection needs improvement, they have many false positives.

It is important to have good architecture. If you have problems and you don't have a strong architecture you, will have trouble with this solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using IBM QRadar for three years.

We are using version 7.4.3

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have many interactions with L2 support when we needed L3 support. I would rate technical support an eight out of ten.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. We had no problems.

It took approximately a month to deploy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

This price is a little high, so it's an expensive product. It is a good solution but not a cheap one.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate IBM QRadar a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Founder at Halainfosec
Reseller
Priced well and has good support, but it is resource intensive
Pros and Cons
  • "The flexibility is good in terms of pulling log files."
  • "It's resource-intensive."

What is our primary use case?

We are service providers, and we are always exploring tools to accompany existing tools. I am always searching for the best products to meet my clients' requirements. I always look to understand the technology first, learn what benefits we can get from the product, how competitive is it with other tools such as DarkTrace, and Palo Alto.

We are working with this solution, but it is being managed by another vendor.

We are service providers. We are providing SOC service and MSSP services for our clients. 

We are working on various products, not one specific product. We can provide services for any product, in fact, any security solution.

What is most valuable?

There have been many advancements made in the most recent year. There are many add-ons included in the licenses that I have yet to explore.

There have been many improvements. When I worked with this solution at the core technical level, it was a SIEM solution. Many attributes have been added, such as threat intelligence, SO solutions, automation, and OT security. Many other platforms have been included as part of IBM QRadar.

The flexibility is good in terms of pulling log files.

What needs improvement?

Automation is an area that people are looking for. IBM does have the SO solutions platform, but it would be more useful if they could have predefined use cases rather than using more generic ones. It would be much better if they could customize their use cases.

It's resource-intensive.

The IBM QRadar team has to be proactive and they have to be informative about the product.

They don't want to spend too much money on the SIEM because it is obviously resource-intensive. But the SIEM is a very useful product when you have good resources and good software.

For large organizations, that want to integrate all of the log sources, the pricing will be too expensive. This is the main reason that clients are not interested in SIEM solutions.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with IBM QRadar for approximately four years.

I moved into consulting, at the architectural level. I'm not working at the core level but I know the basics of QRadar and how exactly it functions. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is good. 

My personal experience was fantastic. They are always good and we have never had any problems.

There are a lot of online resources available.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

When compared with other SIEM solutions, QRadar is considerably less expensive. I would like to compare it with Elasticsearch because they have different pricing strategies.

QRadar is events per second, EPS-based, whereas Elasticsearch is resource-based. You have to estimate based on how many resources will be used in the infrastructure, irrespective of log resources and log volumes. 

They are charging based on the resources. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I'm exploring the Elastic Stack Elasticsearch currently. Splunk is out of scope for us right now, we're not interested in that. Sentinel is one that we are interested in.

What other advice do I have?

There are many competitive tools that are emerging regarding XDR solutions or SO solutions, which are capabilities that QRadar offers.

The competition is very different from the geographical locations.

For the Indian market, locally, they are still working on the old SIEM structure. It is a very generic SIEM model. Western countries, especially North American clients, are advanced in terms of moving the infrastructure to the cloud. Some have OT security and they're also doing some Office 365 advancements and several advanced search engines for endpoint detection.

They are expecting that nothing is left behind without using any licenses. Microsoft provides part of the security services if you go with the EFI license.

As vendors, we need to counter with the important visibility areas, and the critical access, which needs to be monitored as part of security. 

I would rate IBM QRadar a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. reseller
PeerSpot user
reviewer1590123 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Security Engineer at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Effective data correlation features, scalable, and helpful technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "One of the most valuable features of this solution is it has very good data correlation."
  • "In a future release, the solution could provide malware analysis."

What is our primary use case?

This a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution and we use it for many purposes.

What is most valuable?

One of the most valuable features of this solution is it has very good data correlation.

What needs improvement?

In a future release, the solution could provide malware analysis.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for approximately three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is good and we have approximately 200 users using this solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support has been very good in my experience.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is a license required for this solution. There are some limitations depending on what license you purchase.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution.

I rate IBM QRadar an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Vice President at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Provides a complete platform for log ingestion, correlations and runtime
Pros and Cons
  • "The product provides a complete platform for ingesting the log, doing the correlations and handling the runtime."
  • "The solution should enhance its capabilities of UEBA and AI/ML tech modeling."

What is most valuable?

The product provides a very defined solution. It provides a complete platform for ingesting the log, doing the correlations and handling the runtime.

What needs improvement?

The solution should enhance its capabilities of UEBA and AI/ML tech modeling.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using IBM QRadar for approximately four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

IBM QRadar is a very stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is very scalable and this can be done to a number of endpoints and towers. However, this is not very feasible, as it depends on the available in-house infrastructure. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is very helpful. They are very knowledgeable. While the geographic location can sometimes pose a challenge, my overall experience with the technical support team has been very positive.

How was the initial setup?

The complexity of the initial setup is intermediate. It is neither straightforward nor complex but somewhere in the middle. A person with experience working in a security operation center and who is experienced with correlation rules and use cases can directly configure into the solution. 

What other advice do I have?

Someone considering implementing IBM QRadar should possess a good knowledge of his own infrastructure. He should have all the documents in place. While IBM provides very good implementation support, a complete inventory and technology detail is required, in respect of how the application is flowing, how the infrastructure is connected, and the version and inventory relationship.

I rate IBM QRadar as an eight out of ten. 

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Information Security Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Easy to set up but support is lacking
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup of QRadar is not complex because we have done it before and we are used to the development. It is getting easier all the time."
  • "The solution is highly used here in Pakistan and in many sectors, they could improve it by having more SIEM connectors."

What is our primary use case?

There are many use cases for this solution. One example is we are using this solution to monitor user site access to band sites. 

What needs improvement?

The solution is highly used here in Pakistan and in many sectors, they could improve it by having more SIEM connectors.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for approximately four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is good until you upgrade to a new version. You have to properly shut down services when you are doing some maintenance activities every three to four months. There might be some problems that you do not expect. We have had some complaints from users regarding operation. 

How are customer service and technical support?

We have had bad experiences with support from IBM. We are not satisfied with the support and they have made me very angry. My customers have had similar experiences.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of QRadar is not complex because we have done it before and we are used to the development. It is getting easier all the time.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is a license required for this solution and it is an annual payment. I have found all solutions in the category to be expensive, including Splunk.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I am evaluating Splunk.

What other advice do I have?

Here in Pakistan, this solution has already saturated the financial market.

I rate IBM QRadar a five out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free IBM Security QRadar Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: September 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free IBM Security QRadar Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.