IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

IBM and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. IBM is ranked #55 with an average rating of 6.0, while SolarWinds is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.3. IBM holds a 0.2% mindshare in APM, compared to SolarWinds’s 1.7% mindshare. Additionally, 50% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

IBM Tivoli Composite Applic...

Read 2 IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager reviews

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334 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Read 42 SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor reviews

3,793 Views
2,563 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

IBM Tivoli Composite Applic...

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager and SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor are two leading solutions in server and application monitoring. Users are generally happier with the features and user reviews of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor, while IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager receives more positive feedback for pricing and customer support.

What features are offered by IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager is valued for its extensive monitoring capabilities, integration with other IBM tools, and robust alerting system. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor provides a comprehensive feature set, ease of customization, and in-depth performance metrics. Users find SolarWinds features more intuitive and easier to use.

What areas of improvement can be found in IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager could improve in simplicity, ease of setup, and better documentation and support resources. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor could enhance scalability, real-time monitoring accuracy, and offer a more transparent pricing model.

How is the ease of deployment and customer service of IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager experiences a more complex deployment process, which can be time-consuming without expert assistance. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor offers straightforward setup and user-friendly deployment. IBM provides extensive support options, whereas SolarWinds is noted for its responsive and helpful customer service team.

What setup costs and ROI can be seen with IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager tends to have a higher initial setup cost and requires more investment in skilled personnel for optimal deployment, though users acknowledge long-term ROI in managing large-scale environments. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor provides a more cost-effective solution with quicker ROI due to lower setup costs and faster deployment times.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

April 2025

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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 Tivoli Composite Applic...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

55th

Average Rating

6.6

Reviews Sentiment

4.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

16th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (9th), Active Directory Management (12th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager is 0.2%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 1.7%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Christian Campos

Sales manager at Prodeo Innovation

Integrates well with IBM technologies, but it's outdated and lacks essential features

Implementing synthetic monitoring for our Internet banking site has been challenging. The installation process is difficult, requiring continuous support and specialist expertise due to our limited knowledge of managing it effectively. I have concerns about the complexity of the tool and the challenges in managing it effectively. The support provided is not satisfactory, and the specialists available lack sufficient training and expertise in using the tool.

Read full review

Subhajit Nag

Senior Process Associate at Tata Consultancy Services

The component and cable monitoring features are good, but the interface is slow

SolarWinds' interface is slow, and this is a global concern. Every SolarWinds user complains about the sluggishness. The response is slow. If you browse from one page to another, you have to wait. Our company is a massive user with plenty of licenses, so the performance issues could be due to the load per license. Ten thousand components can be mapped under one license. So SolarWinds needs to take care of the speed problem. It cannot be this slow. That is a huge complaint. Otherwise, the tool is good. It should also be easier to upgrade SolarWinds. AppDynamics is harder to deploy but easier to upgrade. So AppDynamics takes a lot of time and effort to install, but you can upgrade it in minutes. SolarWinds is the opposite. It's easy to deploy, but upgrades take forever. To date, nobody can complete it on time, so the production environment is sitting idle. The upgrade time matters because you only install the solution once, but you'll need to upgrade the solution repeatedly over the life of the product. A complex installation isn't an issue, but I mind if the upgrade takes too long because it's already in production.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is very stable. We never had any issues with stability."

"IBM's main value lies in its integration with its own technologies, which can be seen as a benefit in environments where IBM products are extensively used."

"The initial setup was relatively easy, and we didn't have to install anything. All we had to do was put on the devices we wanted to monitor."

"I'd rate technical support at eight out of ten. They are helpful and fast."

"The features like trends, capacity planning, recommendations, and diagnostics are the main items I focus on for added value."

"Monitoring the components on your devices with out of the box monitors or the ability to create new ones (SAM)"

"The graphical interfaces, GUI customizations, and alert configurations are impressive."

"The more valuable feature of this solution is the Exchange feature."

"The most beneficial aspect of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is its ability to monitor at the application level."

"Monitoring of processes and services is the most valuable feature. It is not necessarily just the server alone in terms of the CPU or the memory. We can go in-depth into services and processes."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

Cons

"The user interface was not good."

"The installation process is difficult, requiring continuous support and specialist expertise due to our limited knowledge of managing it effectively."

"This product has no real downside unless they fail to continue development of its capabilities."

"The product needs to reduce its price."

"I would like to see support for non-Windows or non-Microsoft domains, especially Apache and other non-Windows servers."

"I think they need to make reporting easier and more simple & dynamic."

"The tool’s report feature created issues for us. We needed to gain skills to use that feature. The tool’s customization is not easy since you have to reconfigure the whole system."

"One product area that could benefit from improvement is the synchronization of licensing periods across different modules"

"Mapping interactions between systems."

"Nodes in Azure are able to be monitored with the use of agents, but this does not apply to cloud service offerings that are not node based."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the pricing a nine to ten. It is very expensive."

"We are on an annual license to use the solution. The price of the solution is expensive. The price is based on a bunch of factors, such as the number of engines and elements."

"Nagios XI, WhatsUpGold, Uptime Software, PRTG, Manage Engine, and SpiceWorks are the other tools that have lower pricing and licensing costs. However, they can't compete with SolarWinds when it comes to the features and functionality that SolarWinds can provide."

"I think SolarWinds' pricing is very decent compared to other competitors in the market."

"Understanding the counts of objects to monitor will determine the licensing need. In terms of pricing, it’s not cheap but it’s not expensive as larger vendors whose products don’t have all the features or integrations."

"The solution is overpriced in terms of application management."

"SAM is not per server so the pricing model can be deceiving. If you have an enterprise environment, you will quickly exceed your licensing quickly. You should know this before going in."

"Pricing is inexpensive, starting at 2440 euros. For that, you get the ability to monitor a couple of nodes and one year of maintenance and support."

"Price can always be lower. It is neither on the expensive side nor on the cheap side. We have worked with them for a lot of years, so we get a discount due to the size of the installation."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

41%

Computer Software Company

Healthcare Company

Government

Educational Organization

40%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager?

IBM's main value lies in its integration with its own technologies, which can be seen as a benefit in environments where IBM products are extensively used.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager?

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager?

I would rate IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager a six out of ten. The monitoring tool we currently use is outdated and lacks essential features for monitoring customer experience. We face lim...

See all answers

What do you like most about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

Identifying the problem statement is easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

The initial cost is quite high, but the renewal cost is reasonable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

There are no specific features or functionality I would like to see improved or enhanced in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor at this time. I have not encountered any missing features or fu...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dynatrace vs IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager

Compared 29% of the time

IBM Instana Observability vs IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager

Compared 21% of the time

Azure Monitor vs IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager

Compared 18% of the time

Catchpoint vs IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager

Compared 16% of the time

IBM Application Performance Management vs IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager

Compared 16% of the time

More IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager Competitors

Azure Monitor vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 18% of the time

Dynatrace vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 18% of the time

Splunk AppDynamics vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 12% of the time

Prometheus Group vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 8% of the time

Zabbix vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 5% of the time

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

April 2025

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager report

Download IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

March 2025

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

Also Known As

Tivoli Composite Application Manager

SolarWinds SAM

Overview

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager for Application Diagnostics on z/OS manages real-time problem detection, analysis, and repair to help maintain the availability, performance and general health of on-demand composite applications. it can gain in-depth diagnostic information for specific application requests to identify the root cause of problems. This software provides a consistent way to manage composite applications throughout Java EE application environments. Set alerts to help detect and fix potentially troublesome situations before they affect users. It can resolve performance issues faster and reduce downtime costs.

IBM

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) delivers powerful application and server monitoring capabilities for IT pros, enabling them to diagnose and troubleshoot performance issues faster. Do not let slow applications and downtime impact your end-users and business services. Pinpoint the root cause of application issues across various layers of the IT stack. SolarWinds SAM is affordable and easy to deploy, use, and customize. You can automatically discover your system's environment and start monitoring in about an hour. No professional services or consultation needed.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Michelin Tire Corp

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

Buyer's Guide

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

April 2025

Free Report: IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

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