Sentinel vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager comparison

OpenText and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category. OpenText is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.5, while SolarWinds is ranked #36 with an average rating of 7.7. OpenText holds a 2.9% mindshare in SIEM, compared to SolarWinds’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 82% of OpenText users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 82% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Sentinel

Read 17 Sentinel reviews

5,367 Views
5,260 Comparison Views

82% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Security Event M...

Read 27 SolarWinds Security Event Manager reviews

2,192 Views
2,104 Comparison Views

82% willing to recommend

Sentinel

SolarWinds Security Event M...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

SolarWinds Security Event Manager and Sentinel both compete in the security solutions category. Based on user reviews, SolarWinds is noted for its cost-effectiveness and support, while Sentinel is preferred for its advanced features and comprehensive capabilities.

Features: SolarWinds Security Event Manager includes straightforward integration, real-time monitoring, and user-friendly implementation. Sentinel offers extensive reporting tools, advanced threat intelligence, and sophisticated features for complex requirements.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds Security Event Manager could enhance its scalability, alerting system, and up-to-date feature set. Sentinel needs more transparent documentation, streamlined configuration processes, and clarity in user guides.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds Security Event Manager is noted for its seamless deployment process and responsive customer service. Sentinel has comprehensive support but could simplify initial deployment for easier setup.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds Security Event Manager is valued for its affordability and quick return on investment. Sentinel, though higher in initial setup cost, is seen as worth the investment due to its extensive features and long-term benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed Sentinel vs. SolarWinds Security Event Manager Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Sentinel vs. SolarWinds Security Event Manager

March 2026

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Helped 886,174 peers since 2012

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

Sentinel

Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

17th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds Security Event M...

Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

36th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of Sentinel is 2.9%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is 1.0%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Sentinel	2.9%
SolarWinds Security Event Manager	1.0%
Other	96.1%

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

Featured Reviews

Simon Johnston

Manager, Customer Success at Coltek Business Soltuions

Simple antivirus solution integrates well but could improve pricing and currency options

I don't really have experience working with these solutions. I promote them for our clients, but I don't work with them. I can't share my experience with these tools as I make assumptions about that. For both Adlumin and CrowdStrike, both confirm that they're scalable and enterprise-ready and all those kinds of things. We haven't had any specific problem with either of those. We just have a preference for which one we would prefer. If somebody says they want to use a different one from the one that we prefer, then we have to find reasons why they aren't. But scalability is not one of the reasons that one is better over the other. I don't really have advice for people that are looking into using Sentinel; just do your research across what is available. On a scale of one to ten, I rate Sentinel a seven.

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Yashokanth Partkunan

Managed Services Engineer at Loop1 Systems

Has supported client needs efficiently but requires deeper analysis features and faster support

The log analyzing capability of SolarWinds Security Event Manager should go into more depth than the current environment. More modification and enhancements are required on the dashboard side in order to make it closer to optimal performance. From observation and feedback from users, they need more functionality related to monitoring, and in-depth analyzing needs to be improved.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it provides a central locking system for many event sources."

"Sentinel gave us logs to tell us what's going right and wrong in your environment so we could secure the network."

"The solution's Kusto Query Language (KQL) execution time is pretty good."

"The correlation engine allows our clients to generate rules more efficiently."

"If Sentinel is integrated with Identity Manager and User Application Portal, the solution runs simply perfect!"

"One of the most valuable features is the business intelligence engine. It's very important because it keeps track of everything that's happening and alerts us if something is different than expected. The first time I used it, I was shocked at how well it performed. Another valuable feature that I think makes this product worth the price you pay for it is that it connects to basically every system that provides some form of logging, and it's very easy to set up what triggers this."

"In my opinion, Sentinel's best features include that it's a very easy product to use, it's very simple, and the after-sale service is very good."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it provides a central locking system for many event sources."

More Sentinel pros

"SolarWinds is effective for server, network, and log monitoring. It's also good for IP address management. We also have a patch manager, but we're still working on getting that operational."

"SolarWinds' stability is fine; I don't think we've had any software issues."

"SolarWinds is one of the products that I use, amongst many others, to fit the needs of our customers which includes their budget, size, and industry."

"The pricing was low, around 30K so ROI is less than one year."

"The solution helps you monitor database instances, application instances, other customer application things, Linux servers, IBM servers, and Oracle servers."

"It's easy to build rules and actions based on the logs and event types we collect with the software."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the visibility into both attempted and failed logins."

"Some of the rules are most valuable because you can be notified about various things, such as spyware or things that are going on in the internal network."

More SolarWinds Security Event Manager pros

Cons

"The dashboard and customer view should be improved."

"It's probably not a product that I would recommend to anyone."

"There is no integration in the web-side of the tool."

"Frankly speaking, we did not find this product to be valuable, at all."

"There is a need for more flexibility in customization, especially when working with different vendors and platforms."

"It is an ancient product."

"I rate Sentinel a six out of ten for scalability."

"Price is always a consideration, so the price would be nice if it were lower."

More Sentinel cons

"The company had to use a third party for the implementation of the solution."

"The solution's technical support is okay, but we don't have an SLA, and sometimes the response times are very slow."

"The query capability in this solution needs improvement."

"We have automated threat detection in the Alliance Security, Antoinette. However, if these features could be further enhanced, it would simplify my work, potentially allowing me to allocate more time to address complex issues."

"It is a very technical program. They can simplify it so that it isn't so hard to deal with."

"I would like to be able to dig deeper into the visibility of events or incidents to determine whether they are malicious, such as by doing behavior analysis."

"The product should improve the ease with which you can create event alerts. They are not as hard now but you need to have an easier way."

"Under the new system, it is not upgradable the way they say. When you try to do an upgrade, it doesn't really work unless you dump everything and start from scratch. You lose a lot of your nodes. Whenever you set your nodes up and everything else, they don't want to bring those nodes back in, so you have to really go back and restructure all your nodes. I went from version 6.5 to version 6.6 and then to version 6.7. I then went to version 2019, and now it is version 2020. It would be good if we can upgrade without having to delete everything and start from scratch. They can maybe build more KPIs and other things for the dashboard. Some of the other systems already have built-in KPIs. SolarWinds is starting to catch up, but it is not there yet. They can include some of the business or industry standards for tracking the time, that is, the meantime to detect (MTTD) and the meantime to resolve (MTTR). They can also find a way to build a KPI that measures the number of instances of port scans experienced in a week or a month."

More SolarWinds Security Event Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We inquired about getting support from the vendor, Micro Focus, but the cost was very high."

"We receive a pricing discount because of our ongoing partnership with Micro Focus."

"Sentinel is moderately priced."

"Sentinel's slightly on the expensive side."

"Sentinel is a subscription-based solution."

"The solution’s pricing is aligned with its competitors."

"The price of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is reasonable."

"Licensing is on devices, so if you have many, then this may be high."

"We do a yearly license renewal. For a year, the solution costs roughly $500,000 USD. There are no costs beyond this yearly fee."

"The pricing model would benefit from having package deals with other SolarWinds products."

"It is in the appropriate mid-range. It is not as expensive as some of the other solutions. It is also not cheap."

"Licenses can only be purchased in blocks of fifty at a time."

"The tool is available at a good price for customers compared to other solutions in the market. I rate the product's price as an eight out of ten."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

16%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Construction Company

10%

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetIQ Sentinel?

I don't have too many comments overall about pricing as we're in South Africa, so it makes more sense if it's billed in rand. They nearly always bill it in dollars, so if it can be billed in our cu...

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What needs improvement with NetIQ Sentinel?

I'm not sure what the room for improvement is for Sentinel. It needs to stay current, and it does, so I suppose that's fine. I don't have a high demand for what it should do. Price is always a cons...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for NetIQ Sentinel?

It's our go-to choice for antivirus. I use Sentinel a lot.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?

The tool is available at a good price for customers compared to other solutions in the market. I rate the product's price as an eight out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?

I work with all SolarWinds products mostly, including Network Configuration Manager and NPM. I am a reseller. I usually recommend SolarWinds products for Loop1. It's for the bigger ones; we are the...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Sentinel

March 2026

Download Sentinel product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Security Event Manager

March 2026

SolarWinds Security Event Manager report

Download SolarWinds Security Event Manager product report

Also Known As

NetIQ Sentinel, Novell SIEM

SolarWinds LEM, Solarwinds SIEM, TriGeo, Log and Event Manager

Overview

Sentinel is a full-featured Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution that simplifies the deployment, management and day-to-day use of SIEM, readily adapts to dynamic enterprise environments and delivers the true "actionable intelligence" security professionals need to quickly understand their threat posture and prioritize response.

OpenText

When TriGeo was acquired by SolarWinds, TriGeo SIM became known as SolarWinds Log & Event Manager. This product is a leading Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) product and log management solution, which provides log collection, analysis, and real-time correlation.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Faysal Bank, GaVI, Handelsbanken, ISC Mªnster, Lambeth Council, Swisscard, The Municipality of Siena, Tukes, University of Dayton, University of the Sunshine Coast

NetSuite, EasyStreet, Legacy Texas Bank, and Energy Federal Credit Union, to name a few.

Buyer's Guide

Sentinel vs. SolarWinds Security Event Manager

March 2026

Free Report: Sentinel vs. SolarWinds Security Event Manager

Find out what your peers are saying about Sentinel vs. SolarWinds Security Event Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.

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