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IBM Security QRadar vs Splunk Enterprise Security vs VMware Aria Operations for Logs comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.5
IBM Security QRadar is cost-effective, enhancing security while reducing manpower, with positive feedback on financial returns.
Sentiment score
7.0
Splunk Enterprise Security enhances operations, reduces troubleshooting time, and improves visibility, offering positive ROI despite high costs.
Sentiment score
5.0
VMware Aria Operations for Logs boosts ROI with cost savings and efficiency, especially in virtualization-focused environments, within two years.
With SOAR, the workflow takes one minute or less to complete the analysis.
Investing this amount was very much worth it for my organization.
The documentation for Splunk Enterprise Security is outstanding. It is well-organized and easy to access.
I have noticed a return on investment with Splunk Enterprise Security, as it delivers substantial value for money.
Customers see the value in investing in this solution, particularly when it helps resolve issues quickly, turning a potential 20-hour response into one hour.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.1
IBM Security QRadar support is praised for expertise but criticized for slow response times and inconsistent service quality.
Sentiment score
6.6
Splunk Enterprise Security support is praised for its knowledge, but concerns exist about response times and initial contact expertise.
Sentiment score
4.1
VMware Aria Operations for Logs users experience mixed support quality, with slow but effective escalation to skilled experts.
They assist with advanced issues, such as hardware or other problems, that are not part of standard operations.
Support needs to understand the issue first, then escalate it to the engineering team.
The problem escalates through level one to level three, and then the process starts over with Novo again.
If you want to write your own correlation rules, it is very difficult to do, and you need Splunk's support to write new correlation rules for the SIEM tool.
They try to close issues as soon as possible, often just offering documentation links.
They are responsive and effectively resolve issues.
While support staff is knowledgeable, getting access to specialists can be challenging when dealing with the limits of a product.
Customer service and support have declined.
I did not need technical support because I am a professional with VMware.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
IBM Security QRadar is highly regarded for its scalability, with easy vertical and horizontal expansion and seamless cloud deployment.
Sentiment score
7.6
Splunk Enterprise Security excels in scalability; however, costs and infrastructure needs can impact on-premise and cloud deployments.
Sentiment score
8.5
VMware Aria Operations for Logs is highly scalable and integrates well, though licensing and space management affect scalability.
For EPS license, if you increase or exceed the EPS license, you cannot receive events.
They struggle a bit with pure virtual environments, but in terms of how much they can handle, it is pretty good.
It is easy to scale.
It's big in a Central European context, and small from a Splunk North American context.
Since payment is based on hardware, scalability impacts are managed more effectively than with other tools paid by data volume.
It's relatively easy to find individuals with the skills to work with VMware because it is a widely spread tool.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
IBM Security QRadar is reliable but stability depends on correct deployment, capacity, and system resources, with minor update issues.
Sentiment score
7.8
Splunk Enterprise Security is stable and reliable, requiring careful capacity planning and monitoring for optimal performance.
Sentiment score
7.1
VMware Aria Operations for Logs is stable, integrates with Microsoft, and is reliable, with minor issues resolved swiftly.
I think QRadar is stable and currently satisfies my needs.
The product has been stable so far.
They test it very thoroughly before release, and our customers have Splunk running for months without issues.
It provides a stable environment but needs to integrate with ITSM platforms to achieve better visibility.
I would rate it a ten out of ten for stability.
Managing a lot of data involves reliance on hardware and network performance, which are external factors that can affect stability.
It has been very stable, and every time I needed it, it was available and working.
VMware as a whole provides very stable tools.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM Security QRadar needs UI improvement, better integration, enhanced detection, streamlined operations, and customization for cost-effective functionality.
Splunk Enterprise Security requires better user guidance, intuitive tools, AI improvements, affordable pricing, and enhanced performance and integration.
VMware Aria Operations for Logs needs better usability, integration, documentation, cost efficiency, stability, and enhanced filtering and dashboard features.
We receive logs from different types of devices and need a way to correlate them effectively.
If AI-related support can suggest rules and integrate with existing security devices like MD, IPS, this SIM can create more relevant rules.
IBM Security QRadar does not support Canvas, so we had to create custom scripts and workarounds to pull logs from Canvas.
Improving the infrastructure behind Splunk Enterprise Security is vital—enhanced cores, CPUs, and memory should be prioritized to support better processing power.
Splunk Enterprise Security is not something that automatically picks things; you have to set up use cases, update data models, and link the right use cases to the right data models for those detections to happen.
For any future enhancements or features, such as MLTK and SOAR platform integration, we need more visibility, training, and certification for the skilled professionals who are working.
It would be beneficial to have a roadmap for these dashboards to ensure consistent functionality.
There is also dissatisfaction with Broadcom's broader attitude, which is prompting me to search for alternatives.
VMware Aria Operations for Logs is not a cost-effective tool.
 

Setup Cost

IBM Security QRadar is costly but efficient, offering flexible pricing, EPS discounts, and potential cost savings with negotiation.
Splunk Enterprise Security can be costly due to data volumes, but offers extensive features and potential ROI for enterprises.
VMware Aria Operations for Logs is cost-effective within bundles but pricey without, leading to mixed enterprise buyer opinions.
Splunk is more expensive than IBM Security QRadar.
I saw clients spend two million dollars a year just feeding data into the Splunk solution.
The platform requires significant financial investment and resources, making it expensive despite its comprehensive features.
Splunk is priced higher than other solutions.
Splunk, often paid by the terabytes, becomes expensive quickly if not managed carefully.
The price has risen significantly, and for smaller customers, the cost can be up to ten times more than before.
VMware comes with a lot of packages, however, it remains too expensive.
 

Valuable Features

IBM Security QRadar excels in log management, scalability, compliance, and integration, enhancing comprehensive security management with ease.
Splunk Enterprise Security excels in log management, swift searches, scalability, user-friendly interface, integration, and compliance, mitigating risks efficiently.
VMware Aria Operations for Logs optimizes infrastructure with dashboards, real-time notifications, and scalability, enhancing troubleshooting and cost efficiency.
Recently, I faced an incident, a cyber incident, and it was detected in real time.
IBM is seeking information about IBM QRadar because a part of QRadar, especially in the cloud, has been sold to Palo Alto.
We have FortiSOAR and IBM Resilient for IBM Security QRadar orchestration.
This capability is useful for performance monitoring and issue identification.
I assess Splunk Enterprise Security's insider threat detection capabilities for helping to find unknown threats and anomalous user behavior as great.
Splunk Enterprise Security provides the foundation for unified threat detection, investigation, and response, enabling fast identification of critical issues.
This tool also provides greater insight when integrated with VMware infrastructure, making it more precise than other tools.
The most valuable features are log centralization and long-term retention for logs.
A valuable feature of VMware Aria Operations for Logs is its ability to allow personalization of dashboards and requests.
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of IBM Security QRadar is 3.6%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk Enterprise Security is 7.3%, down from 10.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Aria Operations for Logs is 1.3%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Mahmoud Younes - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable installation and diverse use cases provide strong value
IBM Security QRadar has some areas for improvement. We have missed some DSM components. We need to customize logs where there is no DSM or connector for certain products. We can integrate but we have missed the DSM, which is the connector to pass logs coming from different applications. For example, with a university customer, we tried onboarding Canvas service. IBM Security QRadar does not support Canvas, so we had to create custom scripts and workarounds to pull logs from Canvas.
ROBERT-CHRISTIAN - PeerSpot reviewer
Has many predefined correlation rules and is brilliant for investigation and log analysis
It is very complicated to write your own correlation rules without the help of Splunk support. What Splunk could do better is to create an API to the standard SIEM tools, such as Microsoft Sentinel. The idea would be to make it less painful. In ELK Stack, Kibana is the query language with which you can search log files. I believe Splunk has also a query language in which they search their log files, but once you have identified the log file that you want to use for further security correlation, you want to very quickly transport that into your SIEM tool, such as Microsoft Sentinel. That is something that Splunk could make a little bit less painful because it is a lot of effort to find that log file and forward it. An API with Microsoft Sentinel or a similar SIEM tool would be a good idea.
LarsChristensen - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient troubleshooting with precise log filtering and an easy setup
The tool could benefit from improved filter settings and dashboarding. While there are dashboards available, they are often created by community members and may not work after updates. It would be beneficial to have a roadmap for these dashboards to ensure consistent functionality. It would also be advantageous if the tool could process even large amounts of data faster, though this may be more related to data movement challenges rather than the software itself.
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Comparison Review

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We at Infosecnirvana.com have done several posts on SIEM. After the Dummies Guide on SIEM, we are following it up with a SIEM Product Comparison – 101 deck. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think by posting your comments below. The key products compared here are…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What are the biggest differences between Securonix UEBA, Exabeam, and IBM QRadar?
It mostly depends on your use-cases and environment. Exabeam and Securonix have a stronger UEBA feature set, friendli...
What SOC product do you recommend?
For tools I’d recommend: -SIEM- LogRhythm -SOAR- Palo Alto XSOAR Doing commercial w/o both (or at least an XDR) is a...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Security QRadar?
When comparing with Splunk, IBM Security QRadar's cost is reasonable. Splunk is more expensive than IBM Security QRadar.
What is a better choice, Splunk or Azure Sentinel?
It would really depend on (1) which logs you need to ingest and (2) what are your use cases Splunk is easy for ingest...
How does Splunk compare with Azure Monitor?
Splunk handles a high amount of data very well. We use Splunk to capture information and as an aggregator for monitor...
What do you like most about Splunk?
There are a lot of third-party applications that can be installed.
What do you like most about vRealize Log Insight?
The events are notably more descriptive, aiding in security and event analysis. We've also integrated Sky Collector, ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for vRealize Log Insight?
The cost of using VMware Aria Operations for Logs was very high, around two to three million dollars, although the ex...
What needs improvement with vRealize Log Insight?
VMware Aria Operations for Logs is not a cost-effective tool. Changing any telemetry requires creating a new template...
 

Also Known As

IBM QRadar, QRadar SIEM, QRadar UBA, QRadar on Cloud, IBM QRadar Advisor with Watson
No data available
vRealize Log Insight
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Clients across multiple industries, such as energy, financial, retail, healthcare, government, communications, and education use QRadar.
Splunk has more than 7,000 customers spread across over 90 countries. These customers include Telenor, UniCredit, ideeli, McKenney's, Tesco, and SurveyMonkey.
Wildlands Adventure Zoo, Medic Mobile, IBM, Seventy Seven Energy, Baystate Health, Osis, Oxford University, Columbia University, Siemens, Cardinal Health, Ashdod Port, Vasakronan, Sydney Adventist Hospital, University of Derby
Find out what your peers are saying about Wazuh, Splunk, Datadog and others in Log Management. Updated: July 2025.
862,514 professionals have used our research since 2012.