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SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor vs. Splunk Observability Cloud vs. SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

    Score7.7 out of 10
    N/ASolarWinds 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 Observability Cloud

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/ASplunk Observability Cloud aims to enable operational agility and better customer experience through real-time AI-driven streaming analytics allowing accurate alerts in seconds. It is designed to shorten MTTD and MTTR by providing real-time visibility into cloud infrastructure and services.

    $180

    per year per host

    SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/ASQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for managing any SQL infrastructure, from SQL Server to Azure SQL Database.

    $0

    Pricing
    SolarWinds Server & Application MonitorSplunk Observability CloudSQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Infrastructure
    $15
    per month (billed annually) per host
    App & Infra
    $60
    per month (billed annually) per host
    End-to-End
    $75
    per month (billed annually) per host
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    SolarWinds Server & Application MonitorSplunk Observability CloudSQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
    Free Trial
    YesYesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsSAM pricing starts at $2,995.——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    SolarWinds Server & Application MonitorSplunk Observability CloudSQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
    Considered Multiple Products
    SolarWinds
    No answer on this topic
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    37 Answers
    95%
    Would buy again
    55 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    35 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    48 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    36 Answers
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    57 Answers
    80%
    Happy with the feature set
    4 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    30 Answers
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    31 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    91%
    Implementation went as expected
    32 Answers
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    45 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    SolarWinds Server & Application MonitorSplunk Observability CloudSQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
    Application Performance Management
    Comparison of Application Performance Management features of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor and Splunk Observability Cloud and SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
    Feature
    SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor
    7.1
    281 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Splunk Observability Cloud
    -
    Ratings
    SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
    -
    Ratings
    Application monitoring7.0271 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Database monitoring7.6235 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Threshold alerts7.4276 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Predictive capabilities6.6220 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Application performance management console7.4244 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Collaboration tools6.6152 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Out-of-the box templates to monitor applications7.0261 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Application dependency mapping and thresholding6.0221 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Virtualization monitoring7.6239 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Server availability and performance monitoring7.6274 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Server usage monitoring and capacity forecasting7.4255 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    IT Asset Discovery6.3203 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    SolarWinds Server & Application MonitorSplunk Observability CloudSQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
    Small Businesses
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    Amazon CloudWatch
    Score7.8 out of 10
    Visual Studio
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    SolarWinds AppOptics
    Score7.6 out of 10
    LogicMonitor
    Score8.9 out of 10
    PyCharm
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Splunk AppDynamics
    Score8.5 out of 10
    ManageEngine Site24x7
    Score10 out of 10
    WebStorm
    Score9.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    SolarWinds Server & Application MonitorSplunk Observability CloudSQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.8
    (282 ratings)
    7.9
    (59 ratings)
    9.2
    (5 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.9
    (10 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.8
    (33 ratings)
    7.6
    (18 ratings)
    8.8
    (4 ratings)
    Availability
    9.9
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    6.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (21 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    4.5
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    1.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    4.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.9
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    4.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    4.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    SolarWinds Server & Application MonitorSplunk Observability CloudSQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    SolarWinds
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    Its great if you need real-time visibility across complex or regulated environments. Also strong for hybrid or multi-cloud setups where uptime, observability and fast IR are required. It’s probably overkill for smaller teams or environments that don’t have constant changes or compliance reporting needs. It's expensive and has a steep learning curve. Also, in my opinion, do not get yourself into a consumption based model. Costs can certainly get out of control quickly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    The tool is excellent for managing virtually all aspects of SQL Server - multiple servers, databases, hundreds of tables and procedures, dozens of SQL Agent jobs. We have not encountered any situations where it is not appropriate.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    SolarWinds
    • Monitor Azure Cloud Severs- We use SolarWinds SAM to monitor Active Directory and DNS on Several DCs published on Azure Cloud.
    • Monitor Hyper V and VMware - SolarWinds SAM monitors applications on both Hyper V and VMware, while also monitoring the physical host machines.
    • It also helps us monitor Warranty expiration for physical servers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • The first one is its Kubernetes container monitoring.
    • I really like this features because as we know how much K8s is vast and to manually monitor each part of the Kubernetes it takes so much time but Splunk Observability Cloud makes it easier. And even once we integrate K8s with Splunk Observability Cloud it gives us some prebuilt dashboards which gives holistic view of our Cluster and its nodes, pods, etc.
    • The dashbaord feature of Splunk Observability Cloud, it gives us full flexibility to customize our dashboard with a wide range of predefined chart types.
    • Now it also supports OTEL, which is a plus point for observability. As now everyone is moving towards Otel and in current market there are only few tools who supports OTEL based integrations, Splunk Observability Cloud is one out of them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Database queries
    • Database management
    • Table design
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    SolarWinds
    • Custom application monitors can be a little tricky to configure.
    • Logic in custom alerts can be a little hard to follow and figure out.
    • Inability to monitor certificates on custom applications or SQL Server.
    • Can be a little slow at times with on-prem SQL server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • You can use table-like functionality to generate dashboards, but these queries are heavy on the system.
    • It could be easier to give insight into what type of line parsing is used for specific documents in a company-managed environment and/or show ways to gain the insights needed.
    • I would like to see ways to anonymize specific data for shared reports without pre-formatting this in a dashboard on which reports could be based.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Sorting of executed queries not available
    • Quality of life improvements on folders and managment
    • Some outdated tools that need revamping
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    SolarWinds
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Good: Stable system with low error rate Easy to use for simple use cases Bad: UI is not very clear for complex usage Mobile view (when logged in from phone) is bad No library for .net
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    SolarWinds
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    When there is an issue, it’s a win if one can easily identify the root cause. To do the same, it should allow the user to dig deep with multiple data points and compare the data and identify the anomaly. In this use case, it’s good to drive from Splunk 011y.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    It's very user friendly. If you know T-SQL then you can use this. Really even if you don't it's not that hard to figure out. You can create things visually as well.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    SolarWinds
    The tool works and monitors items 24x7, it only requires maintenance a little more frequently due to security fixes in the Windows operating system.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    SolarWinds
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    SolarWinds
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Splunk support is very quick and efficient. Pre-sale specialists are very skilled and available.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    SolarWinds
    It was sufficient to read their documentation and watch videos.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    SolarWinds
    Make sure SNMP and WMI are configured ahead of time
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    Follow a training before starting.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    SolarWinds
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring provides far superior options for anybody using a complex hybrid multi-cloud environment and allows both your SOC and NOC to work together on the same data while driving their own insights. We found other products are still in the old world view of servers and agents residing together within a single data centre, but modern apps are no longer like this.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    SSMS is very efficient and aids to do multiple tabs easily
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    SolarWinds
    It is hard to find the recommended SQL setup and convince others that is the way you should configure the server when you set it up
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    SolarWinds
    • Ability to sunset multiple legacy monitoring platforms.
    • A single pane of glass across global locations (Enterprise Operations Console) simplifies monitoring for junior staff.
    • A single toolset allows staff from across the global environment to share knowledge and quickly set up/modify monitoring.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    • Significantly reduced the MTTR (Mean Time To Recovery), which in turn has improved the end-user experience tremendously.
    • Meets compliance requirements of security policies, audit, regulation, and forensics.
    • Helps us to track/manage the resource usage on our cloud instances which has a direct implication on the recurring cost.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • SQL Server Management Studio is our go-to tool for almost everything we do with SQL Server. Highly efficient and flexible.
    • Compared to other alternatives, I would say we save at least 25% of the overall time we need to spend working in SQL Server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Screenshots

    Screenshot of Multi-vendor application performance monitoringScreenshot of Multi-vendor server monitoringScreenshot of Application dependency mapping with AppStack™ dashboardScreenshot of Microsoft Exchange performance monitoring with AppInsight™ templateScreenshot of Microsoft IIS performance monitoring with AppInsight™ templateScreenshot of Server hardware health monitoring

    Splunk Observability Cloud Screenshots

    Screenshot of Real-time monitoring for public, private and hybrid cloud