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SolarWinds Security Event Manager Review
Updated December 09, 2020

SolarWinds Security Event Manager Review

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)

SolarWinds Security Event Manager is utilized by the Information Technology department. Individuals on multiple IT teams have email alerts set up to notify them about events that require action. Additionally, the Security Event Manager is also utilized when there is a need to look at the logs to identify the root cause of a problem. For example, user account lockouts at a time the user wasn't in the office. It addresses multiple business problems by letting us know when something requires our attention.
  • Easy to utilize--the rules are straightforward and pre-configured. You just have to customize them to fit your environment.
  • Great customer service, which is incredibly useful when you want help with better utilizing the SEM.
  • Easy and clear filters when looking for specific information without your environment.
  • The SEM can be rather slow--an increase in CPU and RAM appeared to fix this problem fairly easily though.
  • The SEM has lately required reboots for us fairly often. This is something we are currently working with support to resolve.
  • The SEM could release additional graphic options to help better display data to management.
  • Able to keep our systems with a higher uptime, due to being able to resolve issues faster.
  • Able to be alerted on key issues, making us more proactive.
  • Able to research issues more easily in one central location.
I have additionally used Netwrix Auditor, which has some similarity with SolarWinds SEM. I use both hand in hand, but typically use the SEM first since it is easier to manage. With Netwrix custom searches are more complex than customer searches in the SEM. The SEM makes it easy to save custom filters, which makes future similar research very easy.
The SolarWinds Security Event Manager is great for people who want to be able to either view logs or set up emails for certain actionable events. However, it would be less helpful in a situation where you want your SEM to be taking action on specific items. There are some actions that can be taken by the SEM, but they constitute a rather short list in comparison to other SEM tools.

SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) Feature Ratings

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
7.4
Centralized event and log data collection
8
Correlation
7
Event and log normalization/management
8
Deployment flexibility
8
Integration with Identity and Access Management Tools
Not Rated
Custom dashboards and workspaces
6

ROI

  • Price
  • Product Reputation
Our IT team has a few products with SolarWinds so the SEM was the first product considered. The brand reputation is the main factor that lead to purchasing the SolarWinds Security Event Manager. Additionally, the price is always a factor that is taken into close consideration at our company.

Using SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)

5 - Information Security and Systems Team are the main users of the SEM. A few other teams get alerts from the SEM, but aren't in the SEM interface or familiar with the platform. Only a handful of employees actually handle the management and configuration of the SEM in our environment. But a good amount of our IT team has alerts set up for them.
3 - Supporting the SEM has required working with the command line a little bit and being able to enter the back end of the SEM. Having a team member willing to do that, is essential when it comes to things like needing to reboot the SEM or upgrade it. However, most things are handled by one person and then escalated as needed.
  • Filters to check for issues (that you don't want email alerts for)
  • Email alerts for major issues that require user action
  • Automation of actions based on certain alerts
  • Checking for failing service accounts
  • Being able to review account logon failure reasons
  • Alerts that we didn't plan on putting in SEM
  • Research problems to find who caused a specific change
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.

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?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

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

Yes

SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) Support

ProsCons
Knowledgeable team
Kept well informed
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
Poor followup
Escalation required
No - We have just regular support, which is enough to resolve issues. I turn to the SolarWinds Thwack community for a lot of things. There is lots of documentation and informative information there that can prevent even needing to open a support ticket. I always check documentation, Thwack, and then open a support ticket if those options didn't answer my questions.
I watched a SolarWinds webinar and months later the SolarWinds rep is still willing to help me out with any questions. Every once in the while, I will send him a quick question regarding configuration or a new feature of the product. He always replies fast and gives great detailed answers.
The support for SolarWinds SEM is pretty good. Most issues are easily resolved and the support team will work with you until the issue is fully resolved. Sometimes it takes a while to receive initial help, but once you get in contact with the support agent, it typically is a pretty decent process.

Using SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)

ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Convenient
Feel confident using
Lots to learn
  • Search function
  • Setting up filters
  • Monitoring node status
  • Setting up alerts
  • Reducing alert noise
After learning best practices of the SEM it is fairly easy to use and manage. Just the initial configuration and revision process can take some time. After about a month of using the SEM, I was able to navigate through most aspects of it with no problems. It just takes some hands on practice to best utilize the SEM.