IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager 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 #60, while SolarWinds is ranked #20 with an average rating of 7.4. IBM holds a 0.2% mindshare in APM, compared to SolarWinds’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 50% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

IBM Tivoli Composite Applic...

Read 2 IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager reviews

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515 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Read 42 SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor reviews

3,787 Views
2,727 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

IBM Tivoli Composite Applic...

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager and SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor are two leading solutions in server and application monitoring. Users are generally happier with the features and user reviews of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor, while IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager receives more positive feedback for pricing and customer support.

What features are offered by IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager is valued for its extensive monitoring capabilities, integration with other IBM tools, and robust alerting system. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor provides a comprehensive feature set, ease of customization, and in-depth performance metrics. Users find SolarWinds features more intuitive and easier to use.

What areas of improvement can be found in IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager could improve in simplicity, ease of setup, and better documentation and support resources. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor could enhance scalability, real-time monitoring accuracy, and offer a more transparent pricing model.

How is the ease of deployment and customer service of IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager experiences a more complex deployment process, which can be time-consuming without expert assistance. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor offers straightforward setup and user-friendly deployment. IBM provides extensive support options, whereas SolarWinds is noted for its responsive and helpful customer service team.

What setup costs and ROI can be seen with IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager tends to have a higher initial setup cost and requires more investment in skilled personnel for optimal deployment, though users acknowledge long-term ROI in managing large-scale environments. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor provides a more cost-effective solution with quicker ROI due to lower setup costs and faster deployment times.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

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 Tivoli Composite Applic...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

60th

Average Rating

6.6

Reviews Sentiment

4.3

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

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager is 0.2%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 1.5%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Christian Campos

Sales manager at Prodeo Innovation

Integrates well with IBM technologies, but it's outdated and lacks essential features

Implementing synthetic monitoring for our Internet banking site has been challenging. The installation process is difficult, requiring continuous support and specialist expertise due to our limited knowledge of managing it effectively. I have concerns about the complexity of the tool and the challenges in managing it effectively. The support provided is not satisfactory, and the specialists available lack sufficient training and expertise in using the tool.

Read full review

VIVEK PATHAK

Solutions Architect at Airtel

Offering reasonably good dashboarding features but needs to improve the application performance monitoring

My company uses Riverbed for application performance monitoring. I was doing research so that I could understand if SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor provide APM capabilities similar to Riverbed, which allows our company to get a packet capture of an entire session, and on the basis of it, we look at the application performance monitoring part. With SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor, my company does SNMP polling, so it can drag an entire session, but it focuses more on availability, CPU memory, and server connection status. In Riverbed, my company catches an entire system, so when we deal with two applications, we have end-to-end app visibility. All the application monitoring happens through Riverbed. Our company's main problem is that, as of now, we have two different products in our organization, and we don't want to continue with the multiple products currently. I wanted to understand if SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor already have capabilities like Riverbed, and if they do, then I wanted to figure out why our company should not go with SolarWinds and why we are using products from multiple vendors. My company needs to continue with either Riverbed or SolarWinds. I wanted to see which products are good for the organization and how much I want to continue with Riverbed.

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 solution is very stable. We never had any issues with stability."

"IBM's main value lies in its integration with its own technologies, which can be seen as a benefit in environments where IBM products are extensively used."

"The solution can be deployed quickly."

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

"AppInsight. Provides a simple way to get very in-depth monitoring configured for our most popular applications. Exchange, SQL, and SharePoint."

"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."

"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."

"I am impressed with the tool's AppStack feature which mainly helps us in the identification process. This feature can give an overview of the fault and help us identify the issues for performance degradation. Instead of looking at multiple places, we can look at a single place to identify the issues."

"SSL Certificate Monitoring and Expiry Alerting"

"It's good at monitoring system-specific things like ports, services."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

Cons

"The user interface was not good."

"The installation process is difficult, requiring continuous support and specialist expertise due to our limited knowledge of managing it effectively."

"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."

"The major concern in the product revolves around application performance monitoring since end-to-end application monitoring is not possible with the tool."

"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."

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

"For each poller, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor can only monitor up to ten thousand components, which restricts scalability."

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

"Nodes in Azure are able to be monitored with the use of agents, but this does not apply to cloud service offerings that are not node based."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the pricing a nine to ten. It is very expensive."

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

"The solution's price is reasonable. Though it's on the higher side, the tool is worth the money."

"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."

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

"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."

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

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

"Pricing is inexpensive, starting at 2440 euros. For that, you get the ability to monitor a couple of nodes and one year of maintenance and support."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

30%

Government

11%

Healthcare Company

Non Profit

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

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

Identifying the problem statement is easy.

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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.

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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...

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Comparisons

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Compared 22% of the time

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Compared 18% of the time

IBM Application Performance Management vs IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager

Compared 16% of the time

Splunk AppDynamics vs IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager

Compared 12% of the time

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Dynatrace vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 17% of the time

Azure Monitor vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 16% of the time

Splunk AppDynamics vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 10% of the time

Prometheus Group vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 7% of the time

Zabbix vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Compared 5% of the time

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

August 2025

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager report

Download IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

July 2025

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

Also Known As

Tivoli Composite Application Manager

SolarWinds SAM

Overview

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager for Application Diagnostics on z/OS manages real-time problem detection, analysis, and repair to help maintain the availability, performance and general health of on-demand composite applications. it can gain in-depth diagnostic information for specific application requests to identify the root cause of problems. This software provides a consistent way to manage composite applications throughout Java EE application environments. Set alerts to help detect and fix potentially troublesome situations before they affect users. It can resolve performance issues faster and reduce downtime costs.

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

Michelin Tire Corp

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

Buyer's Guide

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

July 2025

Free Report: IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

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