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PeerSpot user
Group Chief Technology Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Exchange monitoring is helpful, but it needs to support a lot more applications and on more platforms
Pros and Cons
  • "The more valuable feature of this solution is the Exchange feature."
  • "Some custom applications cannot be monitored, and a lot more applications need to be included."

What is our primary use case?

We are a solution integrator, and this is one of the products that we implement for our clients. We also supply this as a service.

The primary use case for this solution is application monitoring, in an on-premises deployment model.

What is most valuable?

The more valuable feature of this solution is the Exchange feature.

What needs improvement?

The custom reporting needs to be improved.

Some custom applications cannot be monitored, and a lot more applications need to be included. The supported list of applications is very limited. For example, it supports the Windows version of JD Edwards, but not the Linux version of the same solution. Since it is the same application running on a different platform, it should work.

The price of scaling this solution needs to be improved.

I would like to have better support for Linux, and not be as dependent on Windows Servers. Even for non-Windows applications, it uses a Windows Server.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for about four and a half years.
Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution is quite stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is expensive to scale this solution, simply because of the cost of the polling engine. You can purchase unlimited IPs, but the price of an additional polling engine is $20,000 USD. That is quite a lot. We are looking into other solutions because it is just too expensive to keep scaling.

We have approximately eighty users and four hundred servers.

How are customer service and support?

There is no in-country support for this solution. There are local numbers available but the call quality isn't great. I would rate technical support a five out of ten.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of this solution is complex.

The deployment took four weeks.

What about the implementation team?

We provide the consultants for integrating this solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The product might cost you $30,000 USD to buy, but scaling this solution requires the purchase of additional polling engines at $20,000 USD each.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

The high price of this solution has us looking into other solutions, rather than scale.

What other advice do I have?

If you are looking for a single pane of glass to monitor Windows products then SolarWinds is your product. However, it is not best of breed. 

I would rate this solution a six out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Ravi Khanchandani - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder Director at Techsa Services
Reseller
Top 5Leaderboard
More application insight-based widgets
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is application monitoring."
  • "I would like to see support for non-Windows or non-Microsoft domains, especially Apache and other non-Windows servers."

What is our primary use case?

We are solution providers and this is one of the monitoring solutions that we implement for our customers.

How has it helped my organization?

SAM has altered the way monitoring is being looked at - from just being able to monitor CPU, Mem, Disk and network utilization levels we have moved to the next levels of finding out process related issues, service related issues and specific application related issues to identify root cause of performance issues.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is application monitoring. Already 1200 application monitoring templates exist with the Solarwinds SAM monitoring and the AppInsights for IIS, SQL, Exchange & AD. 

What needs improvement?

I am looking for more application insight-based widgets with the service. They currently have them for IIS, SQL, Exchange, and Active Directory.

I would like to see additional application support for non-Windows servers. This would give us more flexibility in terms of monitoring customer applications.


For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with the SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor for about five years.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are a Partner & Reseller for Solarwinds
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.
PeerSpot user
Systems Administrator at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Consultant
AppInsight provides a simple way to get very in-depth monitoring configured for our most popular applications.
Pros and Cons
  • "AppInsight. Provides a simple way to get very in-depth monitoring configured for our most popular applications. Exchange, SQL, and SharePoint."
  • "Mapping interactions between systems."

How has it helped my organization?

Helps us be more proactive instead of reactive.

What is most valuable?

AppInsight. Provides a simple way to get very in-depth monitoring configured for our most popular applications. Exchange, SQL, and SharePoint.

What needs improvement?

Mapping interactions between systems.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Excellent.

Technical Support:

Good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Microsoft System Center Operation Manager. Although SCOM was very powerful it was also very complex to setup.

How was the initial setup?

Straightforward. After creating a service account that had proper permissions on the systems that were going to be monitored. The agent-less deployment was quick and very easy.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user652953 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user652953IT Director at a construction company with 51-200 employees
Vendor

AppInsight also ties in several other areas under one view, datastores, VM information, server status, etc. AppInsight is a valuable tool and I use it every day to ensure my companies applications are working so my users can keep working.

Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
MSP
Top 20
Application monitoring solution that offers stability, scalability and only takes two to three days to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "SolarWinds is a very stable platform compared to others on the market."
  • "An additional feature that would improve this solution is the ability to complete root cause analysis."

What is our primary use case?

We use SolarWinds for our agent base.

What needs improvement?

In terms of the integrations and correlations, there is a huge opportunity to merge all of these tools into one in terms of analytics. This is a missed opportunities in the SolarWinds site compared to other products out there. An additional feature that would improve this solution is the ability to complete root cause analysis. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for a couple of months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SolarWinds is a very stable platform compared to others on the market.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable solution. They have recently changed their architecture and now use horizontal scalable architecture using microservices.

How are customer service and support?

It has been a while since I contacted the customer service team but when I have, their problem resolution and response times were good. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not that straightforward. It takes approximately two to three days. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I would rate the pricing for this solution a three out of five. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We compared SolarWinds SAM with ManageEngine. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
PeerSpot user
reviewer1068087 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Information Security Officer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Offers real-time node monitoring and is stable and powerful
Pros and Cons
  • "I'd rate technical support at eight out of ten. They are helpful and fast."
  • "It would be helpful if the solution could integrate more with the security compliances, like this IDSS, etc."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for network monitoring.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of the solution are its real-time node monitoring and Help Desk's feedback.

It's a very powerful application that covers all areas.

What needs improvement?

It would be helpful if the solution could integrate more with the security compliances, like this IDSS, etc.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. It's a license based scalability, but it is scalable. 

How are customer service and technical support?

I'd rate technical support at eight out of ten. They are helpful and fast.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I didn't previously use another solution.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward. We have five to six administrators.

What about the implementation team?

We had a consultant assist us with the implementation.

What other advice do I have?

We use the on-premises deployment model.

I would recommend the solution. It needs the proper sizing before implementation, and if you have done the proper sizing then you're all good.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Senior Manager of Infrastructure at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Consultant
Out of the box it can monitor the basic "get" command of the any website.
Pros and Cons
  • "Management Console - Managing service to each server enrolled in the Solarwinds is much easier. Using a web base console, you can control your service much convenient way. There is no need to login remotely. It save a lot of time and effort."
  • "Downside of the tools is the web console are hung or crash. It need to improve the performance."

Improvements to My Organization

Monitoring is one tool that everybody needs in corporate IT. There is no perfect tool at all for me. We choose the Solarwinds based on the simplication of managing the tool itself. Dashboard, management console, reports and alerts are the basic things that needed in monitoring. Solarwinds give an easy way how to use the out of the box and customized it based on our needs

Valuable Features

Service monitoring - SAM (Solarwinds Application Monitoring) gives a very convenient way to manage the services of the server. It can monitor the service using WMI and SNMP. Tools give a wider choices to monitoring up to executable files currently running the server process. 

Management Console - Managing service to each server enrolled in the Solarwinds is much easier. Using a web base console, you can control your service much convenient way. There is no need to login remotely. It save a lot of time and effort. 

HTTP Monitor - Out of the box it can monitor the basic "get" command of the any website. 

Dashboard - It give a much detailed information of your services. Its very beneficial to easily decide for the capacity and resource management of the monitor node.

Room for Improvement

Any monitoring tools have downside and one I can say in Solarwinds it should improve to be fit the tool in enterprise grade level. The web console also tends to hang or crash. Also, the performance needs improvement.

Downside of the tools is the web console are hung or crash. It need to improve the performance.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user216399 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user216399Senior Network Engineer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User

Another good feature from SAM is Proactively monitor the expiration and validity of SSL certificates which works well as i implemented in production environment.

PeerSpot user
IT Leadership, System Management at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
A good solution for network configuration, but the initial setup is complex
Pros and Cons
  • "There are many valuable features, including the network configuration manager, and the network performance manager."
  • "The setup was complex. We had local support to assist us."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for network configuration and managing network performance.

What is most valuable?

There are many valuable features, including the network configuration manager, and the network performance manager.

What needs improvement?

We don't need additional features. The network performance monitors and configuration monitors work well for our company. We also use different software for server monitoring. So far, the solution works well for us as-is.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for two years.

How are customer service and technical support?

Local technical support is okay. I would rate them seven out of ten. They're not bad, but they're not good either.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We didn't previously have another solution before implementing SolarWinds.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was complex. We had local support to assist us.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I can't say what the exact pricing is, but I know it's not too expensive. 

What other advice do I have?

We have about 1,000 users on the solution.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1382850 - PeerSpot reviewer
ICT Network Infrastructure & Architect at a transportation company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Easy to set up but needs to improve stability, flexibility, and integration
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup was relatively easy, and we didn't have to install anything. All we had to do was put on the devices we wanted to monitor."
  • "The stability, flexibility, and ease of use could be improved."

What is most valuable?

The initial setup was relatively easy.

We didn't go into very much depth, as in application monitoring and services monitoring, but I believe it can do both.

What needs improvement?

The stability, flexibility, and ease of use could be improved. The performance, integration, and pricing could be better as well.

For how long have I used the solution?

We used it for about four years. It's a cloud solution.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability needs to be improved.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is relatively easy. Because it's a cloud solution, we didn't have to install anything. All we had to do was put on the devices we wanted to monitor.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We had a yearly license, and the pricing could be improved.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked into Zabbix and decided to switch to it.

What other advice do I have?

I would not recommend SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor and would rate it at six on a scale from one to ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: January 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.