Azure Network Watcher vs Splunk Observability Cloud comparison

Azure Network Watcher vs. Splunk Observability Cloud

Download the complete report

Helped 902,988 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Azure Network Watcher

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

43rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Splunk Observability Cloud

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

6th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (5th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (5th), Cloud Monitoring Software (4th), Container Management (5th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Azure Network Watcher is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk Observability Cloud is 1.3%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Splunk Observability Cloud	1.3%
Azure Network Watcher	0.5%
Other	98.2%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Bijoyendra Roychowdhury

Program Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

Network monitoring provides comprehensive analytics while the interface requires further development

The quality of Azure Network Watcher is quite good in terms of the in-depth analysis you can create from these matrices. There are other monitoring tools such as New Relic, AppDynamics, and Dynatrace which provide very detailed network tracing. Cloud providers such as Azure or AWS do not have that kind of GUI-based capability at this point, but using PowerShell or Python, you can develop it yourself. From the GUI perspective, it still needs to evolve in terms of quality and standard, though overall, it is quite good for troubleshooting. Regarding areas for improvement, when comparing to other network tools beyond Azure Monitor or Azure Network Watcher, those tools can identify single failed packets. This level of granularity is not currently possible with cloud providers as they only go to a certain level rather than the granular level needed for deep troubleshooting, though they do provide hints with available matrices.

Read full review

Purnambica Kolavennu

Project Manager at AGRICULTURE SKILL COUNCIL OF INDIA (ASCI)

Unified observability has improved real-time governance and now drives data-led decisions

Log Observer Connect is embedded here, but we are facing some delays in centralized log collection and analysis, which can be further fastened. We are collecting all the data metrics and decision-making insights, but all these data-driven decisions coming from different applications are not connected somewhere. A consolidated form or correlation of these insights is not happening between each other due to which we feel we are missing something significant. Some generalized feedback includes that predictive alerts or alarms which can be integrated with AI-driven alarms and alerting features should be established so that there is AI-driven intelligence and anomaly detection happening with a complete systematic process in service delivery. Application dependencies are huge, and business and operational dashboards should be improved. Right now there are very interactive custom dashboards, and every now and then, the personalization of enhancements keeps happening. KPI monitoring, executive reporting, and analytics have definitely been introduced to a great extent. There are few things in cloud-native monitoring, such as integration with AWS and Azure, where we sometimes do face lags. Those things can definitely be improved upon. I have used Datadog and Dynatrace before using Splunk Observability Cloud. Datadog was definitely recommended by most of our peers because of its very strong comprehensive observability and very strong and unique dashboard systems. Dynatrace was also very good because they have offered a lot of AI-driven analysis methods and processes, which was helping our organization a lot. Since our organization has a very strong IT ecosystem for agriculture, very different kinds of customized things are required.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"This will help the company or the administrator, by helping them see how the traffic moves, to make sure that no entities are having any communication issues or different endpoints with task issues."

"The solution is good for monitoring device behavior."

"This is a stable system providing stable performance."

"Azure Network Watcher provides valuable features based on your specific requirements and use cases, helping you monitor network bandwidth, throughput, data flow consumption, and control costs by giving insight into egress and ingress traffic, total input and output operations, bandwidth, and threats through IP identification."

"The solution is stable."

"The most valuable feature of Azure Network Watcher is the cloud-native application firewall, which is helpful for securing databases."

"The stability is very good. I rate it a ten out of ten."

"The most valuable features I have found are typology, visualization, and capture."

More Azure Network Watcher pros

"Comparing to Cloud, Splunk Cloud, or any other solution, the most valuable feature of Splunk Observability Cloud is that it is entirely based on metrics."

"It has been beneficial for our IT infrastructure."

"Splunk Real User Monitoring (RUM) has one great advantage in that if they have SAP users, they can monitor their SAP applications."

"The features of Splunk Observability Cloud that I prefer the most are its all-encompassing licensing model, which is comparatively better than others in the market."

"It's a very easy-to-use solution."

"Splunk Observability Cloud is highly effective in improving digital resilience, as real-time visibility, proactive alerting, fast root cause analysis, distributed tracing, and AI-driven insights enable anomaly detection, which allows us to quickly understand failures, recover faster, maintain system availability, and handle failures in complex distributed environments by seeing how services interact and where breakdowns occur."

"The Add data feature lets you gather any type of log and easily analyze it, which is easier than using other solutions like ArcSight or Elasticsearch, and we can use these logs with our data processes to explain our situation."

"The feature I appreciate the most about Splunk Observability Cloud is Synthetic Monitoring."

More Splunk Observability Cloud pros

Cons

"Sometimes, you encounter a VPN tunnel, network, or routing issue, but finding out more about the blockage is challenging."

"There are some occasional downtimes, but these were based on Azure-specific issues."

"Azure Network Watcher needs to have better documentation and it needs to capture information accurately."

"The solution could use some additional components of the network culture, not only VMs. I'd like to see some additional security features because what they currently have concentrates only on the network."

"Technical support from Microsoft needs significant improvement compared to other product vendors."

"User experience could be improved."

"Azure Network Watcher could improve by having other built-in applications, for example, an application to log activities for inbound and outbound traffic."

"I would like to see in the future if we can troubleshoot as a firewall because it is equipment as a network player and some diagnostics."

More Azure Network Watcher cons

"Splunk Observability Cloud could be improved in terms of integrations with more technical add-ons, such as Zoom."

"A wide variety of logging makes log onboarding difficult."

"The learning curve for understanding all features should be improved, and the cost can increase."

"One area that has room for improvement is the pricing; as I mentioned, it can be expensive due to large data volumes."

"The UI enhancements could be a way to improve the solution in the future."

"There's a lot of talk about AI-powered analytics and guidance in Splunk Observability Cloud. I didn't get a great sense of how much of it is actually working; there are a lot of AI hallucinations."

"Overall, I would rate Splunk Observability Cloud a three out of ten."

"Splunk could be better integrated with configuration manager solutions so we can automatically resolve issues without human interference."

More Splunk Observability Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is good. It's not too expensive."

"Price-wise, I have no information on how much Azure Network Watcher costs."

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

"Azure Network Watcher is a little bit expensive."

"It appears to be expensive compared to competitors."

"The solution's pricing is costly."

"Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring is an expensive solution."

"The price of Splunk APM is less than some of its competitors."

"Licensing cost is the biggest argument I get from those divesting from Splunk. There are those within our organization who say we are going to go to other tools since Splunk is too expensive."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"Splunk Observability Cloud is expensive."

"It is expensive."

More Splunk Observability Cloud pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Monitoring Software solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

24%

Construction Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Media Company

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	32
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	55

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Network Watcher?

I do not have the exact setup cost information on hand, but it is available in the public Azure portal. You can access the calculator there to get detailed pricing information.

What needs improvement with Azure Network Watcher?

The main area for improvement is AI-based features. Currently, many intelligent tools are coming from third parties, and Azure Network Watcher needs to improve in this area. The focus should be on ...

What is your primary use case for Azure Network Watcher?

Azure Network Watcher is used for monitoring network traffic. It provides insight into egress and ingress traffic, which helps determine whether consumption can be controlled. Most Azure services c...

What needs improvement with SignalFx?

Regarding dashboard customization, while Splunk has many dashboard building options, customers sometimes need to create specific dashboards, particularly for applicative metrics such as Java and pr...

What is your primary use case for SignalFx?

The solution involves observability in general, such as Application Performance Monitoring, and generally addresses digital applications, web applications, sites, and mobile applications. I worked ...

What advice do you have for others considering SignalFx?

We're a customer and end-user. Currently, in France, we cannot use the artificial intelligence option. While this option is enabled for the United States and many countries, it's not yet available ...

Nmap vs Azure Network Watcher

Comparisons

Compared 16% of the time

Kentik vs Azure Network Watcher

Compared 15% of the time

Ixia Network Taps vs Azure Network Watcher

Compared 8% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs Azure Network Watcher

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Network Monitor vs Azure Network Watcher

Compared 7% of the time

More Azure Network Watcher Competitors

Avantra vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 3% of the time

Datadog vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 3% of the time

Kentik vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 2% of the time

Grafana vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 2% of the time

VMware Aria Operations for Applications vs Splunk Observability Cloud

Compared 2% of the time

More Splunk Observability Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Azure Network Watcher

Download Azure Network Watcher product report

Splunk Observability Cloud

Download Splunk Observability Cloud product report

Also Known As

No data available

Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring, Splunk Real User Monitoring (RUM), Splunk Synthetic Monitoring

Overview

Azure Network Watcher provides advanced network monitoring capabilities including packet capture, cloud-native firewall, and traffic diagnosis, aiding in VPN troubleshooting and security enforcement with enhanced visibility and alerting features.

Azure Network Watcher is essential for monitoring, diagnosing, and analyzing network traffic. It efficiently handles VPN connection issues and enhances network security by capturing and analyzing traffic to assess performance or latency problems. The tool facilitates traffic flow control, security rule verification, and bandwidth monitoring. Users benefit from its capabilities in diagnosing service connections, offering insights into network activity, and identifying potential threats, crucial for maintaining compliance and efficient network management.

What are the key features of Azure Network Watcher?

Packet Capture: Enables detailed network traffic inspection to troubleshoot issues.
Cloud-Native Application Firewall: Provides enhanced protection for applications running in the cloud.
Traffic Monitoring: Allows for real-time analysis and troubleshooting of network traffic.
NSG Flow Logs & AI-Based Monitoring: Enhances flow control and threat detection.
Alerting & Threshold Configuration: Offers customizable alerts via Azure Monitor for proactive management.

What benefits can users look for in reviews?

Improved Network Security: Helps in identifying and mitigating threats efficiently.
Enhanced Visibility: Provides clear insights into network operations and potential issues.
Compliance Support: Assists in maintaining regulatory compliance with thorough monitoring capabilities.
Effective Bandwidth Management: Facilitates control and optimization of network bandwidth.

In industries like finance and healthcare, Azure Network Watcher is implemented to ensure robust security and compliance, crucial for safeguarding sensitive data. It aids retail and manufacturing sectors in optimizing network performance and maintaining seamless connectivity, supporting their digital infrastructure needs.

Microsoft

Splunk Observability Cloud offers sophisticated log searching, data integration, and customizable dashboards. With rapid deployment and ease of use, this cloud service enhances monitoring capabilities across IT infrastructures for comprehensive end-to-end visibility.

Focused on enhancing performance management and security, Splunk Observability Cloud supports environments through its data visualization and analysis tools. Users appreciate its robust application performance monitoring and troubleshooting insights. However, improvements in integrations, interface customization, scalability, and automation are needed. Users find value in its capabilities for infrastructure and network monitoring, as well as log analytics, albeit cost considerations and better documentation are desired. Enhancements in real-time monitoring and network protection are also noted as areas for development.

What are the key features?

Log Searching: Efficiently search and analyze logs from various sources.
Data Integration: Seamlessly integrate with multiple environments.
Dashboard Customization: Tailor dashboards to specific monitoring needs.
Monitoring Capabilities: Provides comprehensive insights into application performance.
Security Features: Analyze and address security threats across systems.
Visualization Tools: Enhance data analysis and system performance optimization.

Why consider this for ROI?

Comprehensive Visibility: Gain complete insights into IT infrastructure.
Performance Optimization: Improve overall system performance and efficiency.
Rapid Deployment: Quick setup to meet organization demands swiftly.
Enhanced Security: Strengthen security measures through detailed analytics.

In industries, Splunk Observability Cloud is implemented for security management by analyzing logs from detection systems, offering real-time alerts and troubleshooting for cloud-native applications. It is leveraged for machine data analysis, improving infrastructure visibility and supporting network and application performance management efforts.

Splunk

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Sunrun, Yelp, Onshape, Tapjoy, Symphony Commerce, Chairish, Clever, Grovo, Bazaar Voice, Zenefits, Avalara

Azure Network Watcher vs. Splunk Observability Cloud