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SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) vs. Splunk Enterprise Security

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)

    Score8.1 out of 10
    N/ASolarWinds LEM is security information and event management (SIEM) software.N/A

    Splunk Enterprise Security

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/ASplunk Enterprise Security is an analytics-driven SIEM that helps to combat threats with actionable intelligence and advanced analytics at scale.N/A
    Pricing
    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)Splunk Enterprise Security
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)Splunk Enterprise Security
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)Splunk Enterprise Security
    Considered Both Products
    SolarWinds
    Chose SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)
    We found that SolarWinds performed poorly when the Architecture included many large data centers spread across the globe. When evaluating the SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) solution we quickly realized that we needed a distributed architecture with log aggregation to …
    Incentivized
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    88%
    Would buy again
    30 Answers
    99%
    Would buy again
    109 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    28 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    90 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    91%
    Happy with the feature set
    31 Answers
    94%
    Happy with the feature set
    103 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    16 Answers
    91%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    80 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    89%
    Implementation went as expected
    25 Answers
    91%
    Implementation went as expected
    90 Answers
    Features
    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)Splunk Enterprise Security
    Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
    Comparison of Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) features of SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) and Splunk Enterprise Security
    Feature
    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)
    8.9
    18 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Splunk Enterprise Security
    8.9
    108 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Centralized event and log data collection9.018 Ratings8.6106 Ratings
    Correlation8.015 Ratings8.9105 Ratings
    Event and log normalization/management8.018 Ratings9.5106 Ratings
    Deployment flexibility10.018 Ratings8.0107 Ratings
    Integration with Identity and Access Management Tools8.013 Ratings8.9102 Ratings
    Custom dashboards and workspaces9.017 Ratings9.9108 Ratings
    Host and network-based intrusion detection10.03 Ratings8.5102 Ratings
    Data integration/API management00 Ratings8.5104 Ratings
    Behavioral analytics and baselining00 Ratings9.4100 Ratings
    Rules-based and algorithmic detection thresholds00 Ratings8.5101 Ratings
    Response orchestration and automation00 Ratings9.093 Ratings
    Reporting and compliance management00 Ratings8.9101 Ratings
    Incident indexing/searching00 Ratings9.0107 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)Splunk Enterprise Security
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM Security QRadar SIEM
    Score8.4 out of 10
    IBM Security QRadar SIEM
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Microsoft Sentinel
    Score8.6 out of 10
    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)Splunk Enterprise Security
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (46 ratings)
    8.1
    (110 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (6 ratings)
    6.8
    (13 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (4 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.5
    (17 ratings)
    7.3
    (8 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.7
    (98 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)Splunk Enterprise Security
    Likelihood to Recommend
    SolarWinds
    Optimal for SolarWinds Security Event Manager needs for smaller companies - it is a very cool product but has some limitations around EPS (which gets chewed up quickly if you're doing it the right way & adding servers/storage/FW & other network devices)... Also pricing model is GREAT (not consumption-based, which is the greatest grift the SIEM industry has created).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    Splunk ES is great for organizations with complex IT environments, and real-time visibility into their infrastructure is critical. We use it as the central platform to sort through alerts, run diagnostics, and respond to incidents. We have integrated it with SOAR and automations; both help keep our security posture up to date.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    SolarWinds
    • It does a great job of notifying us when accounts have been locked out. We can then find out the device on the network where the login attempt occurred.
    • Searching for incidents is now a lot faster with the implementation of the HTML 5 interface.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • Writes Powerful Queries: The queries that can be written using the Splunk Query Language are very powerful and highly customizable to meet every need. Ex: Writing queries to search the intersection of two different sources like Network and Endpoint Logs.
    • Offers Dashboard Abilities: Helps build complex panels for Dashboards in addition to providing several out-of-the-box panels. Ex: creating panels to calculate the performance of analysts in a given timezone.
    • Helpful Search Aids: It helps to set up complex custom alerts very easily. The interesting fields section is very helpful while threat hunting. Ex: It shows all the users and the frequency of each in a failed login event. The user list on the interesting fields is useful to look for suspicious logins.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    SolarWinds
    • All SolarWinds product suffer from slow response times in management portals. SolarWinds SEM is no exception. While it is much preferred over a "thick client" there is much room for improvement in speed.
    • If you use the email alert features with SolarWinds make sure to prepare you staff and team for the large amount of emails they could receive. Make sure to reduce the number of alerts so your team does not ignore the alerts.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • Improved User Interface Customization: While the interface is generally intuitive, providing more options for users to customize their dashboards and views would enhance the overall user experience. Tailoring the interface to specific roles or use cases could be a valuable addition.
    • Simplified Alert Management: Streamlining the process of managing alerts, such as grouping or categorizing them based on severity or type, would make it easier for security teams to prioritize and respond to incidents effectively.
    • Expanded Threat Intelligence Feeds: Increasing the variety and sources of threat intelligence feeds available within ES would provide a broader context for identifying and mitigating emerging threats, ensuring a more comprehensive defense against evolving attack vectors.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    SolarWinds
    It is pretty likely that we will renew SEM when the time comes up. It is easy to use and maintain so there isn't much of a need to replace this product. It is also a pretty fair price for the capabilities provided by the SEM
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    We are very happy with Splunk and would advise anyone to take a serious look at it. It might look pricey but the rewards Splunk offers seem endless.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    SolarWinds
    If you are familiar with SolarWinds then you can use this product it's as easy as that. If you have never used a SolarWinds product then it will take a minute to get how they do reports and make dashboards but that being said the tool is great and can make things very easy once you get a feel for how it works and get everything setup how you like it.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    I gave it a 6/10 because it's a perfect tool for experienced Splunk users. It's very difficult to add people to the Splunk team due to the complexity of the solutions. It took weeks to write useful SPL queries and even more time to be independent of the solution.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    I don't think I've ever seen Splunk ES go fully offline or have any downtime greater than a few minutes on rare occasions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    It takes a long time for items to load if you are just generally searching through logs. It is best to use the data models which load faster but can be strange in terms of what is coming from which logs where. Yes, you can look it up, but this also requires familiarity with where things are and how to look them up.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    SolarWinds
    The quality of support can vary depending on whom you end up speaking with. I was fortunate enough to work with a support representative who was very familiar with the product. He had even authored some of the support documentation on the website. On the flip side, I had two other experiences where I was simply directed to online training material.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    It's good when it's responsive, but I've had times where I had to wait quite a while for a response. But these are typically the exceptions rather than the rule. When you do get a response it is always well-informed and appropriate. I would say they've been trending better over time with this.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    I experienced only on-line training, but the trainers were very professional and competent. Maybe it could be more useful if they also have an experience in projects because sometimes they didn't have a real project experience to communicate to the students. Anyway, it was very interesting and I learned many thing that's very difficoult (or maybe impossible!) to have by myself, aven if I have more than 10 years of Splunk activity experience.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    It was very interesting and I learned many thing that's very difficoult (or maybe impossible!) to have by myself. The only problem was that, when I worked with the Splunk Professional Services, I found some difference between the training contents and the information from PS. In addition is required a long experience on Splunk Enterprise for the data ingestion part, in other words I'm able to work with ES because I'm worling on Splunk since 11 years, otherwise I'd some problem.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    It's a fantatic product and it was very useful the presence of Splunk Professional Services for the Design Phase and the final Health Check.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    SolarWinds
    Fortianalzyer can only do logs from FortiGate so usefulness is limited. Elasticsearch was a lot slower than Solarwinds and the filters were a lot harder to set up and use. The connectors for SEM were far more stable.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    Splunk enterprise is the only solution that we’ve been able to identify that provides risk based alerting, which allows our SOC to reduce analyst fatigue which would be a huge problem without it. Before RBA, there were thousands of alerts a day and it was impossible to review all of them
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    for my exterience, unit pricing and billing frequency are correct. As I already said, I hint to have more discount flexibility, expecially with new customers, because there are competitors less expensive and very aggressive that are dangerous. In addition the possibility to don't pay the license for the development period could be a very interesting feature for the final customers.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    - 8 out of 10 and took 2 for the data pipeline and administration part. Even if you'd like to improve yourself or your team, you have to pay a lot of money and it could be more than GIAC education + cert. - Normalization for Data models and CPU-based searches can be a problem sometimes.
    Incentivized
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    Professional Services
    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    I had a fantastic experience with Splunk Professional Services: they worked with us in our last SON project (a SOC migration for a very large customer) and helped to build a multi tenent environment even if ES isn't a multi tenant platform. Th Splunk PS was a very professional and competent people, he is italian and was able to speak with our italian customers.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    SolarWinds
    • For the price, it produced a decent value. It did a lot of the easy stuff well. I can't give any specific data given the objective of the product was to monitor very basic events in the environment.
    • There are free options that can do a better job.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    • We have a 100% success rate on all our ES implementations due to the amazing documentation and Splunk enablement on the subject.
    • Our Splunk ES business has grown 100% YoY for the last 3 years.
    • In terms of long term management and maintenance, ES has been highly stable and predictable, reducing our overhead on costly services team for ad hoc maintenance work.
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    ScreenShots

    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) Screenshots

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