SCOM vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor comparison

Microsoft and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Microsoft is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.2, while SolarWinds is ranked #28 with an average rating of 8.0. Microsoft holds a 1.5% mindshare in NMS, compared to SolarWinds’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

SCOM

Read 83 SCOM reviews

9,597 Views
6,430 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Network Device M...

Read 23 SolarWinds Network Device Monitor reviews

3,131 Views
3,068 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

SCOM

SolarWinds Network Device M...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

SCOM and SolarWinds Network Device Monitor compete in IT monitoring. SCOM has an edge with robust Microsoft integration and flexible custom solutions. SolarWinds is user-friendly with simpler network monitoring capabilities.

Features: SCOM offers strong Microsoft technology monitoring, extensive management packs, and flexibility in creating custom solutions. It supports various systems like Windows, Unix, and network devices with comprehensive dashboards. SolarWinds provides effective network monitoring with customizable dashboards and is designed for ease of use but has less integration in Microsoft environments.

Room for Improvement: SCOM's pricing is high since it requires the entire System Center suite; it needs easier dashboard customization and better support for non-Microsoft products. SolarWinds should improve platform integration and reporting features, alongside developing AI-based issue resolution for better usability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SCOM is mainly on-premises with some hybrid cloud features, benefiting from Microsoft's Premier Support for consistent assistance. SolarWinds also operates on-premises but offers greater flexibility with private and hybrid cloud options. Its support service is efficient yet could improve response times.

Pricing and ROI: SCOM, part of Microsoft's System Center, is often bundled in enterprise agreements, offering potential cost savings despite high initial costs. Its ROI includes proactive monitoring and reduced downtime. SolarWinds has variable pricing, potentially higher than alternatives, with ROI realized through immediate alerts and network management efficiency.

To learn more, read our detailed SCOM vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

SCOM vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

April 2026

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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

SCOM

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

14th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Event Monitoring (2nd)

SolarWinds Network Device M...

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

28th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of SCOM is 1.5%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is 0.9%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
SCOM	1.5%
SolarWinds Network Device Monitor	0.9%
Other	97.6%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Akshita Kukreja

Assistant Manager at SMS group GmbH

Have integrated effective monitoring and seamless alerting with improved visualization capabilities

The most valuable feature of SCOM is its monitoring capability, and we have integrated SCOM with Grafana, which is a dashboarding tool. We have implemented and integrated this to create dashboarding of the SCOM monitoring system for the database, SQL, and the Linux servers we have configured in SCOM. We have created separate dashboarding for it, and the monitoring and creating rules and monitors in the management servers and management packs that SCOM provides are very useful for us. The alerting mechanism of SCOM has benefited our operations because we have modified the thresholds as per our internal requirements. We have configured threshold modifications for the CPU, memory, and especially for disk space. For routine disk space usage on the system, we have provided a separate threshold configuration.

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Sorin Gogean

IT Infrastructure Senior Network Technician at Autoliv

Offers some features but needs better customization and analysis tools

There are solutions that can perform better, but due to pricing for our corporate implementation, we had to stay with this solution. It accomplishes the necessary tasks, but there is room for improvement. The features are not as customizable as we would prefer, but they are workable. If configured properly, you can perform a drill-down analysis. However, I have not used this feature much for our infrastructure on the network side.

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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

"The advantages of SCOM are that it is definitely user friendly and a more appropriate solution for what we need."

"The solution is used for monitoring the hardware inventory. For instance, it helps with the whole operational monitoring view for the company's infrastructure."

"When it comes to monitoring Microsoft servers, it is very useful."

"SCOM is a very powerful tool if deployed and eventually maintained correctly."

"The most valuable features in SCOM are Azure monitoring and integration with Azure Monitor for monitoring Azure-hosted servers from SCOM on-premises."

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

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

"It's easy to use."

More SCOM pros

"I like the mapping that you could do and the dashboards were very pretty."

"I rate the product's initial setup process a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is a difficult phase and ten is an easy process."

"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is it shows you the utilization of devices to allow you to take proactive action before something goes down or reaches the saturation point. You can take proactive action to fix the problem before it occurs."

"The solution and its interface are elaborate and fully integrate all monitored items for easy analysis and troubleshooting."

"Overall, it is a good user experience and the dashboards are very usable."

"Overall, I rate SolarWinds Network Device Monitor ten out of ten."

"In real-time, we know when there's an issue on our network and it helps us to be proactive to solve the situation."

"The alerts we are getting when we start losing connection access have been helpful."

More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor pros

Cons

"My advice to people who are looking for a solution like SCOM would actually be to advise them to move from licensed software to open-source."

"The solution should be more user-friendly and offer a better user interface."

"The configurations could be better. There are multiple tests where you can do something, but they can be a trigger as well. The overriding methodologies are not that easy. The configurations are difficult. The configuration and thorough day-to-day operations to get them to the level you want takes some time. It's very difficult."

"It would be nice to see the old MP Designer come back as you could quickly design and build a MP without a deep understanding of the XML code behind it."

"Microsoft SCOM is an old fashion beast of a monitoring solution that offers basic monitoring out of the box and for a dime because it comes with licenses they forced on us anyway."

"The dashboard is still not so great and, most of the time, a third-party tool is required for presentation."

"I had issues with SCOM 2007 and MOM 2005, regarding the view of alerts in the Console Operations."

"SCOM needs to improve its usability."

More SCOM cons

"The security needs improvement, which is why we are moving away from Solar Winds. We have security concerns."

"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could improve by being more user-friendly. The network has so many features which make it difficult to find how to configure how to use it. It is not simple to customize."

"The initial setup of the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could be easier. It took us approximately one month to complete the implementation."

"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor lacks the granularity of other monitoring tools like LiveNX."

"There is no mobile version of this product, and our team should be able to access it using a mobile device."

"It would be beneficial if SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could provide a feature to monitor CRC errors specifically on individual interfaces rather than the entire device. This would help in detecting intermittent issues and packet drops on main links more accurately, especially when there are CRC errors. It's important for us to be aware of these issues to avoid any voice quality problems or interruptions on our MTS links."

"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could improve the features. We don't have the complete model for the database, and the monitoring for the database is up and down. We expect that we could monitor the blocking items on the database but we don't have that feature."

"SolarWinds pricing is on the higher side, and in India, every customer is cautious about commercial aspects."

More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

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

"The pricing and licensing are fair."

"We have to pay for a license and the price is fine for us."

"There is a license needed to use this solution and it is paid annually."

"SCOM is very cheap because it's included in the license for the System Center suite, which is around $8,400 per CAL."

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

"We have an enterprise agreement that includes this product as part of it."

More SCOM pricing and cost advice

"When compared with other solutions SolarWinds is more expensive."

"I find the cost of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor reasonable for our company. Though, I'm not aware of the exact licensing cost."

"I rate the product's price as three to three and a half or on a scale of one to ten, where one means low price, and ten means high price."

"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is not an expensive solution."

"The product is expensive."

"Well, we had a perpetual license and the renewal was $20 to $25,000."

"The price of the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is good."

"Thankfully, it doesn't take a lot of manpower to install and deploy."

More SolarWinds Network Device Monitor pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	22
Large Enterprise	54

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	14

Questions from the Community

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.

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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...

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What is your primary use case for SCOM?

My usual use case for SCOM is as an administrator role where I create reports and provide system configuration for Linux and installation of the SCOM agent. I handle deploying and upgrading the age...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?

I am not a positive person regarding SolarWinds Network Device Monitor.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?

I have experience regarding the AD part, but my focus for the last 15 years has been oriented to the network side. My experience with identity tools comes more from a network perspective. We used N...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

SCOM

May 2026

Download SCOM product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

May 2026

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor report

Download SolarWinds Network Device Monitor product report

Also Known As

System Center Operations Manager, SCOM 2012

Network Device Monitor

Overview

SCOM monitors Microsoft environments with a focus on Windows servers and applications such as SQL, Exchange, and SharePoint. It offers integration with Active Directory and Azure, along with customizable dashboards, management packs, and robust alert mechanisms, aiding efficient management and control.

SCOM provides a comprehensive monitoring solution for Microsoft technologies, helping organizations track performance and availability of applications, services, and infrastructure. It integrates with Active Directory and Azure, offering capabilities for monitoring Windows and Linux environments. Extensive management packs, customizable dashboards, and automated alerts offer a refined monitoring experience. Users benefit from detailed performance data, network monitoring, and auto-discovery features, enhancing operational insights and server management efficiency.

What are key features of SCOM?

Microsoft Environment Monitoring: Specialized for Windows servers and applications such as SQL, Exchange, and SharePoint.
Integration Capabilities: Seamless integration with Active Directory and Azure for streamlined operations.
Customizable Dashboards: Tailor visual data displays to enhance monitoring and decision-making.
Extensive Management Packs: Broad range of management packs for enhanced resource and application control.
Robust Alert Mechanisms: Comprehensive alerting to maintain service stability and address potential issues promptly.

What benefits should users seek in reviews?

Operational Efficiency: Enhanced management of server applications and infrastructure.
Comprehensive Monitoring: Detailed insights into performance and service availability.
Proactive Issue Notification: Timely alerts for quick issue resolution.
Improved Control: More efficient server management through automation and visibility.

In technology sectors, SCOM is widely implemented for its ability to monitor server applications and infrastructure components. Healthcare and finance utilize its monitoring and alert systems for compliance and uptime. Enterprises integrate SCOM for managing complex systems like Exchange, SharePoint, and Active Directory, enabling comprehensive analytics and reporting.

Microsoft

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor offers comprehensive real-time network monitoring capabilities with seamless integration across multiple vendor devices, ensuring efficient network operations.

Offering features like cloud workload monitoring, quick deployment, and a user-friendly interface, SolarWinds Network Device Monitor supports real-time alert thresholds, accurate link readings, historical utilization metrics, and customizable dashboards. Its ability to integrate with multiple vendor devices and perform network discovery enhances operational efficiency. Comprehensive bandwidth and fault management features provide stable network monitoring, benefiting devices such as switches and IP phones. However, there is room for improvement in integration with tools like ServiceNow and Excel, support response times, and enhanced security. Users highlight the need for a mobile version, improved reporting, and better customization options, alongside concerns about setup complexity and licensing costs.

What are the key features?

Cloud Workload Monitoring: Monitors workloads hosted in the cloud.
User-Friendly Interface: Offers an intuitive experience for users.
Quick Deployment: Simplifies installation and setup processes.
Real-Time Monitoring: Provides immediate alerts for network statuses.
Customizable Dashboards: Enhances network visibility with tailored displays.

What benefits can users expect?

Proactive Problem Solving: Real-time alerts facilitate quick issue resolution.
Efficiency: Automated network monitoring streamlines operational workflows.
Insightful Analytics: Provides valuable data on memory and CPU usage.
Cost-Effective: Monitors bandwidth and fault management to reduce outages.

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is implemented prominently in industries needing robust network infrastructure monitoring, like tech and manufacturing. Companies rely on its capabilities for IP address management, cloud workload monitoring, and remote equipment monitoring, gaining insights into system performance and ensuring compliance checks are met effectively.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Dialog Telekom

Air Rarotonga

Buyer's Guide

SCOM vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor

April 2026

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