SolarWinds Security Event Manager: A "log" above everyone else
January 31, 2020

SolarWinds Security Event Manager: A "log" above everyone else

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with SolarWinds Security Event Manager

SolarWinds Security Event Manager is a log and event manager that we implemented to replace our Cisco MARS appliance. This system is used by our security team to monitor and log events throughout the entire organization. From an alerting point of view, SolarWinds Security Event Manager makes our monitoring simpler and more refined. By allowing us to create and set email alerts on important and critical events, SolarWinds Security Event Manager allows a hands-off approach, so that we don't have to review hundreds of lines of alerts to get the critical information, saving us time and effort.
  • Allows log collecting from almost any source of data, using multiple types of authentication and collection (i.e. SNMP, WMI, etc.)
  • Allows customization of dashboards per user, so that you can quickly find the information relevant to your position.
  • The dashboard and reports use javascript, which can be slow to load.
  • To get it up and running was fast, however, to correctly configure proper alerts, you have to spend a ton of time.
  • SolarWinds Security Event Manager can be expensive for larger organizations.
  • If you don't have a log and event manager, SolarWinds Security Event Manager will get you on your way to being more secure.
We implemented SolarWinds Security Event Manager to replace our Cisco MARS appliance. We found the Cisco MARS appliance cumbersome and difficult to connect to and use, as well as very costly from a support and maintenance perspective. SolarWinds Security Event Manager has more features and reporting capabilities, and it significantly reduced the amount of time spent on reviewing logs.
The documentation is lacking specifics on definitions of alerts, so trial-and-error needs to be employed to use SolarWinds Security Event Manager properly. The installation of SolarWinds Security Event Manager was straightforward and any issues were resolved quickly via emails to the SolarWinds Security Event Manager support team. Using a virtual appliance vs. the regular install was the way to go in our environment and made the deployment that much easier.

Do you think SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)'s feature set?

Yes

Did SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) again?

Yes

SolarWinds Security Event Manager is well-suited for small- to mid-sized organizations that cannot afford a large Information Technology team or department. SolarWinds Security Event Manager has robust reporting and logging capabilities, but significant time must be spent up front to ensure proper configuration. Once configured, however, the power of SolarWinds Security Event Manager stands above Cisco from an alerting perspective and can assist with investigating any security issue in your environment.

SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) Feature Ratings

Centralized event and log data collection
9
Correlation
8
Event and log normalization/management
9
Deployment flexibility
7
Integration with Identity and Access Management Tools
7
Custom dashboards and workspaces
10