Microsoft System Center vs SolarWinds AppOptics comparison

Microsoft and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Cloud Monitoring Software category. Microsoft is ranked #19 with an average rating of 8.4, while SolarWinds is ranked #43. Microsoft holds a 0.4% mindshare in CMS, compared to SolarWinds’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Microsoft System Center

Read 20 Microsoft System Center reviews

469 Views
272 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

SolarWinds AppOptics

Read 9 SolarWinds AppOptics reviews

971 Views
330 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Microsoft System Center

SolarWinds AppOptics

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Microsoft System Center and SolarWinds AppOptics compete in IT infrastructure management. Microsoft System Center seems to have the upper hand in Windows-centric environments due to its strong integration with Microsoft suites and automation capabilities, while SolarWinds is better for real-time monitoring and network performance visualization.

Features: Microsoft System Center integrates seamlessly with Microsoft applications, offering robust automation and comprehensive management for Windows, including third-party hypervisors and API integrations, with a user-friendly interface and low learning curve. SolarWinds AppOptics provides agentless, real-time network and application monitoring with advanced visualization tools like heat maps, focusing on network and application performance analyzation, often praised for its intuitive dashboard.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft System Center struggles with integration of non-Microsoft products, demands significant computing resources, and has an outdated interface and documentation. SolarWinds AppOptics lacks traditional SNMP/CLI monitoring and needs improved integration with other tools, enhanced AI functionalities, and better centralization for efficient use.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft System Center is mainly on-premises with hybrid cloud options, featuring inconsistent support that can require effort to resolve and high costs. SolarWinds AppOptics supports on-premises and cloud models with simpler setup and less frequent technical support, leading to more streamlined user experience.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft System Center generally incurs higher costs with yearly payments, delivering ROI through automation and remote support, while SolarWinds AppOptics operates on a perpetual license with node-based pricing, perceived as simpler and competitive, offering a good return on investment.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft System Center vs. SolarWinds AppOptics Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft System Center vs. SolarWinds AppOptics

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

Microsoft System Center

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

19th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Infrastructure (13th)

SolarWinds AppOptics

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

43rd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (56th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (58th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Cloud Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Microsoft System Center is 0.4%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds AppOptics is 0.5%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Ajinkya Mohod

System Security Engineer at Punch Powertrain nv

Makes user management and application management easy for users

Speaking about the impact of the automation feature that impacted our company's operational efficiency, I can say that the complete tool works on automation. You just have to configure it, and it works, especially in areas like auto-patching updates. I suggest that others can definitely go ahead with Microsoft System Center, especially beginners who choose it, can get hands-on experience with it, and acquire a good understanding of how things work. In terms of the value and benefits derived from the use of the solution, I can say that my company's operations have been made simpler because of the product, especially in areas like user management and application management where we have been benefited a lot. I rate the tool a nine out of ten.

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John Yuko

Assistant Manager ICT - Projects at I&M Bank Ltd

Unique features allow consolidating and combing metrics into a single dashboard, but don't monitor mobile solutions

I would like to see more granular information provided on Unix applications. Also, the integration with Unix services should be a bit more straightforward in terms having an agent to retrieve your credentials rather than having to enter or save them for SSH on SolarWinds. From the outset, we had to set some commands to log into the search console, and they are saved on the solution, which presents a challenge in terms of exposure. The solution is unable to monitor APK solutions completely because we'd then be forced to break down the APK and provide the APIs or go through the source code. They don't have a module that can analyze an application that is maybe under-used.

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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

"System Center helps to create the basis for ITIL alignment."

"The detail in the alarms is great."

"The availability performance matrix and the reporting capabilities are the solution's most valuable features."

"Many processes could be implemented out-of-the-box, and this helped to adopt processes in areas which we lacked."

"The deployment and asset management features are the most valuable. These are the product's main features."

"Managment Packs for Microsoft-specific products, help us implement the best practices for each product."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft System Center is its GUI (graphical user interface)."

"The installation process is easy."

More Microsoft System Center pros

"The sum solution, NTA, and DPA."

"Some of the most valuable features of SolarWinds are the topology discovery and network performance analysis."

"The reporting of the solution is very good."

"The product has a great dashboard."

"Technical support is always live and they're supportive."

"I have found the most valuable feature is application performance management."

Cons

"The platform performance and responsiveness need improvement. It still demands high computing resources."

"The platform's performance could be improved. Additionally, its UI needs to be well-upgraded and work faster."

"Implementation and integration in the case of multi-tenant environments needs improvement."

"Could be more user friendly."

"Microsoft System Center should be easier to manage. However, it is complex to deploy, so people hesitate to use it. Though it has many features, such as licensing, asset tracking, and software deployment, we mainly use it for Windows updates. It protects many screens and integrates with databases, but it's complex compared to other solutions. Many now use cloud-based products or other tools like Automox to deploy updates and manage vulnerabilities."

"Something super important that we need is this integration via Intune Configuration Manager."

"Less server consumption would help, as would better, more flexible reports."

"The disadvantage of Microsoft System Center is related to the many integrated services; if one service is failing, then all features will be affected."

More Microsoft System Center cons

"In terms of the technology, I think they need to put some more advanced troubleshooting into SolarWinds, in terms of AI capabilities. That's the next generation, especially in the cases of APIs which have already adopted AI capabilities into their products."

"The implementation needs improvement. It needs to get modernized with the newer cloud scenario in both public and private deployment models."

"The solution should be more user-friendly."

"AppOptics would benefit from having a much more centralized view."

"I would like to see more integration with other tools that are available on the market."

"The integration with Unix services should be a bit more straightforward."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We maximized our license investment."

"Microsoft System Center's licensing is costly."

"Microsoft System Center is quite expensive."

"I rate the product price as five to six on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is cheap and ten means it is expensive."

"I know that sometimes there is some reduction in the prices of Microsoft System Center because of the costs of Microsoft SQL Server, which can be advantageous."

"It's rolled into our enterprise subscription. The entire subscription is around $25,000 a year, however, that covers all the products that we use."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."

"Since it's a negotiable rate, I would rate the pricing as a five out of five."

"I believe the current licensing cost is reasonable."

"Mostly, it's a perpetual license. We don't have any customers using the subscription right now—it's mostly a perpetual license that the customers purchase. The licensing is based on the number of elements, whereas other solutions are node-based."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Government

15%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft System Center?

The product's initial setup phase was easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft System Center?

Microsoft System Center's licensing is costly.

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What needs improvement with Microsoft System Center?

Microsoft System Center should be easier to manage. However, it is complex to deploy, so people hesitate to use it. Though it has many features, such as licensing, asset tracking, and software depl...

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Comparisons

VMware Aria Operations for Applications vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 38% of the time

JBoss Enterprise Application Platform vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 27% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 19% of the time

IBM BPM vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 15% of the time

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Dynatrace vs SolarWinds AppOptics

Compared 26% of the time

New Relic vs SolarWinds AppOptics

Compared 23% of the time

Zabbix vs SolarWinds AppOptics

Compared 11% of the time

Zenoss Cloud vs SolarWinds AppOptics

Compared 8% of the time

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs SolarWinds AppOptics

Compared 7% of the time

More SolarWinds AppOptics Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft System Center

August 2025

Download Microsoft System Center product report

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

August 2025

Download SolarWinds AppOptics product report

Also Known As

MS System Center

AppOptics, SolarWinds TraceView, Librato

Overview

System Center helps customers realize the benefits of the Microsoft Cloud Platform by delivering unified management. Experience fast time-to-value with out-of-the-box monitoring, provisioning, configuration, automation, protection and self-service.

Microsoft

AppOptics is a SaaS-based simple, powerful and affordable Infrastructure & Application monitoring for custom on-premises, cloud, and hybrid systems.

Your business runs on applications, and when they go down or run slowly, it can impact the business in lost productivity, customers, or revenue. To add to the complexity, your IT environment is changing, and workloads can be spread across data centers, and cloud resources. You need to monitor the availability and performance of applications and infrastructure, regardless of where they are, so you can identify potential issues early and address them before they impact users

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Kassen_rztliche Vereinigung Nordrhein, Magyar Telekom Nyrt., Adeka, QualCare, Aeriandi, UniCredit Bank d.d., Mostar, Allianz Australia Ltd., Grupo Familia

TraxoCovea Insurance BTE TechnologyDatarista

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft System Center vs. SolarWinds AppOptics

July 2025

Free Report: Microsoft System Center vs. SolarWinds AppOptics

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