Plixer Scrutinizer vs SCOM comparison

Plixer and Microsoft are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Plixer is ranked #55 with an average rating of 8.0, while Microsoft is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.4. Plixer holds a 0.4% mindshare in NMS, compared to Microsoft’s 1.8% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Plixer users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Plixer Scrutinizer

Read 15 Plixer Scrutinizer reviews

1,343 Views
927 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

SCOM

Read 83 SCOM reviews

5,998 Views
3,479 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

Plixer Scrutinizer

SCOM

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

SCOM and Plixer Scrutinizer compete in IT monitoring, with SCOM excelling in Microsoft environments and Plixer Scrutinizer leading in network traffic analysis.

Features: SCOM offers robust capabilities in monitoring Microsoft applications, extensive management packs, and integration with other Microsoft tools. It provides flexible monitoring solutions and comprehensive dashboards with automated alerts. Plixer Scrutinizer specializes in network traffic analysis, delivering detailed traffic insights and extensive reporting capabilities. It integrates with various flow technologies, making it valuable for network monitoring.

Room for Improvement: SCOM needs a more intuitive interface and improved reporting functionalities, with challenges in customizing management packs and handling non-Microsoft environments. Plixer Scrutinizer users report complexity in updates and scalability issues. Both products could enhance the user interface and documentation for configuration processes, with these improvements more pronounced in Plixer.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SCOM is mainly deployed on-premises and in hybrid cloud settings, benefiting from Microsoft's support infrastructure, with positive sentiments when a Premier Support agreement exists. Plixer Scrutinizer is predominantly on-premises, with both products receiving commendable technical support. Microsoft's broader ecosystem often benefits larger enterprises.

Pricing and ROI: SCOM, linked to Enterprise Agreements, offers favorable terms for Microsoft ecosystem users, providing good ROI through minimized downtime and improved monitoring. Plixer Scrutinizer employs a device-based licensing model, competitively priced for network traffic analysis, though additional modules may incur extra costs. Both products deliver significant value, with SCOM being more cost-effective in Microsoft environments.

To learn more, read our detailed Plixer Scrutinizer vs. SCOM Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Plixer Scrutinizer vs. SCOM

July 2025

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Helped 865,384 peers since 2012

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

Plixer Scrutinizer

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

55th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (11th)

SCOM

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

15th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Event Monitoring (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Plixer Scrutinizer is 0.4%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SCOM is 1.8%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Ira Mulyanti

Sales Director at ARGA SOLUSI

An affordable product with great integration capabilities

Plixer Core Platform is a valuable feature and a good software. Plixer Scrutinizer uses NetFlow analysis to monitor whatever is there in a network. Price-wise, Plixer Scrutinizer is not an expensive product. Basically, Plixer Scrutinizer is an affordable product. Plixer Scrutinizer is a tool that allows for customization, especially in scenarios where customers need new product features. Plixer Scrutinizer is a tool that can integrate with any other brand or product in the market, so it is not an area of concern.

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MarcMermuys

ICT System Administrator at College of Europe

Has efficient monitoring with robust integration capabilities

We use SCOM to configure different monitors using several management packs. It integrates systems like Active Directory and correlates them, and it is used for monitoring and managing systems SCOM allows integration of several systems, providing correlation between different systems such as…

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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

"One feature I found most valuable in Plixer Scrutinizer is the very extensive reporting. Reporting is very flexible, though sometimes you need a little bit of support from Plixer Scrutinizer to create custom-made reporting in a very short time. Reporting is a very strong feature of the product."

"It shows us the saturation of the network of devices. It gives us a clear view of the flows in the network to understand, for instance, planning upgrades in the network to get an idea of what's going on the network on traffic flows. It gives us insight, for instance, on what's going on on our VPN Client. There are a lot of things where it provides very helpful information. It also gives us our security reports with quite detailed information on what's going on in the network, and whether there are data exfiltrations and so on."

"Plixer Scrutinizer is an affordable product. Plixer Scrutinizer is a tool that allows for customization, especially in scenarios where customers need new product features."

"The reporting and generating troubleshooting reports would be the best feature; our host-to-host conversation reporting."

"One of the most valuable features of Plixer Scrutinizer is the reporting, particularly how easy it is to drill down into the reports. Another valuable feature of the solution is its overall visibility. It's great. I also liked Plixer Scrutinizer in terms of deployment time and that it's very simple to set up. Once you get the appliance set up and connected, the customer starts to see results immediately, versus other solutions where that could take a while."

"Visualization of the network traffic is the most valuable feature. It allows you to drill into information quite quickly."

"The solution helps to enrich the data context of our network traffic. It allows me to see what applications are most in use on a slightly historical basis, going back a day or week at tops. It allows me to tune QoS or traffic shaping around what's being used. It saves me from having to unnecessarily upgrade, if I don't need to."

"The most valuable features of the solution are the ability to track what a device is doing and to go back historically. It is also able to go down to, and identify, very low levels of traffic."

More Plixer Scrutinizer pros

"We are able to do problem determination on runaway processes."

"SCOM's most valuable features are the network path feature, reporting, and integration with business intelligence."

"We have found the scalability capabilities to be okay."

"It is a user-friendly product that requires almost no maintenance."

"I like the historical reporting of observer metrics."

"The solution's reporting engine has given me detailed information on which applications or services I've either failed or about to fail in terms of the predictive makeup on Azure cloud."

"This solution satisfies all of the requirements that we need for our Windows-based systems, so if you are using the Windows platform then this is an easy solution."

"The monitoring features are the most valuable. We have seen a major benefit from that so far."

More SCOM pros

Cons

"Data retention needs improvement. Data retention is a thing where we are looking for a better way to collect flow data for a longer time to do forensic research on security incidents. By default, data retention is quite low. We need detailed data in safe storage for a longer time, e.g., for a couple of months. An improvement would be a way to export data into a secure long-term storage."

"I wish the reporting side was easier to work with, but it does a decent job. I also wish the reporting side was a little more intuitive or they offered more reporting examples."

"There was a price lift because previously the product was privately owned, and now there is some external capital in the organization, so pricing could be lower, though, for Plixer Scrutinizer, there is almost no competition at this price point."

"For updating the Scrutinizer platform, when we have the actual data, it never happens in one day. Every time we have the data, we are obliged to install a new server in order to integrate the old data, and every time it has a problem. Most of the time, we were obliged to scrap all the data because we couldn't transfer it to the new server. So, it would be very good if they could improve this part."

"The visual acuity of how it presents data can sometimes be confusing. It takes a bit for people to spin up how to look at the graphs."

"It would be useful if there was a way to back up the configuration information. E.g., if you wanted to deploy a new instance or disaster recovery, you could quite easily deploy and restore the config, as opposed to having to restore all the NetFlow data. If there was just a button that said "backup config information", that would be good."

"We couldn't get it set up properly."

"Knowing that they're coming out with a new user interface, that is an area where there is room for improvement. There are so many variables. They should limit the variables in the user interface and create some classes, like "simple," "novice," and "expert" to narrow down the variables within it."

More Plixer Scrutinizer cons

"It could use some system enhancements, such as better dashboards."

"SCOM is not as straightforward in terms of user interface or general experience, which could be improved."

"System Center just provided upgrade and update features for Windows clients, and Windows systems, and did not support Linux, Android, or iOS, and other operating systems. They need to provide better integration with other operating systems if they don't already."

"Third-party tools have had to be created to make SCOM management pack creation more efficient and effective. However, this weighs down the application as it just adds a resource requirement, which is ballooning the size of the necessary storage and all that for essentially substandard components."

"They could provide better dashboards, detailed logs, and reports crucial for monitoring services in real-time."

"There could be more integration of SIM in the solution."

"SCOM is not as straightforward in terms of user interface or general experience, which could be improved."

"Of course, price is always an issue with Microsoft and could be improved."

More SCOM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have increased the license over time. We have added more licenses as the network has grown."

"The license is per device. We have 50 devices."

"There is a recurring maintenance fee after the initial purchase or if we want the license upgrade."

"Our entire solution, amortized over five years, is in the vicinity of $40,000 to $50,000 a year."

"There are no extra costs. It's about $8,000 a year. The bang for the buck (cost) is definitely a plus."

"We pay our one-off cost for the licenses, per device, in blocks of 50. And then we pay an annual maintenance fee of about $15,000 Australian, which is, at this point in time, about $9,000 US, for those 250 devices. The upfront costs for the 250-license use, were about $50,000 Australian, which is about $32,000 US."

"It's about €10,000 a year for initial license and yearly maintenance costs. In addition, the hardware costs are about €10,000 once every five years."

"I rate Plixer Scrutinizer's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price or affordable, and ten is high price or expensive."

More Plixer Scrutinizer pricing and cost advice

"If you have a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, then this is part of the agreement."

"It is the cheapest product available in the market."

"The pricing is good, and it's part of their system center suite."

"SCOM is part of the System Center suite and I am satisfied with the pricing."

"I don't know the exact cost because it's managed by our sales team, but Microsoft is on the higher side."

"Two customers bought the enterprise agreement with Microsoft and paid for Software Assurance. But few customers don't buy it for Software Assurance. They just buy it and deploy it, and they think that we will be using it for the next five years."

"It is more expensive than the competition."

"We have an EA with Microsoft, and it comes as part of the EA."

More SCOM pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Plixer Scrutinizer?

Plixer Scrutinizer is an affordable product. Plixer Scrutinizer is a tool that allows for customization, especially in scenarios where customers need new product features.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Plixer Scrutinizer?

I rate Plixer Scrutinizer's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price or affordable, and ten is high price or expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Plixer Scrutinizer?

I don't have deep enough knowledge to comment on what requires improvements in Plixer Scrutinizer. In Plixer Scrutinizer, scalability is an area with minor concerns where improvements are required.

See all answers

What do you like most about SCOM?

The tool helps to monitor Windows servers. It offers alerts from a central location.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SCOM?

I am not aware of the exact pricing as it is managed by my supervisor. As an academic institution, we receive substantial discounts.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SCOM?

We believe that the dashboarding in SCOM needs to be improved or enhanced because it is not too expressive in reporting. We can work on deploying new ways of viewing things and modifying visualizat...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 26% of the time

Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Plixer Scrutinizer

Compared 22% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs Plixer Scrutinizer

Compared 17% of the time

Kentik vs Plixer Scrutinizer

Compared 16% of the time

LogicMonitor vs Plixer Scrutinizer

Compared 10% of the time

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Dynatrace vs SCOM

Compared 18% of the time

Zabbix vs SCOM

Compared 12% of the time

Datadog vs SCOM

Compared 6% of the time

Checkmk vs SCOM

Compared 5% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs SCOM

Compared 5% of the time

More SCOM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Plixer Scrutinizer

August 2025

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Buyer's Guide

SCOM

July 2025

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Also Known As

No data available

System Center Operations Manager, SCOM 2012

Overview

The Scrutinizer incident response system leverages network traffic analytics to provide active monitoring, visualization, and reporting of network and security incidents. The system quickly delivers the rich forensic data needed by IT professionals to support fast and efficient incident response.

Plixer

SCOM (System Center Operations Manager) is a cross-platform data center monitoring and reporting tool that checks the status of various objects defined within the environment, such as server hardware, system services, etc. The solution allows data center administrators to deploy, configure, manage, and monitor the operations, services, devices and applications of multiple enterprise IT systems via a single pane of glass. It is suitable for businesses of all sizes.

SCOM Features

SCOM has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Application monitoring
Database monitoring
Threshold alerts
IT Asset Discovery
Predictive capabilities
Server usage monitoring and capacity forecasting
Application performance management console
Server availability and performance monitoring
Collaboration tools
Virtualization monitoring
Patch management
Out-of-the box templates to monitor applications
Application dependency mapping and thresholding

SCOM Benefits

There are several benefits to implementing SCOM. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Management and monitoring of Windows as well as Unix/Linux platforms
Remotely connect to Windows machines and perform administrative tasks from the console itself
Custom dashboard creation to help monitor the datacenter with ease
Agent based monitoring
Integrates well with other Microsoft products
Easy to use and reliable

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the SCOM solution.

A Manager at a financial services firm says, “The feature I like most about SCOM is that it is easy-to-use. I find it very user-friendly. I also like the knowledge base which it has. You can find the resolution to questions or issues directly within the SCOM itself. It will alert you with a recommendation of what you need to do at the same time. This sort of self-diagnosis or prompting is one of the great values you get from SCOM compared to other solutions.”

PeerSpot user Zahari Z., Information Technology Auditor at a financial services firm, mentions, “Availability monitoring is the feature I have found most valuable, as well as the capacity and ability to send notifications. There is a mechanism to set up a notification from the SCOM and whenever there is a drop in the availability the notification alerts not only for availability but for other issues as well. You can align thresholds according to the speed of your environment and you can have a threshold related notification, which is one of the useful features.”

Bill W., Sr. Systems Engineer at Arapahoe County Government, comments, “ I like some of their newer features, such as maintenance schedules, because SCOM records SLA and SLO time. When we patch, things are automatically put into maintenance mode so that the numbers for our systems being down, do not count against us.”

A Project Manager at a tech services company explains, “The feature I have found most valuable is the book feature. While we run the Sprint one we can add some setups for multiple sprints.”

A Systems Engineer at an educational organization states, “Because it's Windows-based, it actually reports quite well. It reports everything you can think of on the Windows server and allows you to monitor anything. It's excellent for those in the Windows world as it's very good at it.”

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Oxford Networks, Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, UltiSat, Wipro, West Aurora School District 129, SUNY Geneseo College, Bloomington Public Schools, First National Bank of Pennsylvania, Kitsap Credit Union, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County Houston Texas, Carilion Clinic, Banner Health, IDEXX Laboratories, Phibro Animal Health Corporation, Goodwill Industries, Parmalat, Armstrong Coal Company, Flybe, James Walker

Dialog Telekom

Buyer's Guide

Plixer Scrutinizer vs. SCOM

July 2025

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