Microsoft System Center vs Splunk Observability Cloud comparison

Microsoft and Splunk are both solutions in the Cloud Monitoring Software category. Microsoft is ranked #24 with an average rating of 7.8, while Splunk is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.6. Microsoft holds a 0.2% mindshare in CMS, compared to Splunk’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Splunk users who would recommend it.

Microsoft System Center

Read 19 Microsoft System Center reviews

163 Views
87 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Splunk Observability Cloud

Read 50 Splunk Observability Cloud reviews

998 Views
596 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Microsoft System Center

Splunk Observability Cloud

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 6, 2025

Microsoft System Center and Splunk Observability Cloud are major players in IT management and monitoring. Splunk has the upper hand with its extensive data handling and multi-cloud monitoring capabilities, suited for detailed analytics.

Features: Microsoft System Center offers seamless integration with Microsoft products, excels in automation, and efficiently discovers environments, making Microsoft Intune compatibility straightforward. Splunk Observability Cloud stands out for its comprehensive log analytics, custom dashboards, and robust application performance monitoring. It integrates well with diverse data sources, providing extensive visibility across environments.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft System Center faces challenges in integrating with non-Microsoft products and its installation process can be complex. Improvements are needed in its GUI responsiveness and documentation. Splunk Observability Cloud could enhance data transfer assurance, user interface customization, and cost-effectiveness while improving documentation support for on-premises deployments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft System Center predominantly supports on-premises deployment, needing substantial technical support that occasionally lacks responsiveness and incurs high costs. Splunk Observability Cloud offers both on-premises and cloud deployments, but users find its technical support engagement costly and sometimes insufficient. Both solutions are noted for their setup complexity, with Splunk leaning towards a cloud-centric approach.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft System Center is perceived as costly, requiring additional support contracts, yet delivers ROI through improved automation and in-house management. Splunk Observability Cloud is considered expensive, impacting long-term cost considerations despite flexible licensing for cloud features. Its pricing is a barrier, but users perceive its advanced capabilities as justifiable, with potential for higher ROI due to its extensive data handling.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft System Center vs. Splunk Observability Cloud Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft System Center vs. Splunk Observability Cloud

February 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

Microsoft System Center

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

24th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Infrastructure (13th)

Splunk Observability Cloud

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

9th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (11th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (9th), Container Management (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Cloud Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Microsoft System Center is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk Observability Cloud is 1.1%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Ajinkya Mohod

System Security Engineer at Punch Powertrain nv

Makes user management and application management easy for users

Speaking about the impact of the automation feature that impacted our company's operational efficiency, I can say that the complete tool works on automation. You just have to configure it, and it works, especially in areas like auto-patching updates. I suggest that others can definitely go ahead with Microsoft System Center, especially beginners who choose it, can get hands-on experience with it, and acquire a good understanding of how things work. In terms of the value and benefits derived from the use of the solution, I can say that my company's operations have been made simpler because of the product, especially in areas like user management and application management where we have been benefited a lot. I rate the tool a nine out of ten.

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Lakshmi Padaga

Java Developer at U.S. Bank

Collaborates performance metrics with log data to pinpoint the exact cause of issues and offers error detection

Splunk APM is a robust tool with many capabilities. There are always areas for potential improvement to enhance its functionality and user experience. For Splunk APM, there could be simplified navigation, like streamlining the user interface to make navigation more intuitive for our users, especially those new to APM, which can enhance usability. We can provide more customization options for dashboards and visualizations to help users tailor the platform to their specific needs. There could be more integration capabilities with a wider range of third-party tools and platforms would also be beneficial. By focusing on these areas, Splunk APM can enhance its value proposition, improve user satisfaction, and better meet the evolving needs of organizations monitoring their application performance.

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 features that I have found most valuable are the ease of configuration and the easy discovery of the environment."

"The detail in the alarms is great."

"The deployment and asset management features are the most valuable. These are the product's main features."

"Managment Packs for Microsoft-specific products, help us implement the best practices for each product."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft System Center is its GUI (graphical user interface)."

"It can generate KPIs and management reports with monthly presentations on activities and updating the environment (success and failure)."

"We like Microsoft System Center's Operations Manager. That is primarily why we use it."

"The installation process is easy."

More Microsoft System Center pros

"The solution's basic visibility is one of its most valuable features. So, it is a solution that is easy to use...The solution's initial setup process was straightforward."

"The most beneficial aspect of Splunk APM is the ATM, which is the map displaying the inbound and outbound relationships of the microservices, as well as the traffic between these dependencies. This feature provides us with valuable insights and helps us understand the interactions between different microservices."

"It has been beneficial for our IT infrastructure."

"The alerts are the most valuable feature."

"We haven't really experienced any glitches or bugs."

"The most valuable feature is log reporting."

"The most valuable feature in this solution is the log searching."

"The solution's most valuable aspect is its ability to get information about all of the security measurements in my environment."

More Splunk Observability Cloud pros

Cons

"The platform's performance could be improved. Additionally, its UI needs to be well-upgraded and work faster."

"Microsoft System Center should be easier to manage. However, it is complex to deploy, so people hesitate to use it. Though it has many features, such as licensing, asset tracking, and software deployment, we mainly use it for Windows updates. It protects many screens and integrates with databases, but it's complex compared to other solutions. Many now use cloud-based products or other tools like Automox to deploy updates and manage vulnerabilities."

"Could be more user friendly."

"System Center hasn't updated to keep up with the industry. It needs improvements in the user interface, ease of use, and overall product functionality, particularly the cloud-monitoring features. It needs more capabilities to monitor AWS and Azure infrastructure."

"The multi-tenancy support needs to be improved. We need to have the ability to manage several different environments from one central point of administration."

"The solution’s pricing could be improved."

"For me, the tool's UI seems to be too old."

"The solution's dashboard needs improvement."

More Microsoft System Center cons

"The dashboards are used mainly to visualize information about the infrastructure, but it isn't easy to construct or use the dashboards. While we tried to resolve the issue by calling support, it would be easier if they had an AI co-pilot to identify the problem and help you solve it."

"The deployment can be quite complex."

"The security could be better."

"There are always areas for potential improvement to enhance its functionality and user experience."

"A wide variety of logging makes log onboarding difficult."

"The UI enhancements could be a way to improve the solution in the future."

"We never had any issues when it comes to the type of use cases we are using it for. We did not need more advancement on it, but I know that, in general, everything can be updated. There are tiny little tweaks that can be made regardless of whether it looks better or has a different flow to it than it does right now, but it works pretty well for what we use it for."

"The product collects a lot of data but it does not assure that it collects all of it."

More Splunk Observability Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft System Center is quite expensive."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."

"It's rolled into our enterprise subscription. The entire subscription is around $25,000 a year, however, that covers all the products that we use."

"I know that sometimes there is some reduction in the prices of Microsoft System Center because of the costs of Microsoft SQL Server, which can be advantageous."

"We maximized our license investment."

"Microsoft System Center's licensing is costly."

"I rate the product price as five to six on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is cheap and ten means it is expensive."

"The solution's pricing is competitive. I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten. The price of the solution could be cheaper."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"Licensing cost is the biggest argument I get from those divesting from Splunk. There are those within our organization who say we are going to go to other tools since Splunk is too expensive."

"I would rate the price of Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring as an eight out of ten, with ten being the most expensive."

"Splunk APM is expensive."

"The product is a bit expensive considering the competition but the company may negotiate the price."

"Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring is an expensive solution."

"Splunk offers a 14-day free trial and after that, we have to pay but the cost is reasonable."

More Splunk Observability Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft System Center?

The product's initial setup phase was easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft System Center?

Microsoft System Center's licensing is costly.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft System Center?

Microsoft System Center should be easier to manage. However, it is complex to deploy, so people hesitate to use it. Though it has many features, such as licensing, asset tracking, and software depl...

See all answers

What do you like most about SignalFx?

The most valuable feature is dashboard creation.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SignalFx?

There is room for improvement in the alerting system, which is complicated and has less documentation available. We sometimes encountered issues in setting up alerts. The custom detector could be m...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for SignalFx?

The main purpose of using Splunk APM is to optimize our application. We use Splunk APM primarily to understand how the application works, how it uses resources, and its response time in connection ...

See all answers

Comparisons

IBM BPM vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 50% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 50% of the time

More Microsoft System Center Competitors

Observe vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 20% of the time

Splunk ITSI (IT Service Intelligence) vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 7% of the time

Dynatrace vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 6% of the time

Rancher Labs vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 4% of the time

ServiceNow IT Operations Management vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 4% of the time

More Splunk Observability Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft System Center

March 2025

Download Microsoft System Center product report

Buyer's Guide

Splunk Observability Cloud

March 2025

Download Splunk Observability Cloud product report

Also Known As

MS System Center

Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring

Overview

System Center helps customers realize the benefits of the Microsoft Cloud Platform by delivering unified management. Experience fast time-to-value with out-of-the-box monitoring, provisioning, configuration, automation, protection and self-service.

Microsoft

Splunk Observability Cloud combines log search, data integration, and dashboards for seamless monitoring, enhancing infrastructure visibility and security. Its cloud integration and scalability support diverse environments, improving operational efficiency.

Splunk Observability Cloud offers comprehensive monitoring tools with user-friendly interfaces, enabling end-to-end infrastructure visibility. Its real-time alerting and predictive capabilities enhance security monitoring, while centralized dashboards provide cross-platform visibility. Users benefit from fast data integration and extensive insights into application performance. Despite its advantages, improvements could be made in integration with other tools, data reliability, scalability, and cost management. Users face challenges in configuration complexity and require better automation and endpoint protection features. Enhancing AI integration, alerts, and adaptation for high-throughput services could further improve usability.

What are the key features of Splunk Observability Cloud?

Log Search: Efficiently search and analyze log data for enhanced insights.
Data Integration: Fast integration across platforms for comprehensive visibility.
Custom Dashboards: Powerful and adaptable dashboards for real-time monitoring.
Cloud Integration: Seamless integration with cloud services for scalable solutions.
Application Performance Monitoring: Advanced tools for improving application performance.

What benefits and ROI should be expected?

Infrastructure Monitoring: Improved visibility and monitoring across infrastructure components.
Operational Efficiency: Enhancements in data analysis lead to efficient operations.
Business Resilience: Supports adaptability and swift responses to changing needs.
Security Management: Enhances threat identification and response through real-time alerts.
Compliance Support: Aids in meeting compliance and auditing requirements effectively.

In industries like finance and healthcare, Splunk Observability Cloud is implemented for application performance monitoring and infrastructure metrics. Its ability to track incidents and analyze machine data benefits network infrastructure, while distributed tracing and log analysis aid in tackling security threats. Organizations often integrate it for compliance and auditing purposes, enhancing visibility into network traffic and optimizing performance.

Splunk

Sample Customers

Kassen_rztliche Vereinigung Nordrhein, Magyar Telekom Nyrt., Adeka, QualCare, Aeriandi, UniCredit Bank d.d., Mostar, Allianz Australia Ltd., Grupo Familia

Sunrun, Yelp, Onshape, Tapjoy, Symphony Commerce, Chairish, Clever, Grovo, Bazaar Voice, Zenefits, Avalara

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft System Center vs. Splunk Observability Cloud

February 2025

Free Report: Microsoft System Center vs. Splunk Observability Cloud

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