The initial setup was complex, it took roughly a year.

I rate it a seven out of ten.

With regard to the deployment process, we conducted a PO. The POC was conducted initially only for the primary network devices, and then gradually we rolled it down for the production servers and to the other parts of the data center.

Deploying IBM Guardium Data Protection was a little bit difficult for us because of the limited resources available here in Pakistan. Very few people can implement the solution successfully in their organizations because of a lack of experience. There are only two or three organizations here that have implemented IBM Guardium Data Protection, and our organization is one of those.

The people who handled the deployment of the solution within the company weren't experienced at deploying IBM Guardium Data Protection, so we faced some difficulties, but at the end of the day, all teams worked very, very passionately. It took us almost six months to deploy the solution within our organization.

We coordinated with different teams about server availability, connection availability, and database integration with IBM Guardium Data Protection to complete the implementation of the solution.

Setting up Guardium is straightforward. The time needed for deployment depends on the number of databases you're onboarding. It could take two or three months for a hundred databases. However, it might take much longer if you have thousands. It doesn't require much maintenance if you deploy and monitor it correctly. You need to do a lot of maintenance if not. 

The deployment requires trained people because it's complex. It's better to go with the vendor for implementation because they are specialized.  

The deployment is not complex and we currently have four users of this product.

The initial setup process is user-friendly. The deployment time depends on different components, including the collector, SAP agent, immediate and integrator, central manager, deployment size, scalability needs, and specific business use cases. It's relatively easy to implement, but the organization's specific requirements determine the simplicity or complexity. The number of databases to be observed, data classification criteria, and the desired role implementations are crucial considerations. It requires one or two engineers and analysts to execute the process. They are responsible for installing and configuring the components, including agents and collectors. After that, we can collect the logs from the database based on rules and policies to analyze them. It is easy to maintain as well.

I wasn't involved in the very initial setup, but it had only been configured for a little while and then I was brought on and helped expand the environment.

For my part, it was pretty complex with what we had in our environment. I made sure we were using the discovery, seeing what we had out there, making sure we're meeting all the regulations that we need to meet. There was also building the reports so the auditors can get the information they need.

The setup for IBM Guardium Data Protection was not that complicated. It was easy.

IBM Security Guardium Data Protection is easy to set up and maintain.

Our initial setup was pretty straightforward because we were just figuring out how it worked. Over the last two years, we have introduced our own complexities to accommodate our requirements. Would I say that it is complex to us today? No. To the average Guardium user? Yes, it would be complex.

The initial setup is quite complex so we used IBM professional services for implementation. We're still in the process of deploying, it's taking a while. That doesn't reflect on the solution; we're very lean with staff and I think that's probably the issue.

The process of installation and management of the solution is very easy. You can ask for IBM's expertise, since they have been using this for years. The implementation does not really need more than three months under normal conditions.

The initial setup needs a lot of coordination and effort. It also requires an information security officer to identify the risk levels of the applications. Monitoring requires a dedicated infrastructure team. We carried out the deployment in-house. Implementation time depends on the degree to which you want to scale and what you're using it for. 

Deployment requires admin support, enterprise-level LDAP authentication services, and application leads. Depending on your infrastructure, you may also require an information security officer and security team as well as security engineers.

The initial setup is straightforward.

If I remember correctly, the setup was a bit complex; not so much the installation, but a lot of tweaking and tuning of policies, setting up traffic filters, whitelisting the traffic, and so on.

It was pretty straightforward.

I was not involved in the initial setup.

The initial setup of IBM Guardium is straightforward. The deployment depends on the organization and types of servers. The only delay is when there are critical data servers that require a planned approach. 

You can deploy the solution by pushing it through a central aggregator or a collector.

Most of the time, the deployment process is straightforward. There is a specific process which isn't too complicated or difficult. The amount of maintenance that will be required depends on the deployment. When we set up the solution, we usually try to optimize it so that it requires little maintenance. 

The installation is not straightforward at all. In fact, it is very, very complicated. We found the process to be quite difficult to handle. The hardest part is the tuning of the system, to make it work right.

The initial setup is quite easy. It's not an issue and is very straightforward. That said, teamwork becomes an issue due to the fact that the troubleshooting part is a little bit difficult. We need to have some more insights from IBM to help us along. 

If you are new to the product, you need to have a more qualified person to assist you with the process, and ultimately we have to engage with technical support. The response is not fast, however. The product is a critical part of our environment, so we need a rapid response from the site to sort out the issue, whatever it might be.

We have two people currently managing the product.

You only need one person to deploy the product.

I was not involved in the initial setup, my manager was. But I have been involved with the latest versions. Initially, from 32-bit to 64-bit was a nightmare, but the latest 64-bit versions are pretty straightforward.

We were somewhat new to it. When it first came out we had it brought in for testing. In the initial stage, the documentation was not very good on the mainframe side. But once we installed it... it was very easy to install in the mainframe side. On the open systems side, and the person supporting it, he has to be more skilled and more knowledgeable of the product, so I can't speak for him.

The installations are complex. They take several days.

It was extremely complex. Without IBM support it would take years for you to setup infrastructure.

The initial setup process is straightforward. It can be deployed on-premise and in the cloud. It takes an hour to complete deployment.

The initial setup isn't complex, and it takes about four or five days depending on your environment.

Initial setup is very easy to perform . this has only 4 level architecture (Central Manager-->Aggregator-->Collector-->Guardium STAP agent)

We had IBM appliances, which made it very easy to add. 

We added it to the virtual machine.

The installation was complete in 20 minutes.

The initial setup was before me.

We are doing what we call a reboot of the product. We are calling it the Guardium reboot project. We are starting back with the classifications to understand what controls we are implementing, thus stepping back to step forward. We are doing this because in the beginning we moved forward by getting everything monitored without being smart about what data was monitored.

It can be complex. The documentation is in so many different locations, and a lot of times we have to leverage support and higher level resources to figure out the right steps to take.

A lot of it was just knowing where to put all the S-TAPs. There was a lack of skill set on our implementation team, so IBM had a partner come in and help. There was that gap of knowledge that had to be crossed, and once the skill set was built it performed a lot cleaner.

The initial setup is straightforward and takes a short time to install.

Since it comes as an appliance, it's kind of plug and play. I can't be too precise, but it only takes around two hours to initialize the virtual appliance.

It is not complex now. Prior to version 11, in general, the console and the environment were not good. They were bad, but they are good in version 11. The deployment duration varies, and complete integration in Windows can take three weeks to two months.

I found the initial setup to be complex. There are a lot of connections between different components and it is not straightforward. Our deployment took approximately three days.

If you know it, it's pretty straightforward. Otherwise, there is a little learning curve.

The initial setup was complex.

The initial setup is a little complex and requires some effort. It generally involves some customization and configuring and will require good online support. If you have a fair idea of the customer environment I don't think it takes a long time. There is very little, if any, maintenance required if the solution has been configured properly.

The initial setup was pretty straightforward.

The installation of the database, itself, is very easy and straightforward. 

The initial setup involves configuring the database connection with Guardium so that it monitors it correctly. It also depends whether you want to deploy the protection method or not, which means that you need to deploy the S-TAP agent on the service where the database resides.

Beyond that, most of the configuration is in the policy, itself. This changes based on what you would like to monitor, what you want to prevent, and what kind of queries you want to block. For me, fine-tuning the policy is one of the most important elements of the implementation. It also depends on the customer's knowledge, and whether the customer knows exactly what he needs. Some customers want you to not only deploy the system but also to create the policy. You have to translate their internal policy into a configuration, which can really take a long time.

When you deploy using the basic implementation, it is usually only a week or two before you get complaints from the customer. They don't see the value in the solution because they are overwhelmed. So, fine-tuning the policy takes time, and it should be taken very seriously and with care.

If the customer knows exactly what he needs then the deployment can be done in two weeks.

In terms of maintenance, it does not require a staff member full time. One person can dedicate perhaps three hours a day for monitoring, reporting, and doing a health check of the system. We sometimes offer visits to customer sites daily or weekly. For example, we can assist the customer for two hours per week to monitor the system and ensure that everything is working properly. It really doesn't require much work.

Guardium is an enterprise class product and, with that, does require some training. I would suggest any enterprise looking to implement Guardium to purchase some amount of services. There is an option for Quickstarts. Once you understand how the agents work and have setup the first few, the rest are relatively simple. The real work is aligning your business goals with the Guardium policies you create. We often know we need to monitor a system but are not exactly sure what policy is needed. There has to be collaboration between IT, business owners, and compliance.

The setup was not straightforward. There was some level of complexity in setting it up.

It was straightforward.

Initial setup was straightforward.

It is very complex.

Pushing agents and tabs seems pretty standard from a technical perspective. Once you start interacting with people's databases, they get very hesitant. Then, the amount of social tasks to socialize the solution ensuring people are comfortable with it became a much heavier lift.

I was not directly involved but I was involved somewhat since I had worked with some of the systems in the past, so maybe some requirements gathering.

The setup seemed pretty straightforward to me.

The setup is straightforward. There is an ISO file that is developed by IBM that contains all of the OS and Guardium application files. All that remains to be done is to configure the post-installation settings.

It is very dependent on the environment in which it is being installed. It can be complex if users do not take the time to build their policies carefully.

The installation and configuration of a collector is simple and straightforward. The ease of deployment is dependent on whether you choose agent-based monitoring or network traffic, SPAN-based monitoring.

The initial setup will be straightforward for those with technical experience but may be more challenging for less experienced users.

The solution is good and stable but you need some manual efforts in terms of development and programming or coding to get the solution up and running, which does make it a bit challenging if you don't have a large team.

It's very easy.

Initial setup is straightforward. All the commands are simple to understand. The installation guide is simple and comprehensive.

Setting up Guardium was easy and straightforward. 

IBM Guardium Data Protection's installation is straightforward and takes a few hours.

For those who do not have experience, it is complex. There are several configurations to be made, from the configuration of NTP, IP, Mask, registration of the Collectors in the Central Manager, integration with other tools like storage (backup), LDAP, SIEM, through to the application of the policies and customized rules. Note: There are some pre-set rules that can also be customized.

Encryption is not straightforward, but Guardium made the setup easy for us.

It was straightforward.

The setup was very easy. It took us around one day to set it up and running.

The initial setup is straightforward. It took about a month for me to get started on it. I used the resources from the security learning academy to begin.

The length of time required for deployment depends on the scale and the internal processes. The largest that I have done took more than a year to complete, although these clients have lots of stuff happening in their environment that had to be taken care of. At times, things like this put us off of our schedule.

The initial setup is relatively simple. It depends on how many collectors and aggregators are in the setup and the number of databases included in the monitoring solution.

After the initial setup, the level of complexity depends on the customer’s needs.

The initial setup was basic and easy and didn't take much time.