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Splunk Enterprise Security vs VMware Aria Operations for Logs comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 5, 2025

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

Splunk Enterprise Security
Ranking in Log Management
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
303
Ranking in other categories
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (1st), IT Operations Analytics (1st)
VMware Aria Operations for ...
Ranking in Log Management
16th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Splunk Enterprise Security is 8.7%, down from 12.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Aria Operations for Logs is 1.2%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

ROBERT-CHRISTIAN - PeerSpot reviewer
Has many predefined correlation rules and is brilliant for investigation and log analysis
It is very complicated to write your own correlation rules without the help of Splunk support. What Splunk could do better is to create an API to the standard SIEM tools, such as Microsoft Sentinel. The idea would be to make it less painful. In ELK Stack, Kibana is the query language with which you can search log files. I believe Splunk has also a query language in which they search their log files, but once you have identified the log file that you want to use for further security correlation, you want to very quickly transport that into your SIEM tool, such as Microsoft Sentinel. That is something that Splunk could make a little bit less painful because it is a lot of effort to find that log file and forward it. An API with Microsoft Sentinel or a similar SIEM tool would be a good idea.
LarsChristensen - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient troubleshooting with precise log filtering and an easy setup
The tool could benefit from improved filter settings and dashboarding. While there are dashboards available, they are often created by community members and may not work after updates. It would be beneficial to have a roadmap for these dashboards to ensure consistent functionality. It would also be advantageous if the tool could process even large amounts of data faster, though this may be more related to data movement challenges rather than the software itself.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Our clients are easily able to modify and evolve their implementations."
"It's the completeness of the solution that we like the most."
"It allows us to digest the information, the data, the different data streams, so we can make decisions based upon information that we receive, and it is pretty robust."
"The most valuable features in Splunk are the search function and the ability to run selected session reports. The session reports are important because I can use them to see what is going on in our environment weekly. Additionally, we can use the graph to see how often that particular event is happening."
"Its huge, versatile AppBase helped me to configure and bring data from different sources to a unified platform."
"Splunk's interface is user-friendly, and it has apps and add-ons for most applications. We can easily normalize the data to make it readable and understand the logs. We easily get all the field extractions and enrichment done by using the apps and add-ons. This helps us understand the application logs because the raw data is useless unless we extract some useful information from it. These add-ons make it so much easier."
"The most valuable features for us include its robust log management capabilities, which allow us to efficiently handle and retain logs for extended periods as needed."
"I like the ease of setting up dashboards on Splunk. They're easy to create, manage, alter, and share. You can fine-tune them any way you see fit."
"What I like is that you can have different storage locations for different applications."
"The virtualization solution supports data center virtualization, network and security."
"One of the most valuable features of vRealize Log Insight is that it gives you a clear forecast about your existing machines, for example, how long your machines could be supported and how long the remaining capacity is to host your machines. This is one of the best options available within vRealize Log Insight. Another valuable feature of the solution is automation. My company deploys a lot of automation when required in a very, very short period, and in a very uniform manner, and even if the automation is being deployed for different processes and departments, it's pretty much the same across the environment, so vRealize Log Insight helps reduce a lot of ambiguities and helps my company manage operational efficiencies well."
"It gives the customer a quick overview, so they don't have to dig. There's a clear dashboard with many sensors in a single space. He gets a helicopter view of his environment, but he can investigate further if there are serious issues. It's pretty user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature is server virtualization. It's been very useful."
"The solution is quite user-friendly."
"We are using it because we have a VMware product. It has its own built in dashboards for VMware products, and that's a good thing."
"The system's management and its alerts are the most valuable aspects of the solution."
 

Cons

"The administration of the cluster and app deployment to indexers or search heads can be done only using ssh access and command line, there is no GUI tools for that."
"The solution's case management system could be further improved to make it easier for analysts to manage cases."
"The user access control could be much more granular, so that the admins can control r/w/x access for specific features of the product like dashboards, etc."
"I feel the solution to be too slow."
"Sometimes, the data does not match what we're looking for, or the tool contains incorrect data."
"Splunk is query-based, which is not the case with most cybersecurity tools. It is based on search queries and can be difficult to use. It would be good if they can make it easier to understand how to create search queries. They can improve the knowledge base for better understanding. To create your dashboard, you need to have a search query. We have multiple firewalls in our company, and we need a dashboard for them. It would be helpful if a default firewall dashboard is included in Splunk to make monitoring easier. If a dashboard is available for a security device, the operation part will be more efficient. We won't have to follow a manual process for this."
"Considering the contract thing and the whole legal area, it takes forever to get the contracts signed and to be able to agree to the terms and conditions for my company as well as for Splunk's team."
"The only thing which can be improved is that they are too subjective on whom their Splunk4Good initiative can be applied. They market it as you only need to be a nonprofit, but there is more to it."
"I would like to see more tutorials or at least an introduction video from the supplier, so you can become proficient and get the most out of the solution. You might not get the full benefit from a logging or reporting solution because you might not have a particular tool enabled. You could leave something out of your analysis because you aren't aware of it or you don't know how to set it up."
"The solution is a very good tool, but it has a lot of limitations. One of the main issues is around how you define your retention policy, for instance, in Log Insight. It doesn't have it. You can't define a log retention policy. You also can't define the destination or location for your logs. All of the logs are in one index or one bucket."
"The tool does not provide a centralized pane for monitoring."
"Integration with other vendors is something that could be improved, they could add more vendors."
"Technical support should be improved."
"The monitoring landscape is getting bigger. When it comes to infrastructure monitoring, we need more visibility. VMware needs to integrate more related applications and third-party products. That would make it more appealing to an audience beyond the VMware team."
"The solution should be more user-friendly. The user interface and dashboard could be simplified."
"Log retention should have more options for user control."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Splunk Enterprise Security is expensive."
"Splunk licensing model might seem expensive but with all the gain in functionalities you will have compared to traditional SIEM solutions I think it’s worth the price."
"Expensive compared to other options."
"We have seen ROI and improvements as we have continued to use the product, but they are more reactive."
"It's definitely worth it."
"It is pretty straightforward and based on the sizing. If I compare it with other competitors, it makes sense."
"The price of this solution is expensive. However, it has great features. If you want a great solution you need to pay a price matching the features."
"Splunk differs from other SIEM solutions by using a gigabyte-based pricing model, rather than the agent-based licenses common with its competitors."
"I rate the product's price a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"The product's price is reasonable, but when it comes to SQL licensing, it's a bit expensive."
"I am not sure what the exact cost is. However, I believe the vRealize suite costs $2,500.00 per year."
"The licensing cost for vRealize Log Insight is a little higher, so in terms of cost, it all depends upon what kind of environment you have. If you have a complete virtualized environment, or at least you're using a ninety-five percent virtualized environment, then vRealize Log Insight will play a very good role because it is a VMware component, so it has very tight integration with other VMware components and systems. This means you don't have to procure any other monitoring and management tool, and you don't need a separate automation tool. vRealize Log Insight will have an upper hand if your environment is purely virtualized on VMware. If you're using a mix of physical and virtual components, for example, a 50:50 ratio, then you need to have a third-party component to manage overall monitoring."
"It is not cheap. But it is worth it."
"The license cost for any other monitoring tool is too high compared to this product."
"Pricing could always be lower. If it were free, I would be more satisfied."
"I think it is a reasonably priced product."
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Comparison Review

VS
Feb 26, 2015
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We at Infosecnirvana.com have done several posts on SIEM. After the Dummies Guide on SIEM, we are following it up with a SIEM Product Comparison – 101 deck. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think by posting your comments below. The key products compared here are…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What SOC product do you recommend?
For tools I’d recommend: -SIEM- LogRhythm -SOAR- Palo Alto XSOAR Doing commercial w/o both (or at least an XDR) is asking to miss details that are critical, and ending up a statistic. Also, rememb...
What is a better choice, Splunk or Azure Sentinel?
It would really depend on (1) which logs you need to ingest and (2) what are your use cases Splunk is easy for ingestion of anything, but the charge per GB/Day Indexed and it gets expensive as log ...
How does Splunk compare with Azure Monitor?
Splunk handles a high amount of data very well. We use Splunk to capture information and as an aggregator for monitoring information from different sources. Splunk is very good at alerting us if we...
What do you like most about vRealize Log Insight?
The events are notably more descriptive, aiding in security and event analysis. We've also integrated Sky Collector, providing valuable insights and solutions for troubleshooting.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for vRealize Log Insight?
One major advantage of VMware compared to Splunk is pricing. VMware is licensed based on hardware rather than the amount of data, making it much cheaper. Splunk, often paid by the terabytes, become...
What needs improvement with vRealize Log Insight?
The tool could benefit from improved filter settings and dashboarding. While there are dashboards available, they are often created by community members and may not work after updates. It would be ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
vRealize Log Insight
 

Learn More

Video not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Splunk has more than 7,000 customers spread across over 90 countries. These customers include Telenor, UniCredit, ideeli, McKenney's, Tesco, and SurveyMonkey.
Wildlands Adventure Zoo, Medic Mobile, IBM, Seventy Seven Energy, Baystate Health, Osis, Oxford University, Columbia University, Siemens, Cardinal Health, Ashdod Port, Vasakronan, Sydney Adventist Hospital, University of Derby
Find out what your peers are saying about Splunk Enterprise Security vs. VMware Aria Operations for Logs and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.