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ServiceNow Discovery vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

ServiceNow and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Server Monitoring category. ServiceNow is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.2, while SolarWinds is ranked #10 with an average rating of 7.1. ServiceNow holds a 8.9% mindshare in SM, compared to SolarWinds’s 4.7% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of ServiceNow users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.
ServiceNow Discovery
Read 40 ServiceNow Discovery reviews
  • 2,963 Views
  • 1,461 Comparison Views
97% willing to recommend
SolarWinds Server and Appli...
Read 40 SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor reviews
  • 1,256 Views
  • 846 Comparison Views
88% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor and ServiceNow Discovery compete in the IT monitoring and discovery category. SolarWinds holds an edge in monitoring capabilities, whereas ServiceNow excels in comprehensive discovery and integration.

Features: SolarWinds provides advanced monitoring features, deep insights into server performance, and user-friendly design. ServiceNow offers strong discovery features, automatic IT asset detection, and integration across various systems.

Room for Improvement: Users suggest SolarWinds improve its alerting system to reduce false positives, enhance user experience, and refine reporting. ServiceNow could benefit from better documentation, more tutorials for onboarding, and enhancements in its user interface.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds is known for straightforward deployment and responsive customer support. ServiceNow offers powerful automated deployment but has a steeper learning curve. Both receive positive feedback in customer service, with SolarWinds slightly more favorable due to support responsiveness.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds is viewed as more cost-effective with faster setup and quicker ROI. ServiceNow, while more expensive, is valued for its robust discovery tools and integration capabilities, justifying its higher cost for many users.

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To learn more, read our detailed ServiceNow Discovery vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Report (Updated: January 2025).
Buyer's Guide
ServiceNow Discovery vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
January 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

ServiceNow Discovery
Ranking in Server Monitoring
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (5th), Cloud Resource Discovery Services (1st)
SolarWinds Server and Appli...
Ranking in Server Monitoring
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (22nd), Active Directory Management (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Server Monitoring category, the mindshare of ServiceNow Discovery is 8.9%, up from 8.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 4.7%, up from 4.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Kaustubh Partha - PeerSpot reviewer
Scans servers and network devices through SNMP and reduces manual maintenance for our infrastructure team
I like how ServiceNow Discovery scans servers and network devices through SNMP. Most fields on our forms are auto-filled, reducing manual maintenance for our infrastructure team. Post Discovery implementation there is hardly any maintenance. There are three to four fields that are customized. Otherwise, 90% of the data is auto-filled. Discovery can also run in bulk, which is helpful for organizations that cannot run it during weekdays. With identification rules, if a configuration item (CI) isn't in the CMDB, you can simply add the IP address, and it will be automatically added based on criteria like name or serial number, making CMDB maintenance easier.
Read full review
Subhajit Nag - PeerSpot reviewer
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

"It's a single system of record and it captures the relationships."
"The service management and operations management modules are valuable."
"Stability-wise, I feel it is a good product."
"ServiceNow Discovery works better than other products I've used."
"The initial setup is pretty easy."
"We can scale the solution."
"Most fields on our forms are auto-filled, reducing manual maintenance for our infrastructure team. Post Discovery implementation there is hardly any maintenance."
"It does a good job of collecting the data that's necessary for data centers, and IT's operations."
More ServiceNow Discovery pros
"SolarWinds SAM has provided us with dynamic thresholds based on historical trends and requirements. The threshold gets configured automatically, so it's no longer necessary to configure it manually every time."
"I am impressed with the tool's AppStack feature which mainly helps us in the identification process. This feature can give an overview of the fault and help us identify the issues for performance degradation. Instead of looking at multiple places, we can look at a single place to identify the issues."
"I'd rate technical support at eight out of ten. They are helpful and fast."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its interface, which is used for monitoring."
"Monitoring the components on your devices with out of the box monitors or the ability to create new ones (SAM)"
"The most valuable feature is the Access Rights Manager."
"SolarWinds SAM has significantly improved our workflow by allowing us to develop a comprehensive knowledge base of known errors and automate responses to specific alerts."
"The features like trends, capacity planning, recommendations, and diagnostics are the main items I focus on for added value."
More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros
 

Cons

"Technical support has not been helpful when we have come across problems."
"They can expand on the plugins for some of the other tools."
"When you switch versions, for example, when you go from Paris to Quebec they will introduce many new things and occasionally things break when they do that."
"In my opinion, it's quite slow compared to other tools, like Device42. Also, there are predefined fields in Device42 that are not available in ServiceNow. These are the basic things I think can be improved here."
"ServiceNow Discovery should improve its cloud capabilities."
"On the Software Asset Management part of it, I expect additional reconciliation and Discovery features there."
"ServiceNow has a constant development environment. Hence they get constant bugs which result in incorrect performance. It should also improve customer service."
"I believe there is room for improvement in ServiceNow Discovery, particularly in providing more detailed information about network usage and communication between ServiceNow and the infrastructure."
More ServiceNow Discovery cons
"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 major concern in the product revolves around application performance monitoring since end-to-end application monitoring is not possible with the tool."
"One product area that could benefit from improvement is the synchronization of licensing periods across different modules"
"I believe that some of the trends, environmental maps, and items like those found in Orion would be very beneficial."
"Support for the IBM Mainframe is needed."
"The current script monitoring feature has limitations, especially when dealing with custom scripts."
"The product does not explain why a problem occurred."
"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."
More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is expensive, but it meets our needs."
"The product pricing is fair and reasonable for the value it provides."
"The solution is not inexpensive so pricing is rated a three out of ten."
"You need a subscription to ServiceNow Discovery, so you can use its features. You can also use specific plugins with the tool, and some of the plugins are free. I don't have information on how much my company pays for the subscription to ServiceNow Discovery."
"The pricing is determined based on the CIs."
"There is a subscription for ServiceNow Discovery. It's expensive, but I think it's one of the best solutions on the market, so it's worth it."
"ROI (Return on Investment) is good. ServiceNow don't disclose the price publicly. They'll assess your organization's needs and then come up with a price."
"If the product is not deployed properly, it can be very expensive."
More ServiceNow Discovery pricing and cost advice
"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."
"The solution's price is reasonable. Though it's on the higher side, the tool is worth the money."
"The price is too high."
"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."
"Pricing and licensing is fair for what you get. It does have a great bang-for-the-buck appeal."
"The licenses start from USD 3000.00 and go up to USD 20,000.00 for the year. It's a perpetual license. Nothing is free in SolarWinds, anything that you need is an additional cost."
"The product is expensive."
"The solution is overpriced in terms of application management."
More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
9%
Educational Organization
46%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ServiceNow Discovery?
The solution can prioritize the discovery of IP ranges. The product automatically places all Discovery CIs into the correct class within the CMDB.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow Discovery?
The product pricing is fair and reasonable for the value it provides. However, it is important to factor in the ongoing maintenance costs, as the system requires professional upkeep to ensure optim...
See all answers
What needs improvement with ServiceNow Discovery?
The continuous improvement in the quality and customization of the product features would be beneficial, particularly as more customers rely heavily on its capabilities.
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 product is expensive.
See all answers
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?
One product area that could benefit from improvement is the synchronization of licensing periods across different modules. The misalignment of licensing terms can present commercial challenges when...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Compared 28% of the time
Lansweeper vs ServiceNow Discovery Logo
Lansweeper vs ServiceNow Discovery
Compared 19% of the time
Microsoft Configuration Manager vs ServiceNow Discovery Logo
Microsoft Configuration Manager vs ServiceNow Discovery
Compared 12% of the time
BMC Helix Discovery vs ServiceNow Discovery Logo
BMC Helix Discovery vs ServiceNow Discovery
Compared 8% of the time
AWS Cloud Map vs ServiceNow Discovery Logo
AWS Cloud Map vs ServiceNow Discovery
Compared 2% of the time
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Azure Monitor vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Logo
Azure Monitor vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
Compared 19% of the time
Dynatrace vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Logo
Dynatrace vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
Compared 19% of the time
AppDynamics vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Logo
AppDynamics vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
Compared 13% of the time
Prometheus vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Logo
Prometheus vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
Compared 7% of the time
More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
ServiceNow Discovery
December 2024
ServiceNow Discovery reportDownload ServiceNow Discovery product report
Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
December 2024
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor reportDownload SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
SolarWinds SAM
 

Learn More

Video not available
ServiceNow
SolarWinds
 

Overview

ServiceNow Discovery finds applications and devices on your network, and then updates the CMDB with the information it finds. Discovery is available as a separate subscription from the rest of the Now Platform.

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.

 

Sample Customers

York, National Grid, DXC Technology, experian, BEACHBODY
Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite
Buyer's Guide
ServiceNow Discovery vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
January 2025
Free Report: ServiceNow Discovery vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
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