SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs Sumo Logic Observability comparison

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs. Sumo Logic Observability

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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

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

20th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (10th), Active Directory Management (10th)

Sumo Logic Observability

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

24th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Monitoring Software (17th), AIOps (11th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 1.3%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sumo Logic Observability is 0.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor	1.3%
Sumo Logic Observability	0.4%
Other	98.3%

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

VIVEK PATHAK

Solutions Architect at Airtel

Offering reasonably good dashboarding features but needs to improve the application performance monitoring

My company uses Riverbed for application performance monitoring. I was doing research so that I could understand if SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor provide APM capabilities similar to Riverbed, which allows our company to get a packet capture of an entire session, and on the basis of it, we look at the application performance monitoring part. With SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor, my company does SNMP polling, so it can drag an entire session, but it focuses more on availability, CPU memory, and server connection status. In Riverbed, my company catches an entire system, so when we deal with two applications, we have end-to-end app visibility. All the application monitoring happens through Riverbed. Our company's main problem is that, as of now, we have two different products in our organization, and we don't want to continue with the multiple products currently. I wanted to understand if SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor already have capabilities like Riverbed, and if they do, then I wanted to figure out why our company should not go with SolarWinds and why we are using products from multiple vendors. My company needs to continue with either Riverbed or SolarWinds. I wanted to see which products are good for the organization and how much I want to continue with Riverbed.

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Shamshir Nangla

Site Reliability Engineer at LHV Bank

Getting up and running is easy, even for a newbie but management of searches definitely needs improvement

Operational effectiveness with regards to when there's an issue, when there's a reactive issue, people are able to, or as well as proactively, actually, because we use their PagerDuty integrations. We use queries in Sumo Logic to trigger alerts based on logging. That allows us to proactively identify issues as they're happening. With those same alerts, obviously, with that platform, you can use it to reactively start looking at troubleshooting issues as they're happening right then and there or incidents. So it's been very, very good for alerting and for troubleshooting issues. For predicting issues before they happen, it is not very good. They have a feature called anomaly detection, but I think it's quite premature compared to other stuff out there. So it's good for alerts and for troubleshooting operational effectiveness. When your operations are down or segregated, it's perfect because it will help you diagnose the issues.

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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 graphical interfaces, GUI customizations, and alert configurations are impressive."

"Features like monitoring and infrastructure dependency mapping are valuable to us."

"The most valuable feature is application monitoring."

"Solarwinds has an open database that allows you to do serious integrations. It doesn't matter which service desk you have, you can implement and integrate it with SolarWinds."

"The most valuable feature is the Access Rights Manager."

"We manage SolarWinds ourselves without outsourcing its services."

"Management Console - Managing service to each server enrolled in the Solarwinds is much easier. Using a web base console, you can control your service much convenient way. There is no need to login remotely. It save a lot of time and effort."

"The most beneficial aspect of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is its ability to monitor at the application level."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

"I have not seen any stability issues in the product."

"We use queries in Sumo Logic to trigger alerts based on logging. That allows us to proactively identify issues as they're happening."

"The product is easy to learn."

"Sumo Logic Observability presents a range of valuable features, including well-crafted dashboards and a diverse selection of helpful apps. However, personally, I don't hold a favorable opinion of the solution. While I don't struggle with writing queries, my main difficulty lies in recruiting competent individuals and ensuring their proficiency in utilizing the solution. This often leads to additional challenges and complexities. From my perspective, when compared to Microsoft Sentinel or even Splunk, Sumo Logic Observability has a steeper learning curve. One contributing factor to this disparity is the solution's long existence in the market compared to Synlogic. Nevertheless, I acknowledge that there are capable and knowledgeable professionals employed at Sumo Logic Observability. The effectiveness of the solution largely depends on how it is integrated into your internal operations and environment. Its utility and benefits can vary significantly. It is worth noting that organizations like the NSA and, I believe, the CIA used it in the past, primarily for rapidly searching and analyzing large volumes of data. To leverage its capabilities effectively, you must determine how to tailor it to your specific needs."

"The solution allows multiple groups to converge on a unified platform, allowing for different utilization by various teams."

"Alerting and consistency are key. We have different tiers with log collectors, and continuous querying provides near-real-time updates. It's almost like instantly when something happens, like pending transactions or error fees. This helps reduce incident resolution time compared to waiting for thresholds on other platforms. We can continue logging in with them seamlessly and quickly get into action."

Cons

"SAM's software-defined network monitoring capability is also low and could be improved."

"Support for the IBM Mainframe is needed."

"Solarwinds should come up the same monitoring system for other certificate expiration alert apart from SSL."

"Application-based monitoring, such as monitoring within servers like Apache and IIS, has room for improvement."

"The setup was complex. We had local support to assist us."

"I believe that some of the trends, environmental maps, and items like those found in Orion would be very beneficial."

"Downside of the tools is the web console are hung or crash. It need to improve the performance."

"A lot of times, we have to do a lot of manual cleanups."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

"The speed of queries could be improved. When using more advanced functions, especially with large datasets like the 90-day log retention we had, queries could be slow, sometimes taking up to five minutes."

"Implementing a more streamlined enrichment process, and conceptualizing the observability data collection as an ETL pipeline would be helpful."

"SearchUI.exe is a bit clunky in the product, making it an area where the product needs improvements."

"Fine-grained data can be quite frustrating to work with and should be made easier."

"Documentation could be better. While it's generally good, sometimes finding what you need requires extensive searching. It's not always clear where to look for specific things."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would advise potential buyers to wait until the end of the quarter, end of year, or other time to place orders. There are actually great deals to be had at those times if your budget cycle can match up."

"The price is too high."

"We are on an annual license to use the solution. The price of the solution is expensive. The price is based on a bunch of factors, such as the number of engines and elements."

"Understanding the counts of objects to monitor will determine the licensing need. In terms of pricing, it’s not cheap but it’s not expensive as larger vendors whose products don’t have all the features or integrations."

"Nagios XI, WhatsUpGold, Uptime Software, PRTG, Manage Engine, and SpiceWorks are the other tools that have lower pricing and licensing costs. However, they can't compete with SolarWinds when it comes to the features and functionality that SolarWinds can provide."

"Pricing is inexpensive, starting at 2440 euros. For that, you get the ability to monitor a couple of nodes and one year of maintenance and support."

"The product is expensive."

"I have always said SolarWinds is very “proud” of their products, meaning they are expensive. I cannot afford to purchase all the licenses I need for all the SolarWinds products."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

"I started on the free tier to try it out, but because of our usage, we're now paying for it."

"Now, they’re not charging by ingests anymore. You should expect the price to be a bit of an unknown and to basically increase as the business increases."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Transportation Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	20

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

Identifying the problem statement is easy.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

The initial cost is quite high, but the renewal cost is reasonable.

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

There are no specific features or functionality I would like to see improved or enhanced in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor at this time. I have not encountered any missing features or fu...

What do you like most about Sumo Logic Observability?

The product is easy to learn.

What needs improvement with Sumo Logic Observability?

The speed of queries could be improved. When using more advanced functions, especially with large datasets like the 90-day log retention we had, queries could be slow, sometimes taking up to five m...

What is your primary use case for Sumo Logic Observability?

We used it for log observability – log aggregation specifically.

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Product Reports

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Sumo Logic Observability

Download Sumo Logic Observability product report

Also Known As

SolarWinds SAM

No data available

Overview

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) delivers powerful application and server monitoring capabilities for IT pros, enabling them to diagnose and troubleshoot performance issues faster. Do not let slow applications and downtime impact your end-users and business services. Pinpoint the root cause of application issues across various layers of the IT stack. SolarWinds SAM is affordable and easy to deploy, use, and customize. You can automatically discover your system's environment and start monitoring in about an hour. No professional services or consultation needed.

SolarWinds

Sumo Logic Observability offers advanced monitoring solutions with features like integrated dashboards and querying capabilities, though presents a learning curve compared to alternatives. Designed for efficient log aggregation and analysis, it provides near-real-time updates facilitating improved incident resolution.

Sumo Logic Observability stands out with its ability to unify teams through a single platform, offering features that include customizable dashboards and valuable apps. It provides powerful log tracing and centralized management, designed for organizations focused on log aggregation, analysis, and expanding SIEM capabilities. While it has a steeper learning curve compared to some competitors, it excels in tailored integrations that enhance log searches. Users find themselves able to monitor, automate, and centralize log repositories for effective debugging. Despite its strengths, improvements in data enrichment and documentation organization are needed as current query functions can be slow, impacting efficiency. Users have also mentioned needing pre-built dashboards and better tab management for enhanced functionality. Cost management remains a notable consideration for users evaluating Sumo Logic Observability.

What features make Sumo Logic Observability effective?

Well-Crafted Dashboards: Customizable options for monitoring.
Flexible Query Language: Allows detailed log searches.
Centralized Management: Enables teams to work on one platform.
Near-Real-Time Updates: Enhances timely incident resolution.
Custom Field Creation: Facilitates user-specific data requirements.

How does Sumo Logic Observability benefit organizations?

Unified Platform: Brings teams together for streamlined operations.
Enhanced Integrations: Improves log search accuracy.
Tailored for SIEM: Supports security needs with efficient log management.
Efficient Data Monitoring: Automates processes for ease of management.
Scalability: Handles large data volumes efficiently.

Sumo Logic Observability is implemented across industries predominantly for managing and analyzing extensive data sets, offering capabilities critical for SIEM activities and security examinations. By facilitating quick data visualization and transaction tracking, organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, and technology benefit from its robust framework to support infrastructure logging and large-scale data management, contributing to effective monitoring and system operations.

Sumo Logic

Sample Customers

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

Information Not Available

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs. Sumo Logic Observability