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Oracle Enterprise Manager vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

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

Oracle Enterprise Manager
Ranking in Server Monitoring
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
129
Ranking in other categories
Database Development and Management (3rd)
SolarWinds Server and Appli...
Ranking in Server Monitoring
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.5
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (20th), Active Directory Management (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Server Monitoring category, the mindshare of Oracle Enterprise Manager is 2.4%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 3.2%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Monitoring Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Oracle Enterprise Manager2.4%
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor3.2%
Other94.4%
Server Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer996648 - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder and President at a training & coaching company with 1-10 employees
Extensive functionality impresses despite occasional setup complexity
The functions and features of Oracle Enterprise Manager that I have found most valuable are its evolution from being problematic in 10g and 11g versions to becoming better and more stable. Now it has become a significantly improved product. We have integrated identity management, and we are using it for normal database examination, tuning, and performance. We are working with STATSPACK and similar tools that are integrated in Oracle Enterprise Manager. We are currently working with version 13.5, having upgraded from 13.4 last year. Automation is useful for improving operational efficiency, and there are many more opportunities to automate outside the databases. Not many things need to be automated inside the databases. We have jobs running, imports, exports, and similar tasks. To automate these processes, we utilize the Scheduler from Oracle, which is managed in the databases by the vendor. This is not part of our DBA functions in Oracle Enterprise Manager.
NikhilKalwint - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Specialist at ServiceIO
Monitoring over a thousand systems has improved decision making and operational visibility
From an advantage perspective, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is comparatively cheaper from a commercial point of view. It is easy to install and configure, very user-friendly, and quick to get up and running, allowing you to see the early value adds in your organization. It is compatible with most technologies for monitoring with very few chances of incompatibility. Configuration also allows us to monitor all the technical parameters we are looking for, making it a very good experience for us. The alerting feature in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is a main advantage, as it alerts based on threshold breaches and can raise tickets to the ticketing system, send SMS, and email notifications, allowing engineers to work on those tickets to resolve issues and avoid further impact. The visibility into server health is a beneficial feature that I am utilizing. We widely use various application performance metrics in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor such as database monitoring and server monitoring, which are quite good enough for any monitoring solution. We utilize the customizable dashboards in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c is a transformational technology that comes with a set of comprehensive features and great practices that help IT transform into a true enterprise Cloud that delivers on business needs."
"It is the best monitoring tool for Oracle databases; you have full visibility with the tool, it is a complete solution, and the software is simple to use."
"Enterprise Manager gives us a tool that's fast and reliable for monitoring and managing our whole IT infrastructure."
"It is one of the best, state-of-the-art products from Oracle; truly a single pane of glass to manage IT infrastructure."
"One of the valuable features is performance drill down."
"I would recommend Oracle Enterprise Manager to others."
"We use Oracle Enterprise Manager for a lot of services like ERP and PLM."
"Oracle Enterprise Manager has eased the responsibilities among our DBAs. We can now assign individual tasks to separate DBAs."
"The most valuable feature is application monitoring."
"SAM has altered the way monitoring is being looked at - from just being able to monitor CPU, Mem, Disk and network utilization levels we have moved to the next levels of finding out process related issues, service related issues and specific application related issues to identify root cause of performance issues."
"We choose the Solarwinds based on the simplication of managing the tool itself."
"The recommendations are a life saver."
"SolarWinds is a very stable platform compared to others on the market."
"The ROI for SolarWinds products is unmatched in the industry."
"SolarWinds is one of the best products on the market and if they eventually support the IBM Mainframe then it will be perfect."
"The solution can be deployed quickly."
 

Cons

"It could be faster; sometimes it takes a while to make the connection. Sometimes, it's complicated, too."
"We would like to have a single dashboard for monitoring and controlling all of our products. This would add value, for us, because as it is now, we have to go to different screens to check different products."
"The monitoring feature should be improved, so that it may be used as a dependable monitoring solution, as well as a deployment solution for SPARC-based hardware and operating systems."
"Easier to read. For example, on the home page of information, under Adm, that should be a little bit easier to read."
"It's quite user-friendly when integrating, but when propagating user access and agents, it's not so intuitive."
"I feel more dashboards can be added, especially those useful to higher levels of IT management."
"The areas where Oracle Enterprise Manager could improve include the dashboarding, which could be made more intuitive, and the drill-down reporting, which can and should be enhanced."
"It comes with some monitoring bugs, which once reported to Oracle support is always solved."
"They should incorporate more artificial intelligence. There should also be more predictive features."
"Mapping interactions between systems."
"Scalability was an issue in the past."
"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."
"PerfStack can be made more effective."
"Having two places to build and manage alerts is not efficient and not all alerting tools are available in the trap manager."
"I believe that SolarWinds should spend more effort in reporting."
"Support for the IBM Mainframe is needed."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As far as I know, you do not pay for Oracle Enterprise Manager separately. You can use Enterprise Manager for free if you already have an Oracle license for your database."
"Evaluate your requirements carefully. Elaborate DR and HA setup of OEM can become expensive."
"The basic functions are free. You only pay license fees for advanced features."
"I rate Oracle Enterprise Manager’s pricing a five out of ten."
"Initially, our deal was for three years, and we extended it to five years. Oracle solutions are very costly."
"Oracle Enterprise Manager is a free-of-cost solution. Oracle Enterprise Manager can be expensive only if you go for its licensing part."
"The licensing is the responsibility of our customers."
"Oracle Enterprise Manager is a free tool from Oracle."
"Pricing and licensing is fair for what you get. It does have a great bang-for-the-buck appeal."
"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."
"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."
"When compared to other licensed models in the market, it stands out as one of the more cost-effective options."
"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. It is just the standard price, but it can vary depending on the current rate of the dollar."
"The tool is available for my company at a good price point."
"The price is too high."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Educational Organization
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business37
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise81
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise21
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Oracle Enterprise Manager?
What I like most about Oracle Enterprise Manager are its features, particularly the active session history. It provides insights into SQL, and I use it regularly to identify potential issues.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Enterprise Manager?
I would rate the pricing of Oracle Enterprise Manager as very expensive, definitely deserving a 10 out of 10.
What needs improvement with Oracle Enterprise Manager?
The weaknesses I would like to address in Oracle Enterprise Manager involve the dealing of Grid Infrastructure. Oracle Enterprise Manager's handling of Grid Infrastructure needs some improvement. I...
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?
There is definitely room for improvement besides simplifying its setup. As a non-technical person, I believe the dashboards could be improved. Everything we use appears on video walls, and we need ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
SolarWinds SAM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

7-Eleven, Halliburton, Cisco, Garmin, Nationwide, Korea Telecom, Allied Irish Bank
Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle Enterprise Manager vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
890,027 professionals have used our research since 2012.