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SCOM vs WhatsUp Gold comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 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

SCOM
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
15th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
83
Ranking in other categories
Event Monitoring (5th)
WhatsUp Gold
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
31st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (30th), Server Monitoring (16th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (30th), Configuration Management (17th), Log Management (28th), Cloud Monitoring Software (24th), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of SCOM is 1.7%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WhatsUp Gold is 1.2%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SCOM1.7%
WhatsUp Gold1.2%
Other97.1%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

MarcMermuys - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
Tom Condo - PeerSpot reviewer
If CPU, memory, or disk space is over-utilized, it alerts us immediately via text or email if there is an issue
When it comes to the intuitiveness of the topology mapping feature, our network architect created a vision diagram of our entire network and then created the links tied into the WhatsUp active monitoring to different spots on our topology map. It's one of the more critical functions we do here. We have the map displayed in different places in our room and help desk. We get alerted via emails but we can also see it visually. It does what it says it's going to do. We find this feature very helpful. The interactive mapping interface for scrolling, zooming, and drilling down on an element to learn about a network issue is good. When we see a network there will sometimes be a spot that has one link. You can go into a particular part of the topology map, scroll in, and see exactly which module it is. All the information is provided. This feature really helps. You can see the correlation between that link and what failed. This feature is very helpful. The interface is fairly intuitive. Some of our users used SolarWinds and Nagios, and WhatsUp is easy in comparison. Once you get set up, the look, feel, and configuration are good. Our network architect had never used it before but he was able to create the Visio and map. It was very simple. He has no problems with it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It can send messages to our ticketing system."
"It has good graphs of what is going on within the operating system.​"
"Alerts notify the server or service owner of problems, allowing quick decisions or actions to keep the service running based on configured thresholds."
"SCOM's most valuable features are the network path feature, reporting, and integration with business intelligence."
"The advantages of SCOM are that it is definitely user friendly and a more appropriate solution for what we need."
"This solution helps our application teams by allowing them to drill further into issues and perform a root cause analysis."
"It is very good at monitoring Microsoft Server."
"SCOM has helped us to monitor all the VMs in our environment, especially the Windows servers."
"The documentation is very good."
"NetFlow monitoring, real-time monitoring, and surveys have been the most valuable features for our business."
"It is easy to access and discover devices, as well as monitor them automatically. The topology discover is also a useful feature."
"It is stable."
"The interface in the last few years it has been a lot greater, they are much more user-friendly. I like the interface."
"We no longer have to manually search for problems because we are alerted when something in the network goes down."
"The most valuable features are network bandwidth monitoring and monitoring device health."
"The product is reasonably priced."
 

Cons

"Non Windows monitoring is fairly weak. Network device monitoring is not reliable."
"They could provide better dashboards, detailed logs, and reports crucial for monitoring services in real-time."
"The solution’s initial setup is difficult."
"It lacks certain details that other products do better, like granular access and better application monitoring."
"Of course, price is always an issue with Microsoft and could be improved."
"Application monitoring must be improved."
"On-prem network monitoring is something that could be improved drastically."
"SCOM is likely to be phased out in favor of more compatible tools like Icinga for application monitoring or when moving to cloud solutions like CloudWatch and Azure."
"Importing the maps and being able to customize them could be easier."
"The interface needs some work."
"One of the biggest things that made us start to look at another product is we're not able to have an end to end monitoring from a user perspective throughout the system and back to the user. All the monitoring is from inside out, we need something that also can give us from outside in."
"Pricing is too high relative to how many devices we use. The price list is not linear to number of devices."
"We can never achieve or get a good picture of the network topology."
"Adding on services increases the cost and on the version we have there is no option for ATM monitoring."
"The technical support does not bother to respond."
"I would like to see better integration with switches so that you can see what is connected to each port, what the traffic is, and have a network map automatically generated."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have an enterprise agreement that includes this product as part of it."
"The pricing and licensing are fair."
"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."
"It is the cheapest product available in the market."
"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."
"SCOM's pricing is average."
"The platform is cost-effective due to our existing Microsoft support."
"There is a license needed to use WhatsUp Gold."
"The most valuable feature is the cost compared to other solutions."
"It is per device, per year. The pricing is very clear. If you have a service agreement, you get all of your major upgrades and minor upgrades. It was under $10,000 to go all-in with all of the different add-ons for it."
"I'm not sure, but it's expensive. We don't pay any additional fees."
"The price of WhatsUp Gold is good."
"The pricing can be on the expensive side when considering competing products."
"The choice of version depends on the number of points, or devices, that you want to monitor, and this makes the product expensive."
"Pricing is reasonable compared to other products."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise54
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SCOM?
The tool helps to monitor Windows servers. It offers alerts from a central location.
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.
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...
What do you like most about WhatsUp Gold?
The interactive mapping interface for scrolling, zooming, and drilling down on an element to learn about a network issue is good. When we see a network there will sometimes be a spot that has one l...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WhatsUp Gold?
Clients find the licensing calculator confusing, but we simplify this for them by collecting relevant information first. The licensing is based on devices, providing better cost-effectiveness than ...
What needs improvement with WhatsUp Gold?
It would be great if WhatsUp Gold could add features that simplify management with AI, as it is currently too complicated to manage.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

System Center Operations Manager, SCOM 2012
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Dialog Telekom
Artoni Trasporti, Austin Independent School District, Banca Marche, Burke County North Carolina, Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine, Clayco, Community Integrated Care, Desca, Deutsche Bergbau, Flexi-Van, Gropper, Hamleys, Hammonds Furniture, Knowledge IT, Idras S.P.A., Sibeg, Swann Engineering, Trivium Lindenhof
Find out what your peers are saying about SCOM vs. WhatsUp Gold and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.