ArcSight ESM provides us the flexibility to write our own passwords and customize the solution. It lets us search and log a variety of SmartConnectors. It has 480-plus SmartConnectors.
Sr. Group Manager at WNS Global Services
It provides us the flexibility to write our own passwords and customize the solution.
Pros and Cons
- "ArcSight ESM provides us the flexibility to write our own passwords and customize the solution. It lets us search and log a variety of SmartConnectors. It has 480-plus SmartConnectors."
- "Sometimes, it takes ages to get an issue resolved. I have ArcSight experience, so I normally try to fix things on my own or find a workaround, but it's tough to get support when I need it."
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
ArcSight's features are already ahead of many competitors, but may they could offer some more training about how to find tools, how to get them working, and how to optimize them. I'd also like to see a greater focus on cloud content and the ability to write rules from the browser.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using ArcSight ESM for around 10 years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
ArcSight is scalable. I started out with three data centers, and now I have it deployed at more than 48 locations.
Buyer's Guide
OpenText Enterprise Security Manager
August 2025

Learn what your peers think about OpenText Enterprise Security Manager. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2025.
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How are customer service and support?
I rate ArcSight support seven out of 10. Sometimes, it takes ages to get an issue resolved. I have ArcSight experience, so I normally try to fix things on my own or find a workaround, but it's tough to get support when I need it.
It goes on for days. If you call in the morning and explain it to the engineer, but the issue isn't fixed, you have to explain it to another person when the shift changes. It's usually okay, but it can be challenging if you're dealing with an urgent issue and you don't have the proper documentation.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used McAfee Nitro, IBM QRadar, and DNIF HyperCloud. Other solutions aren't as simple to set up or as stable. ArcSight is better in terms of coverage. The technology is more than 20 years old.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is quite simple, and the documentation is thorough.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We looked at three other solutions. I was working for a government organization, and there was an Indian company developing its own team. ArcSight was head and shoulders above the rest in features like aggregation filtering, bandwidth, parsing, etc. It was there.
Hopefully, we're still way ahead, but the IT data architecture is getting a bit complex with the introduction of Kubernetes and everything. It will be complicated in terms of resources, deployment, etc., but I think ArcSight can still be what it used to be if we sort this out.
What other advice do I have?
I rate ArcSight ESM seven out of 10. I would recommend ArcSight depending on an organization's needs. I don't have much experience in terms of pricing, but ArcSight can provide a lot of functionality if a company requires it.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner

Sr. Group Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It's highly customizable, but the API integration could be better
Pros and Cons
- "ArcSight is customizable. You can integrate just about anything. I also like the ease of use."
- "The API integration could be better, and I'd like to see more machine-learning capabilities in the future."
What is our primary use case?
We use ESM for compliance, log retention, and general security operations. We don't use all the features. We have been late in terms of taking advantage of the cloud option.
What is most valuable?
ArcSight is customizable. You can integrate just about anything. I also like the ease of use.
What needs improvement?
The API integration could be better, and I'd like to see more machine-learning capabilities in the future.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used ArcSight ESM for nearly 12 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
ArcSight is more stable than other solutions I've used if you take care of the maintenance. I've seldom had significant issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scaling up ArcSight isn't a challenge.
How are customer service and support?
I've had mixed experiences. Sometimes, it was fine, and it was not so good at other times. It isn't as good as it used to be.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is simple to me because I've been doing it for a while, but I'm not sure a beginner would find it easy. It could be simpler. I haven't had the opportunity to deploy it on the cloud, but you should be able to do it without problems.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I rate ArcSight ESM six out of 10 for affordability. In my last company, I evaluated Sentinel. The annual license for ArcSight is equal to about two months of Sentinel.
What other advice do I have?
I rate ArcSight ESM seven out of 10. I've worked with it my whole life and watched it evolve. ArcSight doesn't do much that other solutions can't. ArcSight has been around for 20-plus years. A lot of companies have moved on to other solutions. At the end of the day, you get out of a SIEM product what you put into it.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
OpenText Enterprise Security Manager
August 2025

Learn what your peers think about OpenText Enterprise Security Manager. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2025.
865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Manager, Security Operations Centre at Deloitte
Eliminates many false positives, but has fallen behind in AI and ML capabilities
Pros and Cons
- "I value the event correlation of this product."
- "They also could improve the product by integrating user and identity behavior analytics."
What is our primary use case?
I supervise a team at our company that uses this solution. Our organization uses the solution with our customers. We run a SOC for our clients that are on ArcSight. We provide monitoring, SIM administration, and incident management to our customers.
We have many use cases including multiple route logins, multiple administrator login failures, multiple failures, and successful logins.
What is most valuable?
I value the event correlation of this product, it handles it well. We are able to eliminate many of the false positives, which eliminates a lot of the noise within the environment.
What needs improvement?
ArcSight could improve by using AI and ML. More people are leaning towards this type of solution. They also could improve the product by integrating user and identity behavior analytics.
The traits' environment is changing every day. The traditional approach of discovering traits within the environment is gradually changing. We need new approaches to intelligently discover traits within the environment. ArcSight needs to improve its product to move in this direction.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have integrated a couple of technologies into ArcSight, both on-premise and on-cloud. We were able to integrate the DNS and the firewalls. We were not able to integrate the EDR.
How was the initial setup?
When comparing the initial setup of ArcSight ESM with Curator, the setup is easier with Curator.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Curator. Curator is easier to set up than ArcSight, and it has a UI that is simpl to use.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager to a small degree. However, there are quite a few products on the market now that are easier to use. Other products are providing more insight and providing user entity behavior analytics.
Overall, I would rate ArcSight ESM a six out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Consultant at Libero
Powerful and comprehensive program but complex and cumbersome for non-experts
Pros and Cons
- "ArcSight ESM allows us to find if someone is doing an administrative operation at inappropriate times of day or trying to do something they're not allowed to."
- "ArcSight ESM's UI is a little cumbersome and complex, especially for first-time and occasional users using the console manager."
What is our primary use case?
I primarily use ArcSight ESM for security and network monitoring. We are dealing with Active Directory, so we use ArcSight ESM to track the actions administrators take on accounts, like disabling and enabling accounts or accounts going expired and why.
How has it helped my organization?
ArcSight ESM allows us to track the logging of our customers or providers through VPN to a security middleware that tracks and allows them to access backend resources. In this way, we can find if someone is doing an administrative operation at inappropriate times of day or trying to do something they're not allowed to.
What needs improvement?
ArcSight ESM's UI is a little cumbersome and complex, especially for first-time and occasional users using the console manager. It's also a very complex product, and new users will require assistance from someone expert to avoid making errors.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using ArcSight ESM for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
ArcSight ESM is stable, except when you're doing very complex correlations, but that's a problem common to all products in this area.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have not had any problems with ArcSight ESM's scalability.
How are customer service and support?
ArcSight's technical support is very good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was not so easy as it's a very technical product, and anybody who doesn't have a lot of technical knowledge will probably find it difficult to set up. It's important to have a clear understanding of your goals when setting up all the infrastructure, as ESM is so complex. The deployment took around an hour or two.
What about the implementation team?
We used a provider team.
What other advice do I have?
ArcSight ESM is a very powerful platform, but you have to be careful in designing rules and defining an initial set of targets because otherwise, you could end up with high costs or a hugely demanding setup. I would rate ArcSight ESM seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Technical Lead Project Individual Contributor at DXC
Used for cyber security by cyber security professionals for incident management and for analysis
Pros and Cons
- "Usability is the most valuable feature. The accessibility is quite good."
- "The visualization is not very good compared to Splunk."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution as a SIEM monitoring tool in our enterprise and for customers who have been using it, like shared operations. It's mostly used for cyber security by cyber security professionals for incident management and analysis.
The solution can be deployed on-prem and on the cloud. It depends on the requirements. We mainly use AWS, but Azure is also used.
We have analysts and architects using this solution. There are more than 20 people who are specialists and are using it. The team can be as large as more than 100 people. It all depends upon infrastructure and the clients that the particular infrastructure is supporting.
What is most valuable?
Usability is the most valuable feature. The accessibility is quite good. If a new person wants to be trained in this product, it's easy for them to be trained, as opposed to other products like Splunk or Sentinel.
ArcSight is good, and it's also scaling up.
What needs improvement?
The visualization is not very good compared to Splunk.
The dashboard and the comparability with new devices could be better. For example, we have a lot of cloud infrastructure that's coming around. Nowadays, most of the appliances are cloud-based. So, the comparability of Splunk is more with cloud infrastructure. With ArcSight, we have to build FlexConnectors to integrate multiple data sources, and we need visualization in that with FlexConnectors. If you go to Splunk, they have their own apps developed, and they work more proactively compared to ArcSight.
The performance and speed could be better. Technical support could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable because we have been using this product for quite a number of clients. They use ArcSight as a primary tool for SIEM. We have been using it in the cyber security space for quite a long time. It is stable, but people are needed to manage this tool.
How are customer service and support?
ArcSight's technical support hasn't been as good as it was in the past. I don't find it to be very good. My queries are not being properly resolved.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I also use Splunk and sometimes Sentinel.
This is the oldest SIM I have been working on. After that, Splunk came into the market. I worked for Accenture, and Splunk gave free training because of the partnership with Accenture. Their training framework was good compared to ArcSight. A lot of people started switching to Splunk. Nobody's support is perfect, but Splunk's support is almost perfect and better than ArcSight.
The primary factor is the cost. ArcSight is cost-effective, but Splunk is not because it charges for UBA, and ArcSight charges on EPS. Splunk is also in automation and machine-learning tools. So, if a customer is willing to spend big so they can switch to Splunk, that's what I've seen for most of the clients.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup is complex, not straightforward, because there are some devices that are not supported by ArcSight. So, we have to build a development strategy for each of the devices.
For the implementation strategy, it can be software-based or it can be a multi-side-based also. It depends on the type of clients you have and the agents. They have a central server from which you can deploy the agents and install them, and then they can send to the ESM side on which you can correlate. From there, the incident reporting will be done based on multiple systems.
What about the implementation team?
A consultant is required for smooth setup.
What was our ROI?
We have seen ROI because this space keeps on changing very dynamically. It depends on your customer. There is definitely a return on investment, but it's not large because these types of solutions are for compliance purposes. We see many cyber attacks happen nowadays, but they definitely prevent some of the major incidents. It will give direct results to an organization, maybe in some intangible manner. But because this is a compliance thing, you definitely have to implement at least one SIEM in the infrastructure.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing cost is affordable if you get an enterprise license. The licensing is based on EPS, so you can probably provide a package of license for multiple ESMs with their correlational end fees. It is cost-effective.
Licensing depends on what type of customer you are. There will be licenses for each and every appliance. There will be three types of appliances like ESM, ArcMC, and Logger. For these three components, you need to buy a separate license.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution 7 out of 10.
My advice is to get proper training. It also depends on which component someone is working on. ArcSight support will not be able to help every time because ArcSight professional services are pretty costly. I haven't seen any organization taking ArcSight professional support. We only have normal support. It needs a bunch of experts to support these kind of operations.
You will need a strategy for how deployment is going to be, how much the capacity planning will be, what the configuration of servers will be, how they will architect it, etc.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
CyberSecurity Architects at VaporVM
Provides more granular data compared to solutions like Azure or Splunk
Pros and Cons
- "We utilize ArcSight ESM for real-time threat detection in our organization. We have custom rules that we've developed on top of the WAN services, along with scheduled licensing activities."
- "We have pricing issues. ArcSight ESM may not be the most user-friendly option, and its interface is quite traditional. However, despite these aspects, we find it a good cybersecurity solution. It needs to improve the dashboards, documentation, and support as well."
What is our primary use case?
We use the product for everything. It serves as our company's management platform, handling our tech needs, block systems, alerts, custom rules, triggered events, analytics, investigations, incident closures, case creations, whitelists, and various other tasks.
What is most valuable?
We utilize ArcSight ESM for real-time threat detection in our organization. We have custom rules that we've developed on top of the WAN services, along with scheduled licensing activities.
It provides more granular data compared to solutions like Azure or Splunk. While ArcSight ESM may be considered less user-friendly, it offers a high level of customization, allowing for configuration and adaptation to specific use cases, especially regarding alerting and incident response.
Its integrations are working well. Though I haven't used the solution for an extended period, it seems highly customizable. This level of customization is not commonly found in many solutions. While solutions like Kubernetes offer a variety of apps through app extensions, it allows users to build their features to a considerable extent.
What needs improvement?
We have pricing issues. ArcSight ESM may not be the most user-friendly option, and its interface is quite traditional. However, despite these aspects, we find it a good cybersecurity solution. It needs to improve the dashboards, documentation, and support as well.
The documentation and community support for ArcSight ESM is not as strong as other solutions. Finding resources and analysts who have experience with ArcSight can be challenging. The solution is less user-friendly than alternatives like Splunk, QRadar, or Sentinel. The technical nature of ArcSight may make analysts hesitant to dive into it, contributing to a steeper learning curve.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the product for two months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
During the pandemic, there were challenges related to stability, particularly with the discrepancy in events being pulled in. The issue was attributed to connectors, and there were problems with certificates that needed updating. As a result, events were regularly stopped by these connectors. I rate the tool's stability a seven out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. My company has 20 users.
How are customer service and support?
I haven't contacted the tool's technical support yet.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend ArcSight ESM to others depending on the organization's size and specific requirements. For larger organizations, I might not recommend it, but for SMEs, it could be a suitable choice. If it meets your organization's specific use cases and requirements, and if you can ensure that you have resources trained to work with it, then it could be a suitable choice.
I rate the overall product a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Security Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
A robust solution that helps us with our internal log and threat analysis
Pros and Cons
- "It is a robust product and has multiple valuable features."
- "The dashboard looks a bit cumbersome."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for our internal and vendor daily base of log analysis and threat analysis.
What is most valuable?
It is a robust product and has multiple valuable features. For example, it has robust threat intelligence built into its customization and great templates that provide ease of use.
What needs improvement?
The dashboard looks a bit cumbersome with the current version. They should work on the dashboard and optimize their integration which currently lags with devices of reputed vendors. So, having these custom integrators sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for almost ten years. It is deployed on private cloud.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We haven't experienced any stability challenges. It works if we get enough hardware and software provisions for the vendor recommendation.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
On-premises is a challenge to scale, and we haven't tried the cloud but we've heard it's quite scalable and robust.
How are customer service and support?
We do not use technical support that often. They are very good, but they should train their L1-level support. Overall, they're a good strong team.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is neither easy nor difficult and depends on the expertise. It requires really good expertise to build from scratch. The setup itself is not a big hassle, and in a week, the system is up and running, but the main challenge is the integration. We keep integrating, and with the password of the integrated direct, it's fine.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is a licensed product.
What other advice do I have?
I rate this solution an eight out of ten in terms of the inbuilt features and how it has grown into a strong solution over the years. The team has done an excellent job with the features, integrations, and compatibility.
Regarding advice, I think the assessment on currently sizing the product to their need is key. It's an expensive product, so sizing is the most important choice. In addition, I believe moving to cloud has more robust integration features. They are building new custom solutions that can be integrated with ESM for better analysis.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Information Security Analyst at Banglalink
Other solutions perform better and have a slicker GUI, but this one is cheaper
Pros and Cons
- "We use ArcSight ESM for log analysis and security alerts. It warns us of threats and then helps us conduct a forensic investigation of a cyber attack or internal incident after it happens."
- "ArcSight ESM needs to improve performance, user interface, and automation."
What is our primary use case?
We use ArcSight ESM for log analysis and security alerts. It warns us of threats and then helps us conduct a forensic investigation of a cyber attack or internal incident after it happens.
How has it helped my organization?
ArcSight ESM helps us stop security incidents by detecting them early before they can cause more damage.
What needs improvement?
ArcSight ESM needs to improve performance, user interface, and automation.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
ArcSight has become more stable with the latest patches that have come out, but we also have had many difficulties applying the patches
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's costly to scale up ArcSight ESM, but it's scalable. You have to pay for extra storage, licenses, and log processing.
How are customer service and support?
ArcSight support is okay but slow. It isn't provided promptly. There is a vast time difference between American time and East Asian time.
How was the initial setup?
Setting up ArcSight is very complex. Nothing about it is user-friendly.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
ArcSight's price is reasonable. That's why our company was forced to buy this. It's cheaper than some of the better solutions.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
LogRhythm has a better GUI and some automation options, like an automated password writing script. In Exabeam, I can see an event with the user's picture, which Exabeam can draw from the Active Directory. It has a better GUI, better performance, and customization. I expect these things from ArcSight, but it can't deliver yet.
What other advice do I have?
I rate ArcSight three out of 10. I would never recommend it. I would recommend QRadar, LogRhythm, or Exabeam, but they all cost more. Price is its only advantage.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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