AlienVault USM vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager

• Alienvault USM is THOROUGH. We have a highly integrated workspace that's most SAAS, and I monitor those integrations and their security with AV. If I am trying to track the uptime of a laptop, I don't go to VPN or our Directory Services... I go to AV.
• As I mentioned before, we use Sophos to protect our laptops. If a questionable file shows up on someones laptop, I hear about it from AlienVault before I hear about it from our Sophos service.
• The OTX Pulse feature is a built-in feature that lets you subscribe to industries and you are notified about new threats that affect that industry on a daily basis. The pulse alerts are added to your AV watchlist.

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• Compared to other SIEMs, it's relatively easy to get up and running. The virtual appliance is easy to maintain.
• Support was top notch. The support team really knows their stuff when you run into an issue.
• The email alert system is easy to use and attach to a fired rule.

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• While there are many features, many of them are not very advanced. Vulnerability scanning as an example is extremely simplistic and almost unusable for an enterprise organization. It's just enough to get a program off the ground.
• Cloud-only deployment model (SaaS) may not fit all organizations. Not all organizations are "cloud friendly".
• Reporting capabilities out of the box are lack luster. Vulnerability management reporting as an example does not include a single canned report.

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• While the initial setup was straightforward, customizations to reports can be a little daunting. Luckily SolarWinds has videos available on steps to proceed and their tech support reps are very helpful too.
• The frequency of version updates is few and far between. This may be a good thing and should be expected since it is a set it and forget it kind of virtual appliance.
• It would be helpful if SolarWinds LEM had Wizards built-in that could assist in adding new types of devices. At times, I've had to go with trial and error until SolarWinds LEM would actually start collecting data from a particular one-off node.

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• LEM provides users the ability to reduce administration and operations cost by consolidating log management into one system.
• LEM allows various IT departments such as server and network to work together using normalized common events. This increases operational efficiency and reduces event correlation time.
• Customers should expect a high learning curve for personnel when the product is first implemented. Network management will need to plan on some ramp-up time cost up front.

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