The main use case is to analyze the data log coming from other systems. We use Splunk to identify anomalies in transaction patterns, which may indicate irregular activity from certain customers. Our goal is to create alerts for stakeholders when such anomalies are detected.
Manager - Anti-Fraud Strategy & System Solution Officer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Seamless integration streamlines fraud detection
Pros and Cons
- "Splunk is very flexible in handling various formats of data as long as basic rules are adhered to."
- "The Splunk Processing Language (SPL) poses a steep learning curve for new users."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Splunk has made our job easier by streamlining data searching and decision-making processes. By using it for fraud detection, we have potentially saved billions of Indonesian rupiah.
What is most valuable?
Splunk is very flexible in handling various formats of data as long as basic rules are adhered to. Its integration with other systems is seamless and can be done overnight. This ease of integration is its best advantage. Additionally, Splunk is adequate for real-time data processing.
What needs improvement?
The Splunk Processing Language (SPL) poses a steep learning curve for new users. The software could benefit from additional processing power, such as GPU support, for handling large volumes of data faster. The language could also be more user-friendly, similar to platforms where actions are easier through button clicks.
Buyer's Guide
Splunk Enterprise Platform
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Splunk Enterprise Platform. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used the solution for approximately three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rarely encounter bugs or glitches during daily use. However, there was one instance where an issue required solutions from the headquarter's next upgrade session.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Splunk is scalable, provided the supporting infrastructure, such as CPU and GPU processing, is also scalable.
How are customer service and support?
I rarely communicate with the Splunk headquarters, usually interacting with the local implementer.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are not using anything else that functions like Splunk. However, for fraud detection, we also use GVD Instinct and FICO, along with Elasticsearch.
What about the implementation team?
I have not been involved in implementing it, except in integration, where I've found it easy.
What was our ROI?
We have been saving significant amounts through fraud detection. I cannot say precisely how much. Overall, Splunk has simplified our data management and decision-making processes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The official license operates like a subscription with an annual fee. Our local implementer offers pricing based on reserved quota, such as 80 gigabytes per day, costing under one billion Indonesian rupiah, or around $70,000 USD. It is affordable and flexible.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Elasticsearch, Kibana, Check Point, and other solutions like Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint are used.
What other advice do I have?
Keep my identity anonymous; publishing my title is sufficient. It's important to master the SPL for efficient use. Seek solutions that better support GPU for real-time processing.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Nov 17, 2024
Flag as inappropriateSenior Software Engineer at Torry Harris Integration Solutions
Offers powerful features for data exploration and analysis
What is our primary use case?
We use Splunk for onboarding updates, dashboards, application monitoring, and insights.
How has it helped my organization?
We are using it for event management. We don't have that much exposure on the security side.
What is most valuable?
It is very easy to use logs and create dashboards. You can define extractions for specific exceptions. Splunk can extract historical data and process upcoming data in real-time. You can easily modify, update, or edit extraction rules as needed. Additionally, you can create custom knowledge objects at any time. The platform allows you to restrict user access based on permissions. Even regular users can create reports and dashboards for their workflows.
What needs improvement?
Splunk Enterprise Platform needs some improvement. For instance, the dashboard sizing and customization options could be enhanced. There seems to be a limitation in adjusting the size of individual panels within a dashboard. This can be frustrating when comparing data across different panels, as users are forced to scroll continuously. Additionally, while Splunk offers some new features like student dashboards, modifying these dashboards requires a level of JavaScript expertise that not all users possess. Providing more user-friendly options for customization, such as adjusting colors and fonts directly from the user interface, could greatly improve the user experience.
Moreover, for users transitioning from other monitoring tools like Dynatrace, the interface may feel less intuitive and more cumbersome. Offering more intuitive visualization options and simplifying the customization process could bridge this gap and make Splunk more accessible to a wider range of users.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Splunk Enterprise Platform for seven years. We are using V9.0.4.1 of the solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable. I rate the solution’s stability a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
How are customer service and support?
I've encountered numerous issues and challenges, but I've managed to overcome them. I rely on the Splunk community to find solutions whenever I face difficulties. I want to fully engage with the platform and be active in its development, but sometimes, I struggle to find the right resources or support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Splunk Enterprise Platform can seem a bit costly compared to their five-year plans. There's a need to provide options, such as offering a free license for up to ten GB of data or a limited-time test and development license at no cost. For instance, if a company purchases a one-year product license, it could receive additional test and development licenses for free, up to a certain data limit. While there would naturally be some restrictions, such as limitations on certain features or functionalities, offering these options could encourage more people to adopt Splunk for their needs. Many individuals and stakeholders hesitate due to Splunk's perceived high costs when considering the additional expenses for enterprise support, operational support, and device licenses. Introducing more flexible licensing options could alleviate these concerns and attract more users to the platform, benefiting both Splunk and its customers.
What other advice do I have?
Our experience with the Splunk Enterprise Platform has been positive regarding administration and development. However, there are some concerns regarding visualization. Despite our team's proficiency in activating and completing tasks, the dashboard's complexity has decreased user satisfaction. Many users find the visualization lacking when viewing multiple panels simultaneously. They express difficulty in navigating the UI and feel uncomfortable with it. Addressing these concerns would enhance the overall user experience from end to end.
Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
Last updated: May 11, 2024
Flag as inappropriateBuyer's Guide
Splunk Enterprise Platform
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Splunk Enterprise Platform. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Monitoring expet at Air Liquide
A highly versatile data collection and monitoring tool
Pros and Cons
- "The best thing about Splunk is you can collect all the data you want, and you can play with the data and do what you want."
- "Splunk is not an out-of-the-box solution like Micro Focus or Zabbix. You have to create your request to collect the data and add crucial components to the software."
What is our primary use case?
We use the monitoring solution. People might ask me to create a new request, maybe for a specific Windows event log, which is how we create a ticket for an incident. Most of the time, this creates a new alert for people. It can be a little complex. We can also create dashboards with some information for other teams. Dashboard alerting is a big part of the work.
Though we use Splunk for monitoring, for me, it is more software that collects lots of data and can then be used for alerting.
We use a custom environment.
What is most valuable?
The best thing about Splunk is you can collect all the data you want, and you can play with the data and do what you want. You can modify the data and collect all the information into one dashboard. It's very cool. In other monitoring software like Zabbix, you can't easily do something like this. With Splunk, it's very easy. You need to understand Splunk's language, but you can do what you want after that. You can correlate your data with CSV files. Splunk can monitor, extract, transform, and load software.
What needs improvement?
Splunk is not an out-of-the-box solution like Micro Focus or Zabbix. You have to create your request to collect the data and add crucial components to the software. You have add-ons created by Splunk or the community but don't have out-of-the-box monitoring items in the software. For example, FETCH CUP with Micro Focus is agentless monitoring, has a lot of out-of-box items, and is easy to use. You will find it difficult to use Splunk initially, which could use improvement. However, I know there is another module from Splunk that focuses on fast and secure monitoring with more out-of-box add-ons, but I haven't used it since when I started using it, it lacked out-of-box items. All the same, Splunk could be more user-friendly for new users.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've worked with the solution for about two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate Splunk's stability a nine out of ten because it's very stable. I don't face issues with projects.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
You can scale Splunk. It works with an indexer which indexes search data. If you want more power, you can add more indexers, so I rank Splunk's scalability an eight out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
With all the documentation available, the initial setup is not difficult. If all you want is a stand-alone app in Splunk to handle all the processes, you just need to create a project in the data server, which is easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You must buy a license with the on-prem version, usually through an intermediary. In France, it's Accenture. There are cloud solutions where Splunk handles the servers and patching directly, and you just use the solution.
The solution is expensive, so I rate its pricing a four out of ten. Though the solution is expensive, it depends on which company purchases the product.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Though I haven't used it, Grafana is also a CM that can collect data.
What other advice do I have?
I didn't create the custom environment we use at my organization. Still, it doesn't seem too difficult to build things because there is a lot of online documentation and videos. You can also get training with Splunk. You have a lot of data to help you when you want to create a new environment.
I rate Splunk Enterprise Platform an eight out of ten. The solution is very powerful, and I like to play with data to do what I want.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Splunk Engineer at Wipro Limited
Offers extensive visibility into events with flexible scalability
How has it helped my organization?
Splunk Enterprise Platform is a powerful application that offers extensive visibility into events, notable occurrences, and correlations, providing robust capabilities.
What is most valuable?
The valuable feature is the onboarding of various logs using different methods. Additionally, it excels in content development and use case creation. I want to learn about upcoming technologies like Splunk Cloud and Azure integration. These platforms offer extensive capabilities for visualizing and manipulating data according to our requirements. Splunk's proficiency in field extractions and onboarding logs from diverse sources makes it highly capable. Its logging addition and parsing capabilities are particularly noteworthy.
What needs improvement?
In Splunk Enterprise Platform, while the dashboard feature is powerful, it does have limitations in terms of the number of parameters that can be included in one dashboard. However, it's important to note that these limitations can be addressed through effective dashboard design and optimization techniques. Despite these constraints, Splunk offers extensive capabilities for creating insightful dashboards that can visualize relevant data effectively.
Splunk excels in providing accurate and valuable alerts and reports. These features are crucial in reducing manual efforts, minimizing human errors, and expediting incident resolution processes. With Splunk's alerting and reporting functionalities, users can fine-tune alerts, apply filters, and include necessary information for thorough investigation and analysis. These capabilities contribute significantly to enhancing operational efficiency and decision-making within organizations.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Splunk Enterprise Platform for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is very flexible. Without the Splunk support, we can deploy and scale up.
How are customer service and support?
The responsiveness of the support is very good. They will ask you if you are raising any P2, P1, or major incidents so they'll help us with immediate and accurate results.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward , with detailed deployment steps outlined in their documentation. Additionally, the Splunk community is a valuable resource where users can ask questions and receive expert solutions.
What other advice do I have?
Splunk Enterprise Platform does not have a few application add-ons. Therefore, when we aim to integrate log sources from new or important ones that Splunk lacks add-ons for, we resort to developing custom add-ons. While this approach allows us to proceed with our work, it requires significant human effort and increases the likelihood of errors. Moreover, troubleshooting becomes time-consuming under these circumstances. Ideally, Splunk would offer add-ons for every possible application, significantly improving our efficiency and effectiveness.
The Splunk Enterprise Platform offers excellent visibility through real-time monitoring. Whenever any data matches our client's SQL code, it triggers an immediate alert, allowing us to respond to incidents swiftly. This capability is highly beneficial during any incident, making Splunk an invaluable tool.
There are various components, such as Universal Forwarder, Indexer, and Search Head. These components are relatively straightforward to set up. However, when implementing a distributed environment or setting up clustering, Splunk offers robust capabilities. Additionally, managing data storage sizing is also seamless.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: May 11, 2024
Flag as inappropriateSystem Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Helps to filter and analyze log data
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature I've found in the Splunk Enterprise Platform is its log readability and filtering capabilities. The filters on the left side are particularly useful, allowing me to quickly narrow down the data to what's relevant for any application or server service. The interesting fields feature helps me get the values I need most of the time."
- "Splunk Enterprise Platform could improve in the area of basic log readability. When performing basic searches without advanced filters, the logs often contain timestamps and various unknown codes or other elements that can be confusing. Removing or simplifying these parts would make it easier for users who are not developers or do not have a development background to understand and find relevant information easily."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution to manage a large volume of data from our servers for the project I'm currently working on. Since we don't need all the data, we filter out and extract the specific information required for our applications. Depending on our needs, we use it to filter, investigate, and analyze log data for any errors or requirements.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature I've found in the Splunk Enterprise Platform is its log readability and filtering capabilities. The filters on the left side are particularly useful, allowing me to quickly narrow down the data to what's relevant for any application or server service. The interesting fields feature helps me get the values I need most of the time.
Additionally, the dashboard and report creation aspects are excellent, especially for automation. Integrating Splunk Enterprise Platform with Power Automate and other automation tools allows me to create precise reports that keep my team updated. The tool is not difficult for a beginner to learn.
What needs improvement?
Splunk Enterprise Platform could improve in the area of basic log readability. When performing basic searches without advanced filters, the logs often contain timestamps and various unknown codes or other elements that can be confusing. Removing or simplifying these parts would make it easier for users who are not developers or do not have a development background to understand and find relevant information easily.
If I could add a feature to the Splunk Enterprise Platform to make my life easier, I'd like to add an internal automation tool. We can use third-party automation tools like Power Automate, but it would be better if Splunk Enterprise Platform had its built-in tool.
This tool could automate reports and make sending emails with Excel attachments or other formats to specific people easier. We're currently using third-party tools for this, but having it as a first-party feature would be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the product for more than two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I haven't found any bugs while working with the application.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My company has more than 100 product users.
How are customer service and support?
I haven't contacted the support team yet. I get information from my seniors and leads.
What other advice do I have?
Before using the Splunk Enterprise Platform, basic knowledge of log analytics tools like Logstash is beneficial. While it does not require specific prerequisites, having some background knowledge will help. Remember that Splunk is a paid service, unlike other log analytics tools like ELK Stack, which may offer free versions.
I rate the overall solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Jul 19, 2024
Flag as inappropriateSoftware Engineer II at Carelon Global Solutions
Enables us to collect, index, and analyze data from various sources, such as apps, servers, network devices and security systems
What is our primary use case?
The solution is used for basically, to monitor various logs, so it is the application logs, some kind we are monitoring databases.
How has it helped my organization?
Splunk is providing, like, proactive monitoring using desserts and all. So these things have improved a lot. Like, in our done day to day activities and all. So whenever we are seeing any kind of alerts and also on that basis, we are going to create alert.
What is most valuable?
For monitoring security data is the most valuable feature.
What needs improvement?
Currently, I think things are good only. There are certain things which is not which is there in the other platform like UAE, UBA is there. Like, Splunk is having another product itself. But the thing is, like, if that can be incorporated with the Splunk Enterprise three version. So it will be helpful for the users to explore more on that one.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Splunk Enterprise Platform for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is a nine out of ten meaning the solution is highly stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution. Around thousand plus users are using the solution.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have been using this Splunk only from my, like, a shorting of the career. During this period, I have been using AppDynamics and NetSync as well.
How was the initial setup?
Normally so for trial version, it is easy. So it depends on how much data you are ingesting. So if you are going for the Flushing environment, so that setup Could be somewhat difficult, but, normally, it will be easy only.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a Return on Investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Costing depends on, like, how much data you are investing. So that will increase your cost.
What other advice do I have?
I will rate the overall solution a nine 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:
Last updated: Mar 25, 2024
Flag as inappropriateTechnology and Digitization Lead at JLL
An easy-to-use and easy-to-configure solution that can be used to monitor network traffic
Pros and Cons
- "Splunk Enterprise Platform is an easy-to-use and easy-to-configure solution."
- "There should be continuous customer engagement and training programs on the new features and capabilities introduced by the solution."
What is our primary use case?
We monitor our airtight network traffic using the Splunk Enterprise Platform. We also use the solution for port monitoring, to monitor which ports are closed, which are open, and flapping if in any port. We use it to check our server performance to see if it gets choked because of high CPU or RAM utilization.
What is most valuable?
Splunk Enterprise Platform is an easy-to-use and easy-to-configure solution.
What needs improvement?
There should be continuous customer engagement and training programs on the new features and capabilities introduced by the solution.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Splunk Enterprise Platform for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate Splunk Enterprise Platform a nine out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Splunk Enterprise Platform is a scalable solution. Two people are using the solution in our organization to monitor data.
I rate Splunk Enterprise Platform ten out of ten for scalability.
How was the initial setup?
The solution’s initial setup is easy.
What about the implementation team?
One or two hours is enough to deploy the solution, but its configuration will take time, based on the users. Just one person is enough to deploy the solution.
What was our ROI?
We have seen a return on investment with Splunk Enterprise Platform for security and performance use cases.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution’s pricing is moderate. We have to pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution, and there is an additional cost for support.
What other advice do I have?
Splunk Enterprise Platform is a good and easy-to-use solution. It has to be regularly upgraded to the changing network or customer needs.
Overall, I rate Splunk Enterprise Platform an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Security Consultant at IBM Thailand
The product is very easy to use, the GUI is simple, and the technical support is responsive
Pros and Cons
- "The product is very easy to use."
- "The product doesn’t have prebuilt dashboards."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution mainly for security operations. We receive logs from different log sources.
What is most valuable?
The product is very easy to use. We just have to run the agent and collect the log. We don't have many delays or problems. We faced an issue once or twice when there was a network issue and when the system was rebooted. The percentage of issues is very low compared to the overall deployment. It is 0.001%.
The solution supports our organization's security and compliance monitoring very much. We rely on the platform to detect abnormalities and to perform searches. If someone brings a compliance issue, we request logs from the platform to determine whether it happened. We use the tool’s search feature and Intel's machine learning platform to conduct our analysis.
We don't face any issues in real-time monitoring. There is no latency. We have options to create our own dashboards. The GUI is very simple. It's a simple platform. It is very easy to use.
What needs improvement?
The product doesn’t have prebuilt dashboards. It would be great if the product provided prebuilt dashboards. For example, we allowed some devices into our network through VPN, but there is no dashboard to combine two log sources and understand which user has logged in. So, we created our own dashboard with the available Splunk searches.
It’d be good if the solution provided more prebuilt dashboards and released them on the app platform. Then, we can deploy the dashboards straight away. Also, if the tool provides additional dashboards, we can reduce the resources needed to develop them. Since Splunk has overall visibility all around the globe, it can give better suggestions on the dashboards that we must use and how to project the data to the management.
We faced some issues in parsing when the load was too much. If we have a 100 MB log source, 80 MB will be parsed correctly, but we face issues with 20 MB. We raised a support ticket, and the support team suggested we increase the time interval between sending the logs to the Splunk forwarder to handle the processing correctly.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for two years. I am using the latest version of the solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The tool is stable enough. In my demo environment, I used my own physical machines to run it. I was able to ingest as many log sources as I wanted within the data limit, and it did not have any issues. The search is very responsive when compared to the other platforms. There was no lag.
Splunk has been supporting free text searches for two years. We can query anything out of the box without specifying any indexes. We can perform free-text queries. Usually, it takes very little time to produce the results if the data set is too small. If the data set is too large, the product suggests we finetune our search, and it provides us with hints on which indexes to specify. It has three different options: Fast mode, Push mode, and Smart mode. We can switch the modes to get results quicker. Later, we can change the mode back to do a deeper analysis.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is not an issue for SMBs and moderately big companies. When we went beyond certain limits, like 700 Gbps or 800 Gbps, we faced some issues with the engine. So, we split up the platform and diverted some of the logs into different indexes. It solved the problem. Up to 500 Gbps per day is okay. When we go beyond that, a single instance cannot handle it. We need to split it up.
This issue was only with the on-premise version. We do not face such issues in the cloud. When customers wanted to renew their subscriptions, we suggested they move to the cloud. On-premise, we have to manage our indexes and searches, but in the cloud, it's done by the vendor. It's a plug-and-play process. Splunk automatically takes care of parsing. We have more than 30 customers.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is very good. The team supported us even during the Christmas holidays. The support engineer walked us through every step. The team is always reachable. We never had issues while contacting them.
How was the initial setup?
I built some demo environments for my practice since Splunk was new to me two years ago. I used the free license. It was a pretty straightforward setup. I did not find any difficulties in setting up my lab environment. The deployment can be done within 15 minutes.
What was our ROI?
The return on investment is very good. It's very easy to use. Many of our customers decided to continue using Splunk because they have invested much in the training modules, the analysts are familiar with the tool, and it's very easy to search. Open-text queries are the best in Splunk. It is easy for our customers to perform the search. It's very lightweight compared to other solutions.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Our customers pay for the licenses. It’s bundled together in a yearly subscription.
What other advice do I have?
There are some problems in managing the tool when it exceeds certain limits. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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Updated: November 2024
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