Azure Monitor vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

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19,148 views|16,331 comparisons
88% willing to recommend
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5,175 views|3,398 comparisons
87% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Jun 28, 2023

We performed a comparison between Azure Monitor and SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor based on real PeerSpot user reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Azure Monitor's setup is complex and requires guidance for less experienced users. On the other hand, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor's setup time varies and can take anywhere from a few hours to two months. Some users find it easy, while others find it complex. However, both solutions face challenges with upgrades, which can be problematic and time-consuming.
  • Features: Azure Monitor provides customizable monitoring options for cloud resources, log analysis, graphs and charts, and reporting. It also integrates well with Microsoft technologies. On the other hand, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor offers in-depth monitoring of processes and services, infrastructure dependency mapping, and powerful network devices' performance monitoring.
  • Pricing: Azure Monitor charges a monthly subscription fee based on log file size and is tailored to the user's needs and usage, while SolarWinds' pricing is based on a yearly basis and may vary depending on the number of devices and modules included. There are no additional costs associated with SolarWinds.
  • Service and Support: Some users have found Azure Monitor's customer service to be helpful and responsive, while others have had negative experiences with slow response times and unhelpful engineers. Similarly, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor's support has also received mixed feedback, with some users finding the team knowledgeable and responsive, but others experiencing long wait times and a lack of expertise.
  • ROI: Azure Monitor's ROI is mixed among users, while SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is said to improve performance, reduce downtime, and boost productivity with a positive ROI.

Comparison Results: Azure Monitor provides users with greater flexibility, customization options, and better troubleshooting features. The product integrates well with other Microsoft technologies and offers good log analysis, graphs, and charts, as well as reporting. While SolarWinds does have valuable monitoring capabilities, it needs improvement in terms of stability, flexibility, ease of use, performance, integration, and pricing. Azure Monitor has received more positive feedback on customer service and support, initial setup, and pricing, making it the preferred solution.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Monitor vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Report (Updated: March 2024).
768,246 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"Log analytics and log queries are the most valuable features of Azure Monitor.""I am monitoring all of my Azure Monitor and getting good reports. I can customize the reports to get the information I need. I am also getting emails about which AAS instances are down and everything in the system related to my services. It is easy to use, scalable, and user-friendly. Microsoft has Many guides and videos to help you understand how to create and use Azure Monitor.""Azure Monitor is very stable.""The solution very easily integrates with Azure services and in one click you can monitor your resource.""Among the valuable features of this solution, Application Insights stands out as one of the most significant. It provides insights into application performance and helps identify issues and bottlenecks.""One of the most useful aspects of this solution is the out-of-the-box functionality on all areas, especially on Application Insights, zero instrumentation, and artificial intelligence for event correlation.""Azure Monitor's best features are its graphs and charts, the different visibility options, and reporting.""Azure Monitor gives us the observability to check everything that we have in the cloud."

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"The solution has good alerts. Notifications are sent via email to technicians. You can filter the kinds of alerts you want to receive as well. It's excellent.""It is simple to implement and can provide fairly decent Windows-based monitoring, beyond simple SNMP. It is great for monitoring newbies and smaller shops.""This product can monitor application environments no matter where they reside and provides capabilities for deep insight into infrastructure.""Features like monitoring and infrastructure dependency mapping are valuable to us.""Management Console - Managing service to each server enrolled in the Solarwinds is much easier. Using a web base console, you can control your service much convenient way. There is no need to login remotely. It save a lot of time and effort.""One of the most valuable features are the reports. They're pretty good. Also, the ease of installation and customization for the client is another feature that we value. SolarWinds has a lot of features but these are the ones I like the most. We also like that the KPIs have the ability to be preset.""The features like trends, capacity planning, recommendations, and diagnostics are the main items I focus on for added value.""Hardware health: It allows for proactive monitoring of the hardware health and is a game changer."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Pros →

Cons
"The biggest one is probably just the user interface. There could be more advanced logging at the database level. They can also improve their query builder to allow you to search for things better, but I last used it about a year ago. They might have already changed a ton of things in the newer versions.""Azure Monitor could improve the visualization aspect and integrate better with other third-party services.""Automation related to gathering metrics from more applications could be improved.""This solution has fewer features than some of its competitors, so adding more features to it would make it better.""Azure Monitor's integration with applications could be improved.""Azure Monitor could improve network performance monitoring and make it more advanced.""The solution should have cross-connection or cross-communication between tech partners.""have used multiple products like Webex and PRTG. Some features could be added. Azure Monitor should add SMS and APIs. We have very limited access to Azure Monitor. I usually get alerts on my phone when they are integrated with Slack. I am not always available, but my team is. Sometimes, I am traveling and don't have access to my email, but I have Slack and other third-party projects that send me instant messages if a sensor goes down."

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"There is one feature that is a report writer. And they are currently trying to take it out from being a stand-alone application and integrating to the web. This doesn't give us the flexibility and it doesn't expand what we can get when it comes to reporting. So, putting it on the web is going to make it difficult to get some information. Leaving it where it is now will help us a lot.""SAM AppInsight for SQL: The ability to ignore fragmentation of specific indexes.""Currently SolarWinds SAM offers AppInsight for modern versions of: IIS, Exchange, SQL Server. They have shown to be powerful and insightful tools. However, AppInsight needs to be offered for more applications: Citrix, SharePoint, AX, etc.""I believe that some of the trends, environmental maps, and items like those found in Orion would be very beneficial.""SAM's software-defined network monitoring capability is also low and could be improved.""SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor could improve the server monitoring and the web application monitoring features are not good. Microsoft SCOM has better server monitoring.""When you implement SolarWinds on a larger scale my customers complain about the speed.""Reporting is the only thing with which we currently have challenges. They have this in two ways. There is the report writer, which is the backend, and we also have web reports, which are on the console. So, they have removed the report writer for the backend reports, and we are making use of the web console, but most of the users are not finding it very interesting to use the frontend reports. I would like them to bring back the report writer. That's the key area within it to improve on the reporting. If they can bring back the report writer, then most users will actually be comfortable. I have some customers who are trying to export their report to an Excel format, but it is not possible because they said any report that has been done from the web console cannot be exported to Excel, but most of the customers need to export their reports to Excel. That's one area they need to work on."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Azure Monitor is a low-priced solution, which is why it would work best on small-scale projects."
  • "The price of the solution is reasonable."
  • "Azure Monitor is a competitively priced solution."
  • "Azure Monitor is one of the more cost effective solutions on the market."
  • "The cost of Azure Monitor application performance should be less expensive."
  • "The licensing is a monthly fee."
  • "I would rate Azure Monitor a two out of five for affordability."
  • "The solution is very costly because you have to pay for various things such as adding to logs and internet alerts."
  • More Azure Monitor Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "I have always said SolarWinds is very “proud” of their products, meaning they are expensive. I cannot afford to purchase all the licenses I need for all the SolarWinds products."
  • "When planning for the number of licenses to purchase, make sure you understand all of the elements within an application required to really understand performance well. In our case, we quickly came to the conclusion that an unlimited license for SAM was the way to go."
  • "Nagios XI, WhatsUpGold, Uptime Software, PRTG, Manage Engine, and SpiceWorks are the other tools that have lower pricing and licensing costs. However, they can't compete with SolarWinds when it comes to the features and functionality that SolarWinds can provide."
  • "I would advise potential buyers to wait until the end of the quarter, end of year, or other time to place orders. There are actually great deals to be had at those times if your budget cycle can match up."
  • "Pricing and licensing is fair for what you get. It does have a great bang-for-the-buck appeal."
  • "SAM is not per server so the pricing model can be deceiving. If you have an enterprise environment, you will quickly exceed your licensing quickly. You should know this before going in."
  • "Understanding the counts of objects to monitor will determine the licensing need. In terms of pricing, it’s not cheap but it’s not expensive as larger vendors whose products don’t have all the features or integrations."
  • "The product might cost you $30,000 USD to buy, but scaling this solution requires the purchase of additional polling engines at $20,000 USD each."
  • More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Splunk handles a high amount of data very well. We use Splunk to capture information and as an aggregator for monitoring information from different sources. Splunk is very good at alerting us if we… more »
    Top Answer:Azure Monitor is a very easy-to-use product in the cloud environment.
    Top Answer:We cannot use AI services with the solution.
    Top Answer:The application dependency feature identifies issues between applications and servers or within the network where the application is hosted. It highlights related problems, whether related to packet… more »
    Top Answer:Among the major monitoring solutions, especially considering that free monitoring tools are available, it is relatively affordable. When compared to other licensed models in the market, it stands out… more »
    Top Answer:The current script monitoring feature has limitations, especially when dealing with custom scripts.
    Ranking
    Views
    19,148
    Comparisons
    16,331
    Reviews
    30
    Average Words per Review
    509
    Rating
    7.7
    Views
    5,175
    Comparisons
    3,398
    Reviews
    9
    Average Words per Review
    427
    Rating
    7.4
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    SolarWinds SAM
    Learn More
    Overview

    Azure Monitor is a comprehensive monitoring solution offered by Microsoft Azure. It provides a centralized platform for monitoring the performance and health of various Azure resources, applications, and infrastructure. 

    With Azure Monitor, users can gain insights into the availability, performance, and usage of their applications and infrastructure. The key features of Azure Monitor include metrics, logs, alerts, and dashboards. Metrics allow users to collect and analyze performance data from various Azure resources, such as virtual machines, databases, and storage accounts. 

    Logs enable users to collect and analyze log data from different sources, including Azure resources, applications, and operating systems. Azure Monitor also provides a robust alerting mechanism that allows users to set up alerts based on specific conditions or thresholds. These alerts can be configured to notify users via email, SMS, or other notification channels. Additionally, Azure Monitor offers customizable dashboards that allow users to visualize and analyze their monitoring data in a personalized and intuitive manner.  

    Azure Monitor integrates seamlessly with other Azure services, such as Azure Automation and Azure Logic Apps, enabling users to automate actions based on monitoring data. It also supports integration with third-party monitoring tools and services, providing flexibility and extensibility. 

    Overall, Azure Monitor is a powerful and versatile monitoring solution that helps users gain deep insights into the performance and health of their Azure resources and applications. It offers a wide range of features and integrations, making it a comprehensive solution for monitoring and managing Azure environments.

    SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) delivers powerful application and server monitoring capabilities for IT pros, enabling them to diagnose and troubleshoot performance issues faster. Do not let slow applications and downtime impact your end-users and business services. Pinpoint the root cause of application issues across various layers of the IT stack. SolarWinds SAM is affordable and easy to deploy, use, and customize. You can automatically discover your system's environment and start monitoring in about an hour. No professional services or consultation needed.

    Sample Customers
    Rackspace, First Gas, Allscripts, ABB Group
    Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company33%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Comms Service Provider14%
    Government10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Government8%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm20%
    Construction Company13%
    Recruiting/Hr Firm7%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization41%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Government8%
    Financial Services Firm6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise51%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise68%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise49%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business11%
    Midsize Enterprise48%
    Large Enterprise41%
    Buyer's Guide
    Azure Monitor vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Monitor vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    768,246 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Azure Monitor is ranked 4th in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability with 44 reviews while SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is ranked 21st in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability with 38 reviews. Azure Monitor is rated 7.6, while SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Azure Monitor writes "A powerful Kusto query language but the alerting mechanism needs improvement". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor writes "We use this product for base and application monitoring. ". Azure Monitor is most compared with Datadog, Dynatrace, Prometheus, Sentry and AppDynamics, whereas SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is most compared with Dynatrace, AppDynamics, Prometheus, ServiceNow Discovery and Nagios XI. See our Azure Monitor vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report.

    See our list of best Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability vendors.

    We monitor all Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.