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Nagios Core vs SCOM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

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

Nagios Core
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (9th)
SCOM
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
14th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
Event Monitoring (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Nagios Core is 3.4%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SCOM is 2.4%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Nishith-Vyas - PeerSpot reviewer
Valuable reporting and alert system with room for PDF export improvements
The NetEase reporting structure needs improvement, especially the availability report, which is weak. It should be generated automatically with minimal human intervention and should be exportable as a PDF. Besides that, an integrated PDF export feature for reports is necessary. Also, the alert mechanism and graphing mechanism need to be integrated properly into Nagios Core. Currently, integrating these requires advanced Linux knowledge. Integration of more visualization tools like Grafana and Prometheus for better graphing and visualization is also recommended.
MarcMermuys - PeerSpot reviewer
Has efficient monitoring with robust integration capabilities
We use SCOM to configure different monitors using several management packs. It integrates systems like Active Directory and correlates them, and it is used for monitoring and managing systems SCOM allows integration of several systems, providing correlation between different systems such as…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Monitoring with Nagios Core is helpful because it provides immediate alerts if something goes down, such as a server, or wireless router, or if there's a cable break. This allows us to respond promptly to any issues."
"Provides timely notifications."
"The notifications are definitely one of the most valuable features of Nagios Core. We know what to look for and what to expect when things are down."
"I like the way the solution sends alerts and how it keeps on escalating them."
"We mostly use Nagios Core to integrate with Python and Bash Script."
"Nagios Core is stable."
"Dashboard provides monitor of total assets."
"The application performance monitoring feature is valuable."
"It's easy to use."
"It works better than other products I’ve used – namely SolarWinds, which is cumbersome and error prone for web app monitoring. SCOM is not."
"The most valuable feature is the monitoring of Windows and Linux servers."
"The solution primarily drives system information, and I believe it works fine."
"SCOM's most valuable features are the network path feature, reporting, and integration with business intelligence."
"The solution is used for monitoring the hardware inventory. For instance, it helps with the whole operational monitoring view for the company's infrastructure."
"The most valuable feature is the extensibility, as there are really no limits as to what you can do with it."
"Alerts notify the server or service owner of problems, allowing quick decisions or actions to keep the service running based on configured thresholds."
 

Cons

"I believe Nagios Core will need to provide an option for big data platforms in the future."
"The interface could be improved."
"t was a little hard to get our setup represented in the configuration."
"It's not that easy to install the product itself. Also, the UI is a bit hard for regular users to navigate through."
"The alerting mechanism in Nagios Core could be improved."
"The dashboard and monitoring features could be improved."
"There is room for improvement in the graphics."
"The tool needs to improve the integrations."
"The solution should be more user-friendly and offer a better user interface."
"There are some negative points about this product. Sometimes, the capabilities of the software don't appear, and you can't directly see the results. You have to wait for a long period to refresh the policy to push it to the software or other patches."
"System Center just provided upgrade and update features for Windows clients, and Windows systems, and did not support Linux, Android, or iOS, and other operating systems. They need to provide better integration with other operating systems if they don't already."
"The interface is a little bit cumbersome and certain actions could be simplified."
"There could be more integration of SIM in the solution."
"The GI is difficult to work with and the reporting servers are also difficult."
"SCOM is not as straightforward in terms of user interface or general experience, which could be improved."
"SCOM needs to improve its usability."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have saved a lot of time, money, and effort in reducing disaster times, which is owed to Nagios quick alerting."
"The enterprise version has technical support. The version we are using is free."
"We are using the free version of Nagios Core."
"The product is cheaply priced."
"Nagios Core is a cheap solution."
"Most the plugin features are free."
"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The Nagios Core (PNP4Nagios + Core) is free and can be setup by Netadmin within a few hours. The only additional cost is the cloud server."
"The platform is cost-effective due to our existing Microsoft support."
"If you have a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, then this is part of the agreement."
"SCOM's pricing is average."
"Our licensing fees are approximately $30 per user, per month."
"The pricing and licensing are fair."
"SCOM is part of the System Center suite and I am satisfied with the pricing."
"SCOM is very cheap because it's included in the license for the System Center suite, which is around $8,400 per CAL."
"Two customers bought the enterprise agreement with Microsoft and paid for Software Assurance. But few customers don't buy it for Software Assurance. They just buy it and deploy it, and they think that we will be using it for the next five years."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Nagios Core?
What I like about Nagios Core is that it helps me ensure everything is running smoothly by checking the status of hosts and services.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nagios Core?
Nagios Core is a free and open-source product. We don't charge for the product itself, but we charge for the man-hour costs related to installation, configuration, ongoing operation, and maintenance.
What needs improvement with Nagios Core?
The NetEase reporting structure needs improvement, especially the availability report, which is weak. It should be generated automatically with minimal human intervention and should be exportable a...
What do you like most about SCOM?
The tool helps to monitor Windows servers. It offers alerts from a central location.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SCOM?
I am not aware of the exact pricing as it is managed by my supervisor. As an academic institution, we receive substantial discounts.
What needs improvement with SCOM?
SCOM is not as straightforward in terms of user interface or general experience, which could be improved. Additionally, I would like to see a software-as-a-service version in Azure to eliminate the...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
System Center Operations Manager, SCOM 2012
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Airbnb, Cisco, PayPal, FanDuel
Dialog Telekom
Find out what your peers are saying about Nagios Core vs. SCOM and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.