Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025
Splunk Observability Cloud and Google Kubernetes Engine compete in the domain of cloud monitoring and management. Splunk appears to have the upper hand due to its extensive analytic capabilities, whereas GKE offers ease of containerized environment deployments.
Features: Splunk Observability Cloud provides extensive data collection, log searching, and robust monitoring features. Users can customize dashboards and integrate with various tools for infrastructure insights. In contrast, Google Kubernetes Engine focuses on container management, offering strong autoscaling, load-balancing features, and seamless Google Cloud integration.
Room for Improvement: Splunk Observability Cloud is perceived as complex with a need for improved solution integration and less manual configuration. Cost is also a notable concern. GKE, on the other hand, could enhance its documentation clarity and expand third-party application support. Cluster management efficiency improvements are also recommended.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Splunk Observability Cloud supports on-premises, hybrid, and public cloud deployments and receives positive customer support feedback, albeit with occasional delays. GKE supports public and private clouds with varying customer service responsiveness due to understaffing.
Pricing and ROI: Splunk Observability Cloud is often critiqued for high costs, yet it delivers substantial ROI through improved operational efficiencies. GKE provides good value with scalable and cost-effective compute models, offering flexible pricing across business sizes.
