IBM Application Performance Management vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

IBM and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. IBM is ranked #52 with an average rating of 7.0, while SolarWinds is ranked #20 with an average rating of 7.4. IBM holds a 0.3% mindshare in APM, compared to SolarWinds’s 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 62% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

IBM Application Performance...

Read 7 IBM Application Performance Management reviews

844 Views
540 Comparison Views

62% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Read 42 SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor reviews

3,510 Views
2,527 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

IBM Application Performance...

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor and IBM Application Performance Management are robust systems monitoring solutions competing in the business needs category. IBM tends to have the upper hand in advanced features, while SolarWinds scores higher for deployment ease and customer support.

Features: SolarWinds offers real-time server health monitoring, an effective alerting system, and strong integration capabilities. IBM provides predictive analytics, automated root-cause analysis, and advanced functionalities.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds could improve its reporting features, enhance dashboard customizability, and streamline UI. IBM users suggest reducing complexity, improving the learning curve, and optimizing the interface for user-friendliness.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds is known for its straightforward setup and reliable customer support. IBM's deployment is challenging due to its complexity, though its customer service is well-regarded.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds has competitive pricing and delivers good ROI, being cost-effective. IBM justifies its higher cost with advanced features and comprehensive capabilities, making it less accessible for smaller budgets.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Application Performance Management vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Application Performance Management vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

April 2025

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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

IBM Application Performance...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

52nd

Average Rating

6.4

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

20th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (10th), Active Directory Management (11th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of IBM Application Performance Management is 0.3%, down from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 1.6%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Daniel Tamiru

Manager, Database & System Administration at Awash International Bank

A multi-functional solution but has poor stability and performance-related issues

We are using version 4 of IBM Application Performance Management, and it is deployed on-premises. We use it for internet banking and mainly for application performance on-site. For example, if we face performance-related issues in one of our software or managed services, we use this solution to…

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Subhajit Nag

Senior Process Associate at Tata Consultancy Services

The component and cable monitoring features are good, but the interface is slow

SolarWinds' interface is slow, and this is a global concern. Every SolarWinds user complains about the sluggishness. The response is slow. If you browse from one page to another, you have to wait. Our company is a massive user with plenty of licenses, so the performance issues could be due to the load per license. Ten thousand components can be mapped under one license. So SolarWinds needs to take care of the speed problem. It cannot be this slow. That is a huge complaint. Otherwise, the tool is good. It should also be easier to upgrade SolarWinds. AppDynamics is harder to deploy but easier to upgrade. So AppDynamics takes a lot of time and effort to install, but you can upgrade it in minutes. SolarWinds is the opposite. It's easy to deploy, but upgrades take forever. To date, nobody can complete it on time, so the production environment is sitting idle. The upgrade time matters because you only install the solution once, but you'll need to upgrade the solution repeatedly over the life of the product. A complex installation isn't an issue, but I mind if the upgrade takes too long because it's already in production.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's easy to use."

"The most valuable feature is the breakdown that it provides, such as a description of the fields for a particular transaction."

"I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten."

"The initial setup was straightforward and took minimal effort."

"IBM Application Performance Management helped us increased our response time by 80% and cost 60% less."

"The transaction tracking feature from IBM is the most important feature for us. It is something that provides a terrific value for us and our clients. It has a lot of data sources and agents that are collectors. It is also stable."

"Because we have partnerships with other partners, I can share a bit about what I've noticed with IBM APM compared to other vendor solutions. Specifically, with IBM, the visibility into detailed process information is more tangible. On the OS level, APM displays all processes (or the top 10 processes) that are consuming CPU or resident memory. This is the most important thing that is not always available with other vendors."

"Monitoring the components on your devices with out of the box monitors or the ability to create new ones (SAM)"

"The most valuable feature is application monitoring."

"The product integrates with Remedy."

"SolarWinds is a very stable platform compared to others on the market."

"AppInsight for SQL: Enables us to see the relevant error log entries on the same page as performance parameters."

"I adore the NTA module that provides deep details on ingress/egress traffic for any interface. With a few clicks, you can correlate who is accessing what and when, beside the bandwidth consuming applications/users."

"The solution is great for monitoring. If something is going wrong, we can immediately find the root cause."

"SolarWinds SAM has provided us with dynamic thresholds based on historical trends and requirements. The threshold gets configured automatically, so it's no longer necessary to configure it manually every time."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

Cons

"It's still missing some platforms. For example, if you look to applications itself, it is missing the interface."

"The stability is not great and should be better."

"Its web user interface is a little bit old in comparison to other solutions, such as New Relic, and it should be improved. Its scalability and technical support should also be improved. Currently, it is scalable, but only in a vertical way. They provide good technical support, but the initial steps for a new case can be improved to fasten the resolution process."

"The demo that was provided to us is not working very well. At times, there are errors."

"Technical support can be slow and needs improvement."

"With APM, we noticed that the agent can cause a lot of issues for the application, making the agent very unreliable. Many issues are happening, and we've had to discuss it with support to try and get a fix. It affects application availability, and sometimes actions fail because of the agent, degrading the performance of the application."

"They should focus on potentially enhancing the dashboard to make it more contemporary and adding some customization options. Furthermore, there might be room for improvement in the pricing policy."

"The technical support was better in previous years. With the launch of the premium support service, the normal support has declined."

"SAM AppInsight for SQL: The ability to ignore fragmentation of specific indexes."

"Support for the IBM Mainframe is needed."

"Application-based monitoring, such as monitoring within servers like Apache and IIS, has room for improvement."

"The product does not explain why a problem occurred."

"A lot of times, we have to do a lot of manual cleanups."

"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."

"Mapping interactions between systems."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As I previously indicated, I initiated the IBM and uncovered all its elements. Consequently, I'm not inclined towards a licensing approach."

"IBM APM is one of the cheaper products on the market, while everything necessary to get started is included in the license."

"The licensing fees can be paid every six months or on a yearly basis."

"We pay around $ 2,000 to $ 5,000 yearly for the solution."

"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."

"The solution is overpriced in terms of application management."

"I think SolarWinds' pricing is very decent compared to other competitors in the market."

"I would rate the pricing for this solution a three out of five."

"Pricing and licensing is fair for what you get. It does have a great bang-for-the-buck appeal."

"The price is too high."

"I like the pricing for this SolarWinds product."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

29%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

University

Educational Organization

35%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Application Performance Management?

I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Application Performance Management?

They should focus on potentially enhancing the dashboard to make it more contemporary and adding some customization options. Furthermore, there might be room for improvement in the pricing policy. ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM Application Performance Management?

I monitor business applications for more than four end users.

See all answers

What do you like most about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

Identifying the problem statement is easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

The initial cost is quite high, but the renewal cost is reasonable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

There are no specific features or functionality I would like to see improved or enhanced in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor at this time. I have not encountered any missing features or fu...

See all answers

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IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs IBM Application Performance Management

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Compared 18% of the time

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Splunk AppDynamics vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 11% of the time

Prometheus Group vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 8% of the time

Zabbix vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

May 2025

IBM Application Performance Management report

Download IBM Application Performance Management product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

April 2025

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

Also Known As

IBM APM

SolarWinds SAM

Overview

The IBM Application Performance Management portfolio provides visibility, control and automation of your mission-critical applications. It helps pinpoint the root cause of application's issue more quickly and resolve the problem. The integrated capabilities cover the five key areas: discovery, end-use experience, transaction tracking, enterprise diagnostics and analytics. It also easily monitors applications to ensure optimal performance to extend your hybrid management environment capabilities, to measure the customer experience from multiple locations and to further eliminate blind spots in your application environment.

IBM

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.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Mibtree, EatDrinkDeals.com, IT Performance Advisor

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

Buyer's Guide

IBM Application Performance Management vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

April 2025

Free Report: IBM Application Performance Management vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

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