SCOM (System Center Operations Manager) is a cross-platform data center monitoring and reporting tool that checks the status of various objects defined within the environment, such as server hardware, system services, etc. The solution allows data center administrators to deploy, configure, manage, and monitor the operations, services, devices and applications of multiple enterprise IT systems via a single pane of glass. It is suitable for businesses of all sizes.
| Type | Title | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Event Monitoring | May 30, 2025 | Download |
| Product | Reviews, tips, and advice from real users | May 30, 2025 | Download |
| Comparison | SCOM vs ServiceNow IT Operations Management | May 30, 2025 | Download |
| Comparison | SCOM vs BMC TrueSight Operations Management | May 30, 2025 | Download |
| Comparison | SCOM vs IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus | May 30, 2025 | Download |
| Title | Rating | Mindshare | Recommending | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Datadog | 4.3 | N/A | 97% | 187 interviewsAdd to research |
| Zabbix | 4.2 | N/A | 95% | 106 interviewsAdd to research |
SCOM Features
SCOM has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:
SCOM Benefits
There are several benefits to implementing SCOM. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:
Reviews from Real Users
Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the SCOM solution.
A Manager at a financial services firm says, “The feature I like most about SCOM is that it is easy-to-use. I find it very user-friendly. I also like the knowledge base which it has. You can find the resolution to questions or issues directly within the SCOM itself. It will alert you with a recommendation of what you need to do at the same time. This sort of self-diagnosis or prompting is one of the great values you get from SCOM compared to other solutions.”
PeerSpot user Zahari Z., Information Technology Auditor at a financial services firm, mentions, “Availability monitoring is the feature I have found most valuable, as well as the capacity and ability to send notifications. There is a mechanism to set up a notification from the SCOM and whenever there is a drop in the availability the notification alerts not only for availability but for other issues as well. You can align thresholds according to the speed of your environment and you can have a threshold related notification, which is one of the useful features.”
Bill W., Sr. Systems Engineer at Arapahoe County Government, comments, “ I like some of their newer features, such as maintenance schedules, because SCOM records SLA and SLO time. When we patch, things are automatically put into maintenance mode so that the numbers for our systems being down, do not count against us.”
A Project Manager at a tech services company explains, “The feature I have found most valuable is the book feature. While we run the Sprint one we can add some setups for multiple sprints.”
A Systems Engineer at an educational organization states, “Because it's Windows-based, it actually reports quite well. It reports everything you can think of on the Windows server and allows you to monitor anything. It's excellent for those in the Windows world as it's very good at it.”
SCOM was previously known as System Center Operations Manager, SCOM 2012.
Dialog Telekom
SCOM is a very powerful tool if deployed and eventually maintained correctly. It is an improvement over MOM 2005. It no longer monitors just a node like MOM 2005 used to do (eg: a server) but it can be made to monitor a whole service.
SCOM 2012 monitors each node and advises you that a particular node is unreachable/down in a very short time. This time a.k.a as the polling time is dependent upon number of nodes, network traffic and the speed of the scom servers and network equipment. Having a short time helps to meet the SLA target.
Unfortunately, when you need to monitor member servers which are not joined to the same domain as the SCOM servers, you need to go through the certificate route (so that you can have the required trust through the certificate). This is very time consuming and very prone to error.
3years.
SCOM requires that all servers are from 2008server upwards. Does not work with Server 2003 or lower. Moreover, the respective service packs need to be installed.
As regards Linux servers, a specific file must be configured so that SCOM is allowed to communicate to.
No particular issues were encountered. If it is allocated the required resources, service pack installed etc, it should have a reasonable performance.
SCOM 2012 was implemented and monitored 300+ servers and various network connections. Issues that were encountered is with respect to servers which were not on the same windows domain as the SCOM servers.
Customer service was fine. However, a trained support team is required so that the SCOM is handled correctly and in a timely manner.
Technical Support:Technical support from Microsoft was always given in a timely manner when required. Technical support advice was analyzed and taken on board when required.
MOM 2005 was used but this supports up to 2003 Server. Having upgraded all servers to Server 2008 upwards necessitated this switch. Finally it proved to be a good choice.
MOM experience helped a lot since the basics are the same. You have to open the required TCP ports and allocate the required resources so that setup succeeds.
It was implemented in-house. A group of engineers designed, planned and implemented SCOM 2012. Their level of expertise was very high and they were MCSE engineers.
The ROI is in the form that the Service Level Agreement (SLA) is met and downtime minimized as possible. This reduced the penalties incurred to us from customers.
Cannot comment on this. I was on the technical aspect of SCOM. However this was given "for free" as part with the SCCM package.
There are various other options, like OP5 and Zabbix but being in a Microsoft environment, SCOM was the way to go.
No comments so far. SCOM has a lot of potential and can give a helping hand in maintaining a healthy network.
I posted my own review of SCOM 2012 a few days ago and for the most part it is parallel to Christopher's review here.
Yes, I do agree that SCOM is a very powerful monitoring system and as long as you "set it up correctly THE FIRST TIME" by fully planning the installation and have a good long term maintenance plan in place and have monitoring processes documented and enforced in your organization, then it will be successful for you. That being said, there were several items that Microsoft really needs to correct in order for SCOM to be a serious contender in my book.
Saying that SCOM requires a trained support team just to manage the system is an understatement. There is constant training needed, as well as constant server administration (monthly patching of SCOM servers can be extremely time consuming).
Development and new feature availability in SCOM are.... slow - when compared to competitors. This isn't really a surprise as on-premise Microsoft services still follow an 'industrial' development lifecycle and fast development is still new and on-going for the SCOM team.
"Monitoring across untrusted boundaries" -- this was my biggest pain when testing out SCOM in my own environment. The process for setting up gateway servers so you can monitor systems in non-trusted domains is very difficult to set up. Most of the issues with non-trusted domains has to do with what Christopher mentioned which is dealing with certificates.
Documentation of SCOM is very extensive. Lots of deployment scenarios exist for SCOM as well. One big tip I can give to someone wanting to plan an installation is to READ, then READ MORE. Then double-check your plan and have it vetted BEFORE starting your first install. Screwing up a SCOM installation is VERY easy to do. If you screw up the install you'll have to start all over again from scratch.
The great thing about SCOM is that once it is set up and running the system is rock solid and is very reliable. You just have to decide if it is worth the cost and effort. For most organizations where they have more Microsoft on-premise services/servers than others, SCOM will most likely be a prime candidate (SCOM is usually 'included' in Enterprise CAL licensing) for licensing cost reasons alone. Just remember that your operational costs may be high due to the need to have well trained SCOM personnel.