AlienVault® Unified Security Management®
(USM) delivers threat detection, incident response, and compliance
management in one unified platform. It is designed to combine all the essential security
capabilities needed for effective security monitoring across cloud and
on-premises environments, including SIEM, intrusion detection, vulnerability
management, as well as continuous threat intelligence updates. The vendor states that even for resource-limited IT
security teams, AlienVault…
$1,075
per month
IBM Security QRadar SOAR
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
IBM Security® QRadar® SOAR is designed to help your security team respond to cyberthreats with confidence, automate with intelligence and collaborate with consistency. It guides your team in resolving incidents by codifying established incident response processes into dynamic playbooks.
N/A
Pricing
AlienVault USM
IBM Security QRadar SOAR
Editions & Modules
Essentials
$1,075
per month
Standard
$1,695
per month
Premium
$2,595
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AlienVault USM
IBM Security QRadar SOAR
Free Trial
Yes
No
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Yes
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
Optional
No setup fee
Additional Details
—
Usage-based pricing: This simple, scalable option allows starting small with an initial users and capabilities and scaling up as more users are added, as well as capabilities and data.
Enterprise-wide pricing: This option is based on either the size of the enterprise-wide IT infrastructure or the size and type of data sources being secured.
At this point I'm saying a 4. While the marketing material make it appear to be easy to use and it was relatively easy to set up, as previously mentioned, each event description is based upon the individual asset making it nearly impossible for the administrator to be a SME for each asset. For example, if one of the assets reporting is a router, the administrator monitoring alerts would need to know what the various events are that can be triggered as an event for the particular router; however, if the asset is a workstation, the administrator would need to know the various events that are triggered for workstations.
IBM Security QRadar SOAR is versatile. All the major players in SOAR field require the administrator to have coding experience but with IBM it is different. IBM's solution is a full-fledged automation solution, and not some threat-based or limited one. Meaning whatever comes to your mind, if you can write the code, you can do it. This goes from daily tasks from SOC to daily tasks of your network or security administrator or any other administrator. You can manage your ITSM solution if you want to, IBM is a playground and there is much to discover in its capabilities. If you do not have the knowledge or if you want a SOC/Threat Based SOAR solution, meaning you want automation but you want it to be limited to an area and out-of-box, you may choose other alternatives.
AlienVault USM is simple and easy to deploy. Sensors can be deployed in as little as 15 minutes through the setup wizard.
The USM UI is easy to understand. I've trained multiple analysts who are able to perform their duties on their first day, in part because of USM Anywhere's ease of use.
Top-notch built-in compliance templates and reporting features.
QRadar's ability to collect, analyze and normalize vast amount of security data from various sources is remarkable.
QRadar allows us to define and automate incident response playbooks which have been amazing for streamlining the response to security incidents.
It offers and extensive library of pre-built connectors and support for common security standards facilitating seamless integration with a wide range of security tools.
Personally, I've wished I could purchase a service that would configure AV for my environment. I get a lot of traffic on a daily basis and I almost need to hire an analyst that just works on AV.
Some of the filters when looking for a specific alert aren't that easy to use.
The centralized logging and retention for PCI compliance was our main driver, and it is meeting that need. Otherwise there has been enough frustration with the lack of documentation and the need to customize through the CLI that I would be open to alternatives.
I'd rate my likelihood of renewing the use of IBM Security QRadar SOAR as an 8 out of 10. Its strong automation, customization, and integration capabilities make it highly valuable for incident response and cybersecurity research. However, occasional complexity and the need for more streamlined usability prevent it from being a perfect score.
Once you are able to navigate the different panels, finding what you need is quite easily. Before getting used it it can be a bit of challenge . Each panel is quite well laid out and the filtering search capabilities are quite strong.
I would rate IBM Security QRadar SOAR's overall usability a 7 out of 10. The interface is quite functional and offers a wide range of features, but it can be somewhat complex and intimidating for beginners. Additionally, the configuration and customization can require a significant learning curve, especially for those without prior experience with security orchestration and automation platforms.
We do have issues with maintenance on the AlienVault USM as the disk fills up from time to time with other data sources. Sources for scanning logs and net flow data isn't calculated in regular disk maintenance and can easily fill up our disk if we do not keep an eye on it with some custom Nagios plugins. The system does properly trim logging data from logging sources properly.
I would rate IBM Security QRadar SOAR's availability as 9 out of 10. The platform is highly reliable, with minimal unplanned outages or application errors, ensuring it’s available when needed. However, occasional minor maintenance periods or rare connectivity issues prevent it from achieving a perfect score in terms of availability.
With the latest release of AlienVault USM overall performance has not been an issue. We have noticed single source events per second does not scale well with the overall system. 2,000eps on a vmware system with a single source produces delays of up to an hour for us. Pages, reporting and even raw log searches are rather quick though.
I would rate IBM Security QRadar SOAR's performance as 8 out of 10. Pages generally load quickly, and reports complete in a reasonable time frame, even for complex data. While integration with other systems is smooth, there can be occasional slowdowns when handling very large datasets or during peak usage, which affects the perfect score.
The support we received from alienvault was excellent. They went above and beyond in making sure everything was working as it needed to be. They REALLY want their product implementation to be a success and our security goals be achieved. They are like a member of our security team.
I would rate IBM Security QRadar SOAR's support an 8 out of 10. The support team is knowledgeable, responsive, and generally provides helpful solutions. However, there can be occasional delays when addressing more complex issues, which prevents it from being a perfect score. Overall, the support experience has been positive.
I did not have any experience with "in person" training directly. The free online classes offered for a half a day are based on the actual training offered. These little teasers are very good and well worth your time to learn a few quick and dirty ways of getting more information from your SIEM
It was very well organized and helpful in using the product to the fullest extent. The instructor allowed time for folks who were involved with managed services to receive tuning tips in order to better support their customers. In addition, the course materials were automatically updated when the new version came out.
AlienVault USM was a very simple to implement and get up and running. We started with a trial version and had that up and going within an hour of receiving email instructions from the sales engineer. We never had to contact support to get the system up and going. It was extremely easy to convert over to a full license once we started with a paid version.
I would rate my satisfaction with the implementation of IBM Security QRadar SOAR as 7 out of 10. The process was generally straightforward, supported by helpful documentation and responsive support. However, certain advanced configurations proved more challenging and required more technical effort than anticipated, making the overall experience less seamless.
Splunk's ES is a paid add-on on top of an already pricey product. Finding a MSSP that supports Splunk and isn't a 6 figure annual commitment seems unlikely. LogRhythm did not have a cloud-based solution when we were considering SIEMs. Fantastic product though and have a good MSSP base. Devo did not have a MSSP partner base when we looked. Their product is fantastic too. AlienVault USM has good partners to choose from as well as an affordable cloud model, that's why we chose it.
Overall, IBM Security QRadar SOAR offered the same set of functionality that was needed by the organization as offered by Splunk SOAR, but the former is less expensive and solves all the purpose within budget. In addition, integration with other IBM products was easier and made implementation of a SOAR solution much faster.
The AlienVault USM is not very scalable. Some scalability can be achieved by installing additional sensors, but this only offers 500eps per sensor and is still overall limited by the installation type of VM or physical. We have also noticed the EPS (events per second) is rated overall and not towards a single source. A single source on a very healthy VMware partition tops out at 2,000eps for us, no matter how we configure it. Maybe this is a problem of the 5.2 release?
I would rate IBM Security QRadar SOAR's overall scalability as 9 out of 10. It effectively scales to handle large volumes of incidents and can be deployed across multiple departments or sites. Its architecture supports growing data and integration needs, but advanced configuration for larger deployments may require more effort, preventing a perfect score.
Once you hit the 150 asset mark, you have to jump to their unlimited license. There is no middle ground. We were only 10 or so assets above the 150 so we had to chose to either not monitor those assets or pay the price of the upgrade.
AlienVault brings all the information to one place which makes it much quicker to track down problems.
