SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) delivers application and server monitoring capabilities. SAM allows for self-service for easy setup, 1200+ monitoring templates, and customization options, as well as integrate with other SolarWinds products.
N/A
Splunk AppDynamics
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
AppDynamics is an APM and Mobile APM program, with application mapping and predictive capabilities. These capacities enable automated remediation and code-level diagnostics in real time. It can be deployed on-premise or as a SaaS.
SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor is able to provide 90% of the functionality my business requires. SolarWinds is able to scale out functionality by purchasing additional modules to meet the individual needs of its customers. While this functionality provides …
SolarWinds is cost-effective, we have a great solution provider that helps us with tool integrations and maintenance, the integration capability and extensive documentation also help a lot in the ability to use it in various monitoring models and scripts.
Solarwinds Server and Application monitor is my first choice of tools preferred for server and application infrastructure monitoring because of the following reasons - 1. Single product to offer on-prem, hosted, cloud monitoring 2. Single Product to offer Server, Database and …
We selected SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor over AppDynamics because SolarWinds product suited our needs better. We needed better infrastructure monitoring and internal application monitoring brought from other vendors. If we wanted to monitor an application that was …
Nagios and Rancid are used internally by a company that was acquired last year. They're a big open source group.
Other groups also use HostMonitor, Big Brother, and a couple of home grown tools that don't really stack up. Those groups don't want to change the way they do …
SolarWinds stacks up better than most due to its available ecosystem of tools. As they align, consolidate and integrate, the full value will be realized.
AppDymanics and Solarwinds was a good products at application and website monitoring. For SQL monitoring AppDymanics was the superior product is it found several queries that were slowing down the server while Solarwinds could not find any issues. The version of Nagios that we …
It is a well-suited software for monitoring and surveillance of your deployed nodes. The error-readability and filter options for filtering out logs and errors could be improved. But overall, it has a good UI design, is user-friendly, and is very easy to learn and access for new users.
Platforms for software as a service (SaaS) frequently cater to a large number of users with a variety of needs and usage patterns. Because AppDynamics offers multi-tenant monitoring capabilities to track performance across various customer environments, it is a good choice for SaaS platform monitoring. SaaS providers can maximize resource utilization, proactively detect and resolve performance issues, and provide a dependable and consistent user experience for their clients with AppDynamics.
AppDynamics delves deeply into traceability and profiling at the code level. By identifying and refactoring any hidden performance hogs in our code, we can directly observe the performance improvements.
AppDynamics provides real-time dashboards and in-depth insights into each layer of the application stack, lifting the curtain on performance.
AppDynamics gives us the ability to proactively detect and resolve performance issues. We are able to keep things running smoothly for our users and stop outages.
We can monitor stability and performance prior to, during, and following releases with AppDynamics, which helps to minimize regression risks and facilitate smooth rollouts.
Improving the clarity and comprehensiveness of the documentation could benefit users. Clearer documentation ensures that users can make the most of all the functionalities
Leverages AI and machine learning for intelligent insights, aiding in issue identification and prediction.
Competitive, with AI-driven features becoming increasingly common in APM solutions.
We are heavily invested in Solarwinds products for a reason. They are generally easy to setup and run with, requiring only some interfacing with support or help articles on rare occasions. They do what we bought them to do and we can't ask for more.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate our likelihood to renew Splunk AppDynamics as a 10. Our leadership is fully committed to the State of Indiana’s Application Performance Monitoring (APM) Program, which has become a national leader within the SLED (State, Local, and Education) vertical. AppDynamics plays a critical role in our ability to deliver reliable, high-performing digital services to citizens and stakeholders. Its capabilities align closely with our strategic goals around operational excellence, proactive incident management, and data-driven decision-making, making it an indispensable part of our technology ecosystem.
SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor is quite easy to use and super versatile. It allows you to do just about anything you can through premade templates or through scripting. You can use an agent on the servers if you want to, or you can monitor through WMI or SNMP credentials. You can customize thresholds for alerting quickly, and you can configure alerts to be as complex or as simple as you want.
Actually, I would like to give it a score of 10 out of 10, but taking into account certain factors such as: the cost of the annual licence, the complexity of installation and configuration, the blurring of setting Splunk AppDynamics over the cloud and especially OpenShift since we use it as a container platform. So, 8 out of 10 looks perfect for it
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate the availability of Splunk AppDynamics as a 9. Overall, the platform has proven to be highly reliable and is available when we need it. It consistently supports our monitoring and performance management needs across critical applications and infrastructure. There have been occasional issues with platform availability, such as intermittent application errors or brief unplanned outages. However, these instances have been infrequent and typically resolved quickly, minimizing any significant impact on operations. The stability and uptime of the platform have met our expectations, and we continue to rely on it as a core component of our APM strategy.
The graphical interface and the performance of the database leave a little to be desired, they could be better explored.Some functionality and screens do not work well depending on the browser used. The integrations never had any problems or caused crashes in other systems.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate the performance of Splunk AppDynamics as a 6. While the platform generally delivers the expected functionality, we’ve experienced periodic slowness—particularly with page loads and report generation. These performance issues can be frustrating, especially when trying to quickly access critical data during incident response or analysis. One contributing factor may be our use of a shared controller environment with other enterprises, which can introduce resource contention and impact overall responsiveness. In some cases, this has led to delays in accessing dashboards or completing complex queries. Despite these challenges, the platform remains a valuable tool, and we’re exploring options to improve performance, including potential changes to our deployment model and support agreements.
I think there was only a couple times I had to open a support case for SAM and one time they got multiple engineers on the phone to get a better idea what I was trying to monitor and was able to point me in the best direction to monitor that system.
AppDynamics has its own community site that includes forums and a knowledge base. On the forums, you can converse with other members of the community and ask technical questions as you have them. Though this forum isn’t filled with people there are active members for you to gain some valuable insights.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate the online training for Splunk AppDynamics as a 7. The training was generally acceptable and covered the core concepts and functionality of the platform. However, there were some challenges with communication during sessions—particularly around clarity and instructor engagement—which occasionally made it difficult to fully grasp certain topics. Additionally, the training could benefit from being more focused and tailored to specific roles or use cases. A more structured approach with clearer learning paths and practical, hands-on examples would enhance the overall effectiveness and help users apply the knowledge more confidently in real-world scenarios.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate our satisfaction with the implementation of Splunk AppDynamics as a 9. The deployment process was smooth and well-coordinated, thanks to the collaborative efforts between Cisco Professional Services, our internal business stakeholders, and agency technical teams. Key Insights from the Implementation: Cross-functional Collaboration Was Critical: Engaging both technical and business teams early in the process ensured that the platform was configured to meet a wide range of operational and strategic needs. Value of Expert Guidance: Cisco’s Professional Services provided invaluable expertise, helping us navigate complex configurations and tailor the solution to our environment. Their involvement accelerated deployment and ensured best practices were followed. Importance of Planning and Communication: A well-defined implementation roadmap and regular communication across teams helped us stay aligned, manage expectations, and address challenges proactively. Scalable Architecture: We designed the implementation with scalability in mind, allowing us to expand usage across agencies and applications without major rework. Overall, the implementation laid a strong foundation for our APM program and positioned us for long-term success.
Nagios requires far more manual work to configure than SolarWinds does, though that also encourages customization and perfect-fit solutions. Nagios also requires far, far fewer resources to run than SolarWinds: SolarWinds wants great gobs of memory and disk, while Nagios is refreshingly humble. Nagios starts working from the first minute, too, whereas SolarWinds needs lots of set-up time.
It is distinguished from these programs because the platform provides visualizations of application processes, showing the interplay between various parts and services. Understanding the architecture of complicated apps and finding their weak spots is greatly aided by this.
While the overall value of the Splunk AppDynamics platforms is strong, the pricing structure and contract terms can be complex and difficult to navigate. Unit pricing, licensing tiers, and billing frequency are not always intuitive, which can make it challenging to align purchases with the State’s evolving needs. I rely heavily on our Account Manager to help interpret and tailor the licensing model to our specific requirements. Their support has been invaluable in ensuring we make informed decisions. The most impactful change would be to simplify the licensing and pricing model. Clearer documentation, more transparent pricing tiers, and streamlined purchasing processes would significantly improve the experience and reduce administrative overhead.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate the overall scalability of Splunk AppDynamics as a 7. The platform is designed to support enterprise-wide deployments across multiple departments and sites, and it performs well in large-scale environments. Its architecture allows for horizontal scaling and supports a wide range of application types and infrastructures. However, the agent management and deployment process can be complex and time-consuming, especially when onboarding a large number of applications or systems. Coordinating agent installation, configuration, and updates across diverse environments requires careful planning and often significant manual effort. Streamlining these processes—perhaps through more centralized management tools or automation—would enhance scalability and reduce operational overhead. Despite these challenges, once deployed, AppDynamics scales effectively and provides consistent performance and visibility across the enterprise.
Our experience with the professional services team supporting Splunk AppDynamics has been exceptional. They demonstrated deep technical expertise, strong collaboration skills, and a clear understanding of our business objectives. Their guidance was instrumental in the successful implementation of our APM program and platform integration. The rating of 9 reflects our high level of satisfaction, with a small margin left to acknowledge that continuous improvement is always possible. Overall, their support has been a key factor in the success of our deployment.
AppDynamics has played a pivotal role in optimizing our applications for a seamless user experience. The proactive monitoring and quick issue resolution have translated into improved user satisfaction and increased retention rates.
The initial cost and effort associated with implementing AppDynamics might be considered a negative impact, particularly for organizations with budget constraints. However, the long-term benefits have justified this initial investment.
