IBM Instana Observability vs OpenText Real User Monitoring comparison

IBM and OpenText are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. IBM is ranked #41 with an average rating of 8.0, while OpenText is ranked #45 with an average rating of 7.7. IBM holds a 0.6% mindshare in APM, compared to OpenText’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 58% of OpenText users who would recommend it.

IBM Instana Observability

Read 3 IBM Instana Observability reviews

750 Views
750 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

OpenText Real User Monitoring

Read 11 OpenText Real User Monitoring reviews

465 Views
419 Comparison Views

58% willing to recommend

IBM Instana Observability

OpenText Real User Monitoring

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 10, 2025

OpenText Real User Monitoring and IBM Instana Observability compete in the digital monitoring and observability category, with IBM Instana Observability appearing to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive features.

Features: OpenText focuses on tracking real-time user activity, performance analytics, and providing actionable insights. IBM Instana incorporates automated monitoring, extensive data collection, and AI-driven insights. IBM Instana offers a broader feature set for complex environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Instana is recognized for its automated deployment processes and responsive customer support, simplifying integration and troubleshooting. OpenText provides straightforward deployment but lacks the automation present in IBM's solution. IBM Instana’s customer service is known for efficiency and effectiveness in addressing technical challenges.

Pricing and ROI: OpenText generally offers a more budget-friendly setup, appealing to cost-conscious businesses and providing good returns for basic monitoring needs. IBM Instana, with higher initial costs, delivers substantial ROI through advanced features and long-term operational efficiencies, making it favorable for enterprises looking for a comprehensive and scalable observability solution.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Instana Observability vs. OpenText Real User Monitoring Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Instana Observability vs. OpenText Real User Monitoring

July 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 Instana Observability

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

41st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

OpenText Real User Monitoring

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

45th

Average Rating

6.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of IBM Instana Observability is 0.6%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Real User Monitoring is 0.2%, down from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Tomas Kim

Managing Director at BA Solutions

Not expensive and offers good performance

The most valuable feature of the solution is performance. A one-vendor solution serves as a good feature of the tool. In the IT industry, the IT support team has lots of vendors to contact. DB monitoring is done by one company, while WaaS monitoring is done by another and done by another company, which makes it really complicated for the IT team concerned about the security levels. The tool's main feature is that it is a one-vendor solution. The analysis done by the tool is a good feature. The tool is used as an open-source tool. The tool is growing, and new features are being added to the product.

Read full review

Aphiwat Leetavorn.

CTO at Marco Technology

Offers back-end monitoring, so it can analyze user experience but when customers change the software or version, this tool is quite sensitive

Real User Monitoring tools help proactively identify problems before they become critical by monitoring thresholds. There is a threshold and an SOA threshold. For example, it starts to go yellow, and if it becomes red, the system will crash. When it starts to become yellow (Threshold Approaching), we have to resolve it. This is the same case where we'll know what happened before it's too late. So we can make an early decision to prevent it, maybe by kicking some users off the system before it crashes.

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

"The most valuable feature of the solution is performance."

"The solution has a one-second resolution, giving you the status of your application within one second."

"The most valuable features of IBM Instana are its quick data collection and analytics after installing the agent."

"It offers near-real-time analytics, which is helpful."

"Real User Monitoring tools help proactively identify problems before they become critical by monitoring thresholds. There is a threshold and an SOA threshold."

"The technical support is good at resolving issues."

"Real User Monitor has improved our productivity."

"With the solution, you can easily access any issues in your infrastructure."

"It is a good product."

"The most valuable feature is application performance monitoring."

"The reporting feature is good for us."

More OpenText Real User Monitoring pros

Cons

"One area that requires improvement is related to the automation part, specifically automated actions like sending SMS."

"The solution should include log management and improve reporting and integration with Cognos."

"The product's initial setup phase is not very easy."

"The product needs more R&D to make it easier and more compatible with other software."

"We would like to see support for non-Windows environments."

"One area to improve is the user interface, of course. The second one is their R&D has virtually stopped building a product roadmap."

"The diagnostics perspective, particularly in terms of the root cause analysis of failures, should be improved."

"This technology is considered to be older."

"Some issues with login errors."

"Everybody is moving away from traffic and installing agents on the application to do the job, but Micro Focus is using traditional ways to collect the traffic. They should change their architecture completely."

"Customer support needs to improve by bringing in more people who are knowledgeable about the tool, as there are very few left."

More OpenText Real User Monitoring cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's pricing is reasonable compared to that of its competitors like Dynatrace."

"The tool's cost is normal as per the market. The tool is not expensive."

"If I compare with other vendors, other vendors are more expensive"

"The price is approximately €30,000 ($35,500 USD) for the enterprise edition."

"Compared to other tools, OpenText Real User Monitoring is an expensive solution."

"Not expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Hospitality Company

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Performing Arts

Energy/Utilities Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Instana Observability?

The tool's cost is normal as per the market. The tool is not expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Instana Observability?

The tool should offer more LDR AI models. The monitoring is just a status, but the next level of a monitoring solution is to prevent an accident or stop an accident status. The solution should be t...

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What is your primary use case for IBM Instana Observability?

Before IBM, I ordered our company's engineer to have a look at the tool and test it. I think it was two years ago, the transfer to IBM happened in our company. At the beginning, IBM Instana Observa...

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What needs improvement with Micro Focus Real User Monitor?

The diagnostics perspective, particularly in terms of the root cause analysis of failures, should be improved. There needs to be more development in this area, as the support and the number of peop...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Real User Monitor?

The use case is about user-level monitoring and the availability of a service for a user. It's about whether the service is available, its performance, and the type of errors a user is receiving, f...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Micro Focus Real User Monitor?

I rate the solution as nine. It is a good product. Everyone should have it as it is essential today, but choose the vendor accordingly. I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

See all answers

Comparisons

Elastic Observability vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 27% of the time

Grafana vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 14% of the time

Splunk Observability Cloud vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 10% of the time

Azure Monitor vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 10% of the time

Dynatrace vs IBM Instana Observability

Compared 9% of the time

More IBM Instana Observability Competitors

OpenText SiteScope vs OpenText Real User Monitoring

Compared 30% of the time

New Relic vs OpenText Real User Monitoring

Compared 21% of the time

Dynatrace vs OpenText Real User Monitoring

Compared 16% of the time

Splunk AppDynamics vs OpenText Real User Monitoring

Compared 16% of the time

Datadog vs OpenText Real User Monitoring

Compared 16% of the time

More OpenText Real User Monitoring Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

August 2025

Download IBM Instana Observability product report

Buyer's Guide

OpenText Real User Monitoring

August 2025

Download OpenText Real User Monitoring product report

Also Known As

No data available

Micro Focus Real User Monitor, Micro Focus RUM, HPE RUM

Overview

IBM Instana Observability offers real-time application monitoring and management, designed for automation and intelligence on modern cloud-based environments.

IBM Instana Observability provides deep visibility into application performance, empowering businesses with automated root cause analysis and intelligent alerts to optimize cloud-native applications. It captures and visualizes comprehensive health metrics to enhance operational efficiency across distributed systems, making it an invaluable tool for IT and DevOps teams seeking to improve application reliability and performance.

What are the key features of IBM Instana Observability?

Automatic Discovery: Identifies application components and dependencies without manual configuration.
Real-Time Monitoring: Delivers live data for instant visibility across application metrics.
AI-Powered Root Cause Analysis: Quickly pinpoints issues to reduce downtime and enhance user experience.
Intelligent Alerts: Provides actionable insights, minimizing false alarms.
Seamless Integration: Easily integrates with popular DevOps tools.

What benefits should users look for when evaluating IBM Instana Observability?

Increased Productivity: Reduces manual monitoring efforts, enhancing team efficiency.
Enhanced Performance: Improves application responsiveness and user satisfaction.
Cost Efficiency: Optimizes resource allocation, leading to reduced operational costs.
Scalable Solutions: Adapts to growing business needs, ensuring long-term value.
Detailed Insights: Offers granularity in monitoring, aiding in swift decision-making.

IBM Instana Observability is widely adopted across industries like finance, healthcare, and retail, addressing specific challenges in each sector. In finance, it helps manage high-volume transactions with minimal latency. Healthcare benefits from its compliance support and reliable data monitoring. Retail industries utilize it for maintaining seamless customer interactions and operational uptime, ensuring business continuity and customer satisfaction.

IBM

Real User Monitoring (RUM) an End user monitoring that gives you visibility into user behavior for fast, targeted problem resolution. It monitors the performance and availability of business-critical application services for all users at all locations all the time. It automatically discovers underlying infrastructure and classifies user actions - giving you instant visibility into session and whole service health over web, cloud, and mobile user experience. It allows you to trace user experience across tiers, capture live sessions, see where customers clicked, measure response times, and see pages that caused problems. And you can easily capture and replay user sessions to create test scripts that reflect real user behavior. All this data gives you new ability to analyze which application transactions your users are performing and what application response they are experiencing. RUM currently supports over 20 application protocols and applications such as SAP, Citrix, and native mobile application monitoring on Android.

OpenText

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Avea, Maccabi Healthcare Services, TEB

Buyer's Guide

IBM Instana Observability vs. OpenText Real User Monitoring

July 2025

Free Report: IBM Instana Observability vs. OpenText Real User Monitoring

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