IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs Zabbix comparison

IBM and Zabbix are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. IBM is ranked #60, while Zabbix is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.8. IBM holds a 0.2% mindshare in APM, compared to Zabbix’s 3.7% mindshare. Additionally, 50% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Zabbix 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

Zabbix

Read 107 Zabbix reviews

24,598 Views
5,166 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

IBM Tivoli Composite Applic...

Zabbix

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager (ITCAM) and Zabbix compete in the monitoring solutions category. ITCAM seems to have the upper hand in vendor support and complex environment integrations, while Zabbix excels in flexibility and feature set customization.

What features are offered by IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to Zabbix?

ITCAM is recognized for comprehensive tracking, in-depth analysis, and valuable insights into composite applications. Zabbix offers a wide array of monitoring capabilities, advanced customization options, and extensive feature sets tailored to specific needs.

What areas of improvement can be found in IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to Zabbix?

ITCAM has a steep learning curve, issues with non-IBM product integration, and a need for a more intuitive configuration process. Zabbix could improve its dashboard design, reporting functionality, and user interaction experience.

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

ITCAM is complex to deploy but benefits from strong vendor support. Zabbix is easier to deploy but may require external expertise for optimal configuration. ITCAM users generally find structured support from IBM, while Zabbix users rely on community support and sometimes miss dedicated vendor assistance.

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

ITCAM has higher initial setup costs justified by its advanced features and support, leading to a solid ROI. Zabbix offers lower upfront costs as an open-source tool, providing higher ROI for organizations capable of managing and customizing it on their own.

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs. Zabbix

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

Zabbix

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

9th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

107

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (1st), Server Monitoring (1st), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (1st), Cloud Monitoring Software (1st)

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 Zabbix is 3.7%, up from 2.3% 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.

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B Ahmed

Manager, Information Technology Zara & Inditex at Cenomi

Enables seamless global client monitoring with reliable remote connectivity

I use the solution to provide a perfect environment for remote connectivity with my clients. Many tools that I require for system maintenance are included. I can easily monitor all of my clients throughout the world I did not give much thought to it, however, improvements could be made to Zabbix.…

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."

"It meets my organizational needs. It's pretty easy to use."

"The integration capabilities and APIs are the best part."

"The most valuable features of Zabbix are flexibility and a single interface for different types of monitoring."

"I have found that the reporting feature in Zabbix is most valuable. Additionally, the solution has given us bandwidth options, we are able to see where problems are. For example, we noticed a problem that occurred because of a bad interface going in the wireless VLAN."

"The most valuable feature is monitoring."

"The performance and bandwidth are valuable features."

"Zabbix can use old data to current data to set the threshold. We can use previous data to set the threshold."

"During my testing, the features that I like the most are that it can be integrated with my system, and it provides me with reports of all of my servers."

More Zabbix 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 a bit of a learning curve during installation."

"The event correlation could be better."

"Its UI should be improved. They did some improvements in version 5, but it could benefit from some more work. Its integrations should also be improved. They've been active for one year, and they seem to have noticed that. It has new integrations, but it could benefit from more integrations. As far as I know, there is no model to push statistics, metrics, or events towards Zabbix. This type of API isn't yet there, whereas some other tools provide an API for this."

"Zabbix does not draw automatic mapping of the network, this is something they should add in the future. There is a lot of effort that is involved in tailoring some of the settings which could be made easier."

"Implementation is always tailored to the customer and the kind of information we need from the client to carry it out can make them very uncomfortable. Sometimes the clients are not ready to share it."

"The reports are not great and should be improved."

"One of the things we don't like is that Zabbix has a license structure with a price that is high compared to the competition. It's very high, for example, compared to something like Microsoft Teams."

"In the next release, I'm hoping for features targeted towards larger users with more customizable options. Despite this, I think pre-canned reports that can be used straight out of the box would be beneficial rather than having to configure each report individually. Additionally, a deeper dive into software configurations on the machines would be useful, although I understand there may be challenges in implementing this due to scripting requirements. More documentation would also be appreciated."

More Zabbix cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"The tool's licensing is good."

"It's an open-source solution that can be used free of charge."

"It is open source. If you want to have a subscription or official support, you can pay for it. They have different plans, which are not that expensive. The plans are based on per monitoring server, not per monitored equipment. So, it is not at all expensive, and you can also live without the support if you want a cheaper option."

"It is free, which allows us to reduce costs."

"There is a license required for this solution and we pay annually for our license."

"Zabbix is a free solution but the support contact costs money."

"It is reasonable."

"We purchased Zabbix for a good price, including support"

More Zabbix pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability solutions are best for your needs.

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Comparison Review

it_user174738

IT Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

May 31, 2015

Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor

I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

30%

Government

11%

Healthcare Company

Non Profit

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

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 Zabbix?

The template system in Zabbix is very beneficial as it saves time in configuration.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zabbix?

We didn't use the commercial version. We used the free version.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Zabbix?

I think it's the best solution for monitoring. I don't know any better.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 22% of the time

Catchpoint vs IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager

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

More IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager Competitors

LibreNMS vs Zabbix

Compared 9% of the time

Checkmk vs Zabbix

Compared 9% of the time

Icinga vs Zabbix

Compared 6% of the time

NetXMS vs Zabbix

Compared 4% of the time

Nagios XI vs Zabbix

Compared 4% of the time

More Zabbix 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

Zabbix

July 2025

Download Zabbix product report

Also Known As

Tivoli Composite Application Manager

No data available

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

Zabbix is an open-source monitoring software that provides real-time monitoring and alerting for servers, networks, applications, and services.

It offers a wide range of features including data collection, visualization, and reporting.

With its user-friendly interface and customizable dashboards, Zabbix helps organizations ensure the availability and performance of their IT infrastructure.

Zabbix

Sample Customers

Michelin Tire Corp

1. IBM 2. Dell 3. Cisco 4. HP 5. Oracle 6. Microsoft 7. Amazon 8. Google 9. Facebook 10. Twitter 11. LinkedIn 12. Netflix 13. Adobe 14. VMware 15. Salesforce 16. SAP 17. Intel 18. AT&T 19. Verizon 20. T-Mobile 21. Vodafone 22. Ericsson 23. Nokia 24. Siemens 25. General Electric 26. Honeywell 27. Philips 28. Sony 29. Samsung 30. LG 31. Panasonic 32. Toshiba

Buyer's Guide

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs. Zabbix

July 2025

Free Report: IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs. Zabbix

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs. Zabbix and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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