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ServiceNow Discovery vs SolarWinds Pingdom comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

ServiceNow Discovery
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (9th), Server Monitoring (7th), Cloud Resource Discovery Services (1st)
SolarWinds Pingdom
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (67th)
 

Mindshare comparison

ServiceNow Discovery and SolarWinds Pingdom aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. ServiceNow Discovery is designed for IT Asset Management and holds a mindshare of 3.5%, down 5.8% compared to last year.
SolarWinds Pingdom, on the other hand, focuses on Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability, holds 0.6% mindshare, up 0.2% since last year.
IT Asset Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ServiceNow Discovery3.5%
ServiceNow12.9%
Freshservice5.4%
Other78.2%
IT Asset Management
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SolarWinds Pingdom0.6%
Dynatrace5.5%
Datadog4.7%
Other89.2%
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
 

Featured Reviews

Abhinay Sharma - PeerSpot reviewer
Service Now Developer at Bangmetric services pvt ltd
Cloud discovery has improved asset visibility and reporting but still needs smarter automation
The impact of ServiceNow Discovery on my organization's strategic planning depends on various factors. Some customers have their own discovery tools which they do not want to switch from, even if we explain why ServiceNow might be better, because they have been using them for a long time. Some customers are dynamic, so we need to have some kind of proposition that comes with ServiceNow. Sometimes, we need to talk with ServiceNow people themselves to give them a bundle offer in which we can have Discovery and ITSM at a much more affordable price than the competitors, so that is our main goal. Currently, I would say there might be a possibility if we can use some AI discovery features that could be helpful for our organization. If we can get discovery jobs running based on AI schedules, that would be beneficial. I believe in the coming future that I want to see myself working more with ServiceNow in this capacity.
Jay Vekaria - PeerSpot reviewer
Linux System Administrator at Ergode
High performance, quick setup, but lacking ease of use
Some of the functions could improve by making them easier. There is room for improvement when it comes to the graphs provided by the software. Additionally, there seems to be an issue with the ping status, as it sometimes indicates that a website is down even when it is functioning properly. It appears that there are certain aspects related to cache management or other backend functionalities that are unclear. The time range graph and overall user interface could be more user-friendly. For example, when selecting a custom graph for a specific time period, clicking on it should open the corresponding website in a new tab, but instead, it displays the current graph. This lack of consistency can be frustrating when trying to navigate the interface. Furthermore, the reports shared on a weekly basis arrive one week late, reducing their usefulness. Overall, some extra efforts are required to make the user experience smoother and more efficient.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of ServiceNow Discovery is its performance."
"The service management and operations management modules are valuable."
"ServiceNow's Discovery feature is quite significant because it allows for service mapping and integrates with VIN management. It involves adding a business context to servers, routers, switches, and data centers. This means understanding not only what's installed on these systems and how they function together but also recognizing their significance in terms of business applications from the business's perspective and how they impact business processes and capabilities. So when we delve into these aspects and connect them to the essential components, it can help you engage in more meaningful discussions to enhance capacity management practices. In essence, it contributes to the overall IT portfolio, almost functioning as a business platform. This platform is accessible to users who leverage the data to initiate incidents, implement changes, and resolve problems. Consequently, consolidating all configuration items or assets into a unified platform makes sense, especially considering you already have Discovery in place. If the cost is reasonable, the other two components might not provide much value, except for their user-friendliness, which is often less important to leaders compared to the desired outcomes."
"The data is really good, it's reliable and they keep adding to it."
"I believe one of the great functionalities or improvements in ServiceNow Discovery is its ability to gather information about any Configuration Items (CIs)."
"Discovery enables us to get an accurate inventory that's updated daily. It eliminates human error and the need for people to update configuration changes manually. We have not implemented them yet but plan to set up alerts on CIs that are being audited to see if there are any changes."
"One highly valuable aspect is the use of service accounts, which automates the process of identifying underlying nodes and associated assets."
"It's pretty robust, and it's agentless for the most part, so you don't need to deploy agents, which makes it a lot easier to stand up."
"There are alerting mechanisms in place to let us know, for example, if a device is not responding to a ping test and is probably not going to work."
"Overall, this is a very good product and one that I recommend."
"One valuable feature is real user monitoring."
"Once you set the threshold on your environment, it feels very real-time"
"One notable feature of this software is its page speed setup, which is highly commendable. Additionally, the metrics it provides are also impressive."
"My advice to anybody who is considering Pingdom is that this is a good product at an affordable price."
"The most valuable features are monitoring and reporting."
 

Cons

"Technical support has not been helpful when we have come across problems. They take too long to respond and then don't provide helpful information."
"Discovery, while a bit pricey, integrates well with other tools and offers a centralized discovery solution. These aspects could be enhanced in the new release."
"Instead of AI, even GenAI should be introduced in ServiceNow Discovery."
"Whenever you try to discover something with the solution, you get errors that are not descriptive enough."
"I am not seeing significant ROI beyond breaking even on what I spend."
"ServiceNow ITOM is particularly not very strong in terms of monitoring capabilities. They do not have any monitoring tool."
"They can expand on the plugins for some of the other tools."
"They can expand on the plugins for some of the other tools."
"Pingdom is always improving everything in its product. So, they should work on the GUI."
"Pingdom is always improving everything in its product. So, they should work on the GUI."
"Some of the functions could improve by making them easier."
"Technical support could use some improvement."
"I would like to see better integration with other products."
"Technical support could use some improvement."
"I would like to see better integration with other products."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"ROI (Return on Investment) is good. ServiceNow don't disclose the price publicly. They'll assess your organization's needs and then come up with a price."
"ServiceNow Discovery is expensive, but the company has a monopoly and we need to use the solution. We use it because we do not have a choice."
"I would rate the product's pricing a six out of ten. We had availed some discount from the standard pricing. Even then, the tool's pricing is expensive. You have to pay some vendor service fees for the product's implementation."
"It costs a lot. It is probably close to over a hundred thousand. It's an expensive platform, but you can't compare ServiceNow's Discovery functionality to other discovery tools. It's not an apples-to-apples comparison of ServiceNow to a configuration management tool to an asset management tool because it does those things, but it's not those things."
"This solution is a paid option within the ServiceNow framework."
"ServiceNow Discovery's licensing is not a very small investment, but it definitely pays off."
"It is an expensive product with a price that depends on the models that you wish to purchase."
"Setting up and licensing for ServiceNow can be expensive, especially for enterprise service management."
"While I wouldn't describe it as excessively expensive, if you require specific and reliable monitoring, SolarWinds can be a suitable option. The advantage is that SolarWinds offers a free version as well. If you don't heavily rely on its monitoring capabilities and are content with its basic features, the free version could suffice for your needs."
"This price of this solution is reasonable."
"The license was paid yearly and included technical support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
Construction Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
8%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise23
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ServiceNow Discovery?
The solution can prioritize the discovery of IP ranges. The product automatically places all Discovery CIs into the correct class within the CMDB.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow Discovery?
Regarding pricing, I have not dealt much with it. I am more focused on the feature side of things, so I cannot comment on the latest pricing because it is dynamic as well. Sometimes it is cheaper f...
What needs improvement with ServiceNow Discovery?
The impact of ServiceNow Discovery on my organization's strategic planning depends on various factors. Some customers have their own discovery tools which they do not want to switch from, even if w...
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Sample Customers

York, National Grid, DXC Technology, experian, BEACHBODY
Spotify, MailChimp, Slack, Twitter
Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow Discovery vs. SolarWinds Pingdom and other solutions. Updated: September 2020.
892,646 professionals have used our research since 2012.