Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

SolarWinds Security Event Manager vs USM Anywhere comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 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

SolarWinds Security Event M...
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
33rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
USM Anywhere
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
31st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
115
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (46th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (52nd), Compliance Management (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is 0.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of USM Anywhere is 0.9%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

Rafal-Stas - PeerSpot reviewer
Helpful in areas like event management, log viewing, and information management
The product's initial setup phase on the cloud is pretty easy but on an on-premises version, I think it is of a moderate level. The solution is deployed on the cloud and on an on-premises model. The time required to deploy the solution depends on the customers' infrastructure, and it may range from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, as it depends on how many additional custom configurations are required. Around two to three engineers are usually involved in the tool's installation process.
Kris Nawani - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers complete coverage without the need to install additional software
USM Anywhere is used for threat detection and investigation. It provides a solution with built-in threat intelligence and various other investigation tools The solution offers complete coverage without the need to install additional software, as it is maintained by the vendor. It helps in saving…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It supports high availability, which is very helpful."
"This tool is simple to use."
"The most valuable feature is the reporting."
"SolarWinds' stability is fine. I don't think we've had any software issues."
"It has in-depth monitoring capabilities and an easy way for setting up dashboards. I can expand in various areas, or I can reduce areas. It supports different types of breakdowns, filters, and rules. It is very simple for an out-of-the-box type of product. It doesn't take a lot of time to figure it out, which is unlike some of the solutions that I have looked at. It meets all the aspects."
"The solution helps me to go back in time and search for different events. For example, if you wanted to know who activated an account; you could go back in time and find out."
"The out of the box reports and dashboard. It was easy to trim down these windows to something we could quickly use."
"The product's most effective part in improving security stems from the fact that the solution is deployed for event management, log viewing, and information management."
"The vulnerability manager and the file integration are very good."
"Easy to use, scalable, stable, and very intuitive platform that provides protection against security threats."
"Vulnerability scanning helped out shortcomings of what was not patched in the past and what needed to be patched. This assisted with fine tuning the environment for compliance."
"AT&T AlienVault USM is good for ELK Stack, the user experience is great because of its architecture. The ELK has a great performance and it has very good speed in the search and Kibana. Additionally, the visuals and dashboards and very nice and customizable."
"There are multiple tools for information security. The solution includes all the latest advances on the network and host intrusion detection systems."
"The USM is a work horse, no matter what devices or the number of logs we throw at it, the system processes them in real time, correlates the events, and alerts on only events that need human review."
"It allows you to define what alerts you want to see, or not to see, as well as if you want them grouped, or ungrouped."
"I can easily check (in one place) all the logs and data in relation to attacks. It also gives me an overview if a server is not configured properly."
 

Cons

"I don't think SolarWinds is scalable enough. It is somewhat limited when I need to deploy it across multiple environments in a distributed architecture."
"One of the drawbacks of being so flexible is that it is also a fairly complicated software application to install, configure, and maintain."
"The only issue is the pricetag. SolarWinds is a costly solution."
"The reporting could be more robust. It can be a lot more granular and that will make it a lot more useful in comparison to how it is incorporated at the moment."
"It won't tell you when your backups are failing, but it will give you hints when your database is running on full recovery."
"We have automated threat detection in the Alliance Security, Antoinette. However, if these features could be further enhanced, it would simplify my work, potentially allowing me to allocate more time to address complex issues."
"There is no correlation made between log entries, so no threat information is presented."
"I think the customization area in the tool can be considered as an area of concern where improvements are required."
"Search performance can be slow. The Raw Logs feature is painfully slow. And if we're talking about the newer, the Anywhere product, you can't even schedule reports on the thing. There are probably a dozen other features I'd really like to see there, but that would be one of the biggies."
"We would like more plugins. This being the main point of improvement which would benefit the users."
"I feel that some areas of improvement would be vulnerability scanning. We use a separate product that seems to do a much better job."
"The vulnerability reporting needs to have options to be able to sort or customize the output."
"USM Anywhere relies a lot on the community putting the data in. Often, you'll right-click on the attack, but nothing will be found. That's a weakness of it."
"Windows log collection works with HIDS, but documentation is sparse and confusing."
"The other thing is the agent is OSSEC. They needed to create its own agent to help to find threats on the devices that it happens to be installed."
"One area that has room for improvement is storage. AllienVault is a good place to put logs, but sometimes it's a tough place to go get logs... The logger can only hold so much data. If they improved that, that would help."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is available at a good price for customers compared to other solutions in the market. I rate the product's price as an eight out of ten."
"We do a yearly license renewal. For a year, the solution costs roughly $500,000 USD. There are no costs beyond this yearly fee."
"Licenses can only be purchased in blocks of fifty at a time."
"It is in the appropriate mid-range. It is not as expensive as some of the other solutions. It is also not cheap."
"The price of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is reasonable."
"The pricing model would benefit from having package deals with other SolarWinds products."
"Licensing is on devices, so if you have many, then this may be high."
"They charge a license based on the storage. ATT AlienVault USM is a less expensive solution than IBM QRadar."
"It's very reasonably priced. It was one of the lowest among the ones I looked at. Licensing is pretty flexible. They can do a two-year or a three-year, even a one-year, perhaps."
"So far, I feel the product's pricing is a good value. The technology is decent. You get what you pay for. I think it's fair."
"QRadar, ArcSight and Splunk are some of the most expensive SIEM products out there in the market and not everyone has the budget to buy them. In such cases, AV USM is a very cost effective alternative."
"Do the one month trial and try to work out the kinks during it, as it has free support and service hours."
"The licensing fees are dependent on usage."
"The price for this solution is very good, but since the features do not work the price is expensive."
"They are a little more expensive than Microsoft."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions are best for your needs.
864,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Insurance Company
7%
Computer Software Company
18%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Educational Organization
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?
The solution helps you monitor database instances, application instances, other customer application things, Linux servers, IBM servers, and Oracle servers.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?
The tool is available at a good price for customers compared to other solutions in the market. I rate the product's price as an eight out of ten.
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?
I think the customization area in the tool can be considered as an area of concern where improvements are required In the future, I want to see the tool have better customization abilities with som...
What do you like most about AT&T AlienVault USM?
The most valuable feature of the solution is the ease of deployment that it provides to users. The integrations that the product has with third-party applications are useful.
What needs improvement with AT&T AlienVault USM?
There are scalability issues due to a 60 TB limit, which restricts its use for large customers like banks. It is also limited when used with bigger products and has complex password requirements.
 

Also Known As

SolarWinds LEM, Solarwinds SIEM, TriGeo, Log and Event Manager
AT&T AlienVault USM, AlienVault, AlienVault USM, Alienvault Cybersecurity
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NetSuite, EasyStreet, Legacy Texas Bank, and Energy Federal Credit Union, to name a few.
Abel & Cole, Bank of Ireland, Bluegrass Cellular, CareerBuilder, Claire's, Hays Medical Center, Hope International, McCurrach, McKinsey & Company, Party Delights, Pepco Holdings, Richland School District, Ricoh, SaveMart, Shake Shack, Steelcase, TaxAct, Taylor Morrison, Vonage and Zoom
Find out what your peers are saying about SolarWinds Security Event Manager vs. USM Anywhere and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
864,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.