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it_user717477 - PeerSpot reviewer
Account Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Proactively monitor threats and reduces threat footprint, though professional support is too expensive
Pros and Cons
  • "Deployment server for deploying changes in one go."
  • "Professional support is great, but too expensive."

How has it helped my organization?

It was used for security event management on landscape hosted over AWS.

It helped the organisation to proactively monitor threats and reduce its threat footprint.

What is most valuable?

Deployment server for deploying changes in one go.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is quite stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No.

Buyer's Guide
Splunk Enterprise Security
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about Splunk Enterprise Security. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.

How are customer service and support?

Professional support is great, but too expensive. Otherwise content published over website is good.

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

Not applicable.

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

Do proper estimation on log ingestion per day as that will impact pricing and licensing.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

It was the customer's choice.

What other advice do I have?

It provides a great range of plugins and one can really take great advantage of utilising inbuilt dashboards to derive the desired monitoring.

Our company consults for different customers and are in a good position to recommend the best solution to our clients.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Donald Baldwin - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Enterprise Architect at Aurenav Sweden AB
Real User
Top 5
Handles a high volume of data, collects information from multiple sources, and is very stable
Pros and Cons
  • "The reporting aspect is good and it does what I need it to do."
  • "If you monitor too much, you can lose performance on your systems."

What is our primary use case?

In our organization, Splunk is used in our data centers.

We have integration services and other types of systems in our new IoT architecture. We're using it to capture information.

We use Splunk as an aggregator for monitoring information from different sources, however, for our protection suite, we're using Comodo.

It's designed to collect data from different points. It has a lot of integrations built into it and that's why we're using it.

We use it for our enterprise more - such as for messaging. There's a lot of stuff we do on our integration services layer that we use Splunk for. For security purposes, we're using Comodo. Therefore we're not using Splunk for security purposes. We're using it for monitoring what's happening at our integration services layer.

How has it helped my organization?

Splunk indicates when we've got problems popping up somewhere or we're not getting the flow we expected. If there's a problem, we have those flagged and we use it for logging.

What is most valuable?

Splunk handles a high volume of data that we have, and it does it really well.

For what we're using it for, we're happy with its functionality.

The reporting aspect is good and it does what I need it to do.

From an operational standpoint, it helps us on the operations side and it also shows where we're having issues.

It connects to a lot of stuff. We can collect information from a lot of sources.

What needs improvement?

The interface or maybe some settings need to be improved a bit. It cannot be perfect, however, the issues may be related to the configuration or setup.

If you monitor too much, you can lose performance on your systems. You have to be careful what you're monitoring. If you monitor everything, everything stops working. You can go overboard in monitoring. You have to plan your monitoring pretty carefully.

It could be easier for beginners. As it is, right now, You have to have a good understanding of the solution in order to use it properly.

That said, as the user, I'm at a higher level of management on the architecture side in dealing with resilience. My concerns are different from other user concerns. Also, most of our clients are using it way more than we're using it.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've used the solution for more than a decade. It's been a long time. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We haven't had any problems with stability. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We've never had an issue with scalability. If a company needs to scale, it can.

The danger of Splunk is that it can get too big too quickly and you have to be very careful with what you want to be monitoring due to the fact that if you monitor too much, you can slow down things and you can hurt your performance on your system. We have to be very careful of what we're logging.

We have about 12 users on the solution right now.

We do not plan to increase usage in the future.

How are customer service and support?

We don't use technical support very much. We've been using it for so long, we generally understand it and do not require assistance.

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

We used to use Splunk a lot more, however, we've moved more to Comodo right now. I'd say we've moved to Comodo from Splunk in a lot of areas.

On the security side, we use Comodo. Not all of our clients even have Comodo. A lot of them are using Splunk, however, a lot of them are using Splunk for enterprise operations and network operations items. Some of them are using security and a lot of them aren't. Splunk is offered as a security option now, however, originally, when you used it, it was to collect enterprise operations information and know-how your systems are running. 

How was the initial setup?

We've been using it for a long time, therefore, I don't even remember when we set it up or how it went. We do keep it updated and use the latest versions.

I only have one or two people doing maintenance on it.

What was our ROI?

ROI's a hard thing to pin down. We've had it for so long, it's part of our core operating infrastructure.

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

Everything we do is either yearly or multi-year. I don't know if there is any additional cost to standard license fees.

What other advice do I have?

We use Splunk and we also sell and support it for our clients.

Normally our policy is to keep software updated to the latest version.

The main issue is that we do enterprise architecture and network and security operations. We recommend certain platforms to clients. We don't always sell Splunk directly to them due to the fact that, since we're being hired to help them make choices, we need to be neutral. In the cases where it doesn't make sense, we don't sell it. We just help clients make decisions.

I don't know which version of the solution we're using. I'm an architect; I'm not on the operations level. I'm not the one who actually uses it. Our operations use it. I get dashboard results and I do reports that are based on it, however, I'm not the one actually running it. We have a NOC and a SOC and others use it a lot more individually. They have a lot more interaction than I do. I'm getting reports out of it. Others are actually connecting to it, using it as a tool. I'm not a tool user. I'm an information user.

All Splunk is, is data collection and it can sort things out on a dashboard. However, a lot of what Splunk does is collect data and you have to decide what kind of information you're going to let it collect. When we're doing design operations we have to really pay attention to what we're doing, so we don't actually slow things down or impede things. The reason we use Splunk is we put a lot of data into it.

With Splunk, you need to really be careful about what you're monitoring and how you use it, to get keep the results working. It's a good tool if you know what you're doing and what you need to be logging. You need to be aware of what you're logging to ensure it isn't going to cause problems with your performance.

I wouldn't recommend it for somebody who's coming in new. Of the clients we have using it, I don't know if any of them don't have professional IT running it. It's important to really understand what's going on.

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. In certain environments, it could be a bit complex. It's not something you could just drop into an organization, you need to be trained to use it. You need the experience to use it properly.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Splunk Enterprise Security
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about Splunk Enterprise Security. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Cyber Security Expert at a security firm with 11-50 employees
Real User
Great performance, easy to set up, and offers good speed
Pros and Cons
  • "The level of robustness on offer is very good."
  • "The complexity could be worked on so that it's even easier and faster."

What is our primary use case?

Typically, we use the solution for critical infrastructure companies. 

What is most valuable?

The speed is a very valuable aspect of the solution. 

The way Splunk handles low data and low-rate costs are great.

The level of robustness on offer is very good. 

The initial setup is very straightforward. 

We have found that the solution offers good integrations with other products.

Overall, the solution works very well.

What needs improvement?

The complexity could be worked on so that it's even easier and faster. However, I understand that, if some complexity was removed, there might be slightly more limitations.

Occasionally there are data sizing and data-related issues that need to be overcome.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for a couple of years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The performance is very good. It's something that customers are always looking for. The product offers good stability. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have about five to ten partners that use Splunk.

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

I'm a fan of QRadar. I use them as well.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward. It's not overly complex or difficult. A company shouldn't have any issues with the process. The deployment process doesn't take too long. You can manage it with fewer people and smaller teams. This is especially true if it isn't the critical infrastructure that you are working with. 

For deployment and maintenance, you only need two to three people. That can include one manager and two professionals. Since Splunk is easier to handle, more people can join in on the client-side.

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

We also use QRadar, and we make more money with QRadar than with Splunk as we can make bigger projects happen. However, we find that with Splunk, while we don't make as much money on each project, we can do more of them.

What other advice do I have?

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1630161 - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at a marketing services firm with 11-50 employees
Real User
Easy to deploy and relatively simple learning curve; could be more user friendly
Pros and Cons
  • "Easy to deploy and simple to use."
  • "Could be more user friendly."

What is our primary use case?

We're using the solution to try to build a virtual network and put Splunk inside it and do some kind of transcentralization with a log server. Our aim is to track connections, network traffic and some personal databases. I'm the founder of the company and we are customers of Splunk.

What is most valuable?

Splunk can quickly be deployed and it's not difficult to learn the solution. 

What needs improvement?

The solution could be more user friendly and it's difficult to know at this stage whether our requirements will be met by the solution. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for a couple of months. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is good with Splunk. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup doesn't take much time especially if there's good bandwidth. In a small company deployment might take a month or two. If you have 100 devices then a technical team of three should be sufficient. They would need to be able to deal with log analysis, forensics and have general knowledge about admin systems. In time, we would expect to have thousands of users. 

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

I think Splunk is expensive compared to other tools at the purchase stage. It's possible that if we can keep control of the costs involved down the track, it won't be so bad.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We studied four or five tools including Logrhythm and Exabeam. We went with Splunk for now and will see how that goes.

What other advice do I have?

I think this is a good solution and rate it a seven out of 10. 

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.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1521537 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Good scalability, dashboards, and alarms, but should have a default dashboard for a firewall and better knowledge base
Pros and Cons
  • "Its dashboard is valuable. If you have a good knowledge of how to create a dashboard, you can create any dashboard related to cybersecurity. If fine-tuned, the alarms that are triggered for instant review are also very valuable and useful."
  • "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."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Splunk for cybersecurity operations.

What is most valuable?

Its dashboard is valuable. If you have a good knowledge of how to create a dashboard, you can create any dashboard related to cybersecurity. If fine-tuned, the alarms that are triggered for instant review are also very valuable and useful.

What needs improvement?

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.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for eight months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In terms of operations, it is stable, but if you don't have a proper configuration and sizing, there could be many issues. It could be more efficient on the storage part. We are still in the deployment stage to be able to say that for sure.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very scalable. Currently, we have around 50 users. We will increase its usage if more people need access.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have raised multiple tickets. Some of them are good, and some of them can be better. Overall, their technical support is okay.

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

We didn't use any other solution.

How was the initial setup?

I didn't do the initial configuration. I take care of the operations part. One of our clients did it, and it is somehow complex, and it takes time. It also depends on your knowledge. If you don't have knowledge of Splunk, it is complex.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are a partner of Splunk. So, we did not evaluate other solutions.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Splunk a seven 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: Partner
PeerSpot user
it_user782697 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Operation Center Analyst at Sadad
Real User
User Behavior Analytics is key in detecting fraud and advanced persistent threats
Pros and Cons
  • "Splunk UBA is useful for fraud detection and for detection of APTs, advanced persistent threats."
  • "UBA, User Behavior Analytics, is a key feature."
  • "I think the machine learning should be emphasized. Now, it's really important to analyze Big Data, data mining. A SIEM solution, like Splunk, needs an improved data mining solution, artificial intelligence."

What is our primary use case?

Splunk is a SIEM, a Security Information and Event Management solution. It is used, for example, for monitoring security logs and security information in companies and organizations. It is also used for correlation, meaning making policies, for detecting/monitoring attacks, and the like; for monitoring security logs, security events, preventing hackers from attacking. It's really for business continuity.

How has it helped my organization?

For a long period of time we analyzed logs, traffic, something like tcpdump. Splunk UBA is useful for fraud detection and for detection of APTs, advanced persistent threats. It's really important for our business because I work a PSP, a payment service provider, e-payments.

What is most valuable?

UBA, User Behavior Analytics.

What needs improvement?

In the next release of Splunk, I think the machine learning should be emphasized. Now, it's really important to analyze Big Data, data mining. A SIEM solution, like Splunk, needs an improved data mining solution, artificial intelligence. Splunk would be the best if it improved these features.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable and very safe. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Splunk's scalability is good for an enterprise situation. It's scalable in all situations.

How are customer service and technical support?

For us, technical support has been good. Splunk has good documentation and it is really easy to work with Splunk and the Splunk community.

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

I used ELK. It was good. It is an open-source solution, but there is some complexity in configuring it, working with it.

In choosing a vendor I use industry reviews to find feedback from the community that works with the solution.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

There are a lot of solutions: IBM QRadar, Splunk, LogRhythm. Splunk was good for us because of the support, the documentation, the scalability, the stability. It gives us everything that we need in our business, everything necessary for helping us do our job.

What other advice do I have?

There are three top SIEM solutions in the world: Splunk, LogRhythm, IBM QRadar. I think Splunk is the best.

I would rate Splunk at eight out of 10. The vendor needs to work on this solution to make it better and better. I would recommend this solution but it depends on the situation, the country, the support from the vendor.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
System Administrator at Abdullah Al-Othaim Markets
Real User
Searches logs from all devices and gives valuable information to the organisation
Pros and Cons
  • "Alerts when a server is malfunctioning, monitors external attacks, and takes action to stop spreading viruses."
  • "Make it easy to use and the cost cheaper. This will help all organisations to implement Splunk."

What is our primary use case?

  • Searches the logs for all network devices and server. 
  • Monitors clients' hardware, networking, and security operations. 
  • It is good for the administrator to use it when maintaining the whole IT Infrastructure.

How has it helped my organization?

Alerts when a server is malfunctioning, monitors external attacks, and takes action to stop spreading viruses.

What is most valuable?

Searches logs from all devices and gives valuable information to the organisation, so it can drill down on all reports and security threats. 

What needs improvement?

Make it easy to use and the cost cheaper. This will help all organisations to implement Splunk

Network Breach

No, we have not suffered a network breach.

Efficiency of Security Team

Yes, the solution has improved the efficiency of our security team.

For how long have I used the solution?

Trial/evaluations only.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No scalability issues.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have received a very good response from support that I have not seen in more than 10 years of my experience. 

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

We are using OpManager to monitor server logs. 

What about the implementation team?

I implemented it myself.

What was our ROI?

It made our organization better through integration.

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

Make it cheaper to help small organisations implement it easier. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated QRadar.

What other advice do I have?

I have been using Splunk to increase my security experience. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
MS Alam - PeerSpot reviewer
MS AlamSystem Administrator at Abdullah Al-Othaim Markets
Real User

splunk is google for all logs in organisation.

PeerSpot user
Specialist Master, Cyber Risk at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
My clients have visibility into systems and activities that they never had before.
Pros and Cons
  • "Splunk gives my clients the ability to bring multiple, disparate types of data together, then correlate and report on them."
  • "The GUI can be improved. Splunk has always suffered from having a kind of goofy UI, it needs some updating."

How has it helped my organization?

Some of my clients had rudimentary home-grown security solutions that Splunk ES has completely replaced.

In these cases, the improvement was dramatic; they had visibility into systems and activities that they never had before.

In the case of clients who already had a SIEM solution, the change was more incremental. However, in my opinion, the Splunk ES solution is superior because it is so flexible. It can consolidate data from almost anything.

What is most valuable?

Splunk Enterprise Security is most valuable, my clients use it as a SIEM solution. Splunk gives them the ability to bring multiple, disparate types of data together, then correlate and report on them.

What needs improvement?

The GUI can be improved. Splunk has always suffered from having a kind of goofy UI, it needs some updating.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There were no stability issues. It is one of the most stable systems that I have worked with.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

As of now, no scalability issues were experienced. Splunk is highly scalable, so don’t anticipate that. However, scaling can get very expensive with their pricing model.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is excellent! It is of top notch level. The customer support folks really know their stuff, the turnaround is fast.

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

Previously, we were using HPE ArcSight.

How was the initial setup?

That’s a hard one. The initial setup is easy but making it actually work is complex. However, the complexity is something that just comes with all top SIEM tools. Very few companies have exactly the same data and issues, so a great deal of data onboarding and normalization are always required.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated HPE ArcSight.

What other advice do I have?

Plan your implementation carefully. Be sure you have someone to implement it, someone who knows what he is doing. Splunk’s inherent flexibility is a great thing, but it also provides an opportunity to really mess things up.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are an alliance partner.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Splunk Enterprise Security Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: February 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Splunk Enterprise Security Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.