SCOM monitors Microsoft environments with a focus on Windows servers and applications such as SQL, Exchange, and SharePoint. It offers integration with Active Directory and Azure, along with customizable dashboards, management packs, and robust alert mechanisms, aiding efficient management and control.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| SCOM | 9.9% |
| OpenText AI Operations Management | 7.9% |
| ServiceNow IT Operations Management | 7.7% |
| Other | 74.5% |
| Type | Title | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Event Monitoring | Jun 21, 2026 | Download |
| Product | Reviews, tips, and advice from real users | Jun 21, 2026 | Download |
| Comparison | SCOM vs ServiceNow IT Operations Management | Jun 21, 2026 | Download |
| Comparison | SCOM vs BMC Helix Operations Management with AIOps | Jun 21, 2026 | Download |
| Comparison | SCOM vs IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus | Jun 21, 2026 | Download |
| Title | Rating | Mindshare | Recommending | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Datadog | 4.3 | N/A | 97% | 211 interviewsAdd to research |
| Zabbix | 4.2 | N/A | 95% | 109 interviewsAdd to research |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 15 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 20 |
| Large Enterprise | 46 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 334 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 169 |
| Large Enterprise | 521 |
SCOM provides a comprehensive monitoring solution for Microsoft technologies, helping organizations track performance and availability of applications, services, and infrastructure. It integrates with Active Directory and Azure, offering capabilities for monitoring Windows and Linux environments. Extensive management packs, customizable dashboards, and automated alerts offer a refined monitoring experience. Users benefit from detailed performance data, network monitoring, and auto-discovery features, enhancing operational insights and server management efficiency.
What are key features of SCOM?In technology sectors, SCOM is widely implemented for its ability to monitor server applications and infrastructure components. Healthcare and finance utilize its monitoring and alert systems for compliance and uptime. Enterprises integrate SCOM for managing complex systems like Exchange, SharePoint, and Active Directory, enabling comprehensive analytics and reporting.
SCOM was previously known as System Center Operations Manager, SCOM 2012.
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| Author info | Rating | Review Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Assistant Manager at SMS group GmbH | 5.0 | I manage SCOM mainly for monitoring Linux systems and configuration, integrating it with Grafana for dashboards. Its alerting mechanism is beneficial, though the dashboarding needs improvement. Enhanced visualization for non-administrators would significantly enhance user experience. |
| ICT System Administrator at College of Europe | 4.0 | We use SCOM to integrate and monitor systems like Active Directory with alerting and threshold settings. Its user interface could be more intuitive, and a SaaS Azure version would improve accessibility. We also use SolarWinds and Defender portal for monitoring. |
| Network Operations Center at Student Loans Company | 2.5 | I use SCOM primarily for infrastructure monitoring, focusing on performance metrics like CPU, memory, and space. While it helps with server monitoring, I'm considering moving towards Icinga for application monitoring and CloudWatch or Azure for cloud solutions. |
| Senior Manager - Monitoring & Observability at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees | 4.0 | I manage SCOM for monitoring Windows OS and Microsoft products like Active Directory and Exchange. It provides quick, end-to-end monitoring with helpful management packs. While it lacks some APM features, it meets my current requirements effectively. |
| IT Technical Support Deputy General Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees | 5.0 | I find SCOM valuable for its availability reports that enhance service stability. However, it could benefit from improved dashboards and detailed logs for real-time monitoring. It has aided in making informed decisions on server upgrades and replacements. |
| Information Technology Consultant at University of the Witwatersrand | 3.5 | I utilize SCOM for performance monitoring and role-based access in Windows environments. It offers detailed reporting and easy issue detection. Improvements are needed in cloud monitoring tools, and certification options would be beneficial as they are currently discontinued. |
| It Genst Adm 1 at a government with 10,001+ employees | 3.5 | We use SCOM for monitoring our Windows servers, valuing its alert system from a central location. However, it needs usability improvements. It’s cost-effective, offering benefits similar to a help desk without transaction costs. |
| system engineer 2 at a retailer with 10,001+ employees | 4.5 | We use SCOM for server monitoring, valuing its Azure monitoring and integration features. Direct integration with third-party tools needs improvement. Compared to AppDynamics, SCOM excels in Microsoft services monitoring, though it lacks bulk licensing options but remains reasonably priced. |
| Solution Engineer at AppSmart | 4.0 | I use SCOM for monitoring and logging, finding its monitoring features very valuable. While setup is complex and scalability medium, it's stable now. Support is okay, but I wish for more SIM integration. |
| Delivery Manager at Inetum | 3.5 | I use SCOM to patch laptops, conduct inventories, and deploy applications. While it works well for system information, its reporting feature needs improvement. I also work with Microsoft SCCM and Intune to achieve a comprehensive view of devices. |
My usual use case for SCOM is as an administrator role where I create reports and provide system configuration for Linux and installation of the SCOM agent. I handle deploying and upgrading the agent, upgrading software, and installing patches within the system.
These are the roles I handle with SCOM currently. I also work with version upgrades as an administrator to manage the system.
The most valuable feature of SCOM is its monitoring capability, and we have integrated SCOM with Grafana, which is a dashboarding tool.
We have implemented and integrated this to create dashboarding of the SCOM monitoring system for the database, SQL, and the Linux servers we have configured in SCOM. We have created separate dashboarding for it, and the monitoring and creating rules and monitors in the management servers and management packs that SCOM provides are very useful for us.
The alerting mechanism of SCOM has benefited our operations because we have modified the thresholds as per our internal requirements. We have configured threshold modifications for the CPU, memory, and especially for disk space.
For routine disk space usage on the system, we have provided a separate threshold configuration.
We believe that the dashboarding in SCOM needs to be improved or enhanced because it is not too expressive in reporting. We can work on deploying new ways of viewing things and modifying visualizations for monitoring users, not administrators.
It would be beneficial if we implemented improvements in this way. Specifically, the visualization for users on the dashboard would be great for graph views.
When looking for file system usage, we currently have to create a separate dashboard view. It would be beneficial to have a summary on one single dashboard, as there are many more possibilities available.
I have been working with this tool for around six years.
I evaluate this solution's stability as almost stable. I have not seen many errors or frequent data loss because once we have installed the agent on the system and have the details, not much manual intervention is required.
The only maintenance required involves upgrading and applying patches from KB articles for the Windows system, which is different for Microsoft and not related to our SCOM system.
For SQL, we have provided database retention for 30 days, and we have created scenarios to manage database size. For reporting, we use the same server rather than a separate one.
Only the database is provided on a different server.
The scalability of SCOM, meaning its ability to adapt to our needs, is excellent because we are working with SQL systems and multiple servers.
I don't experience any lag or complexity in our system currently, and we will proceed with the 2022 version upgrade next month.
I have interacted with SCOM technical support on multiple occasions. In my previous company, we received less information and fewer updates from the support system until we resolved the solution independently.
However, when I was working directly with Microsoft at TCS, my first company, the support experience was quite smooth, and we received solutions promptly. Based on my previous experience with the team, I would rate it around seven or eight out of ten.
Positive
I have worked on the initial setup of SCOM, though not extensively. I have performed one complete initial setup from the ground up, including installing SCOM in our infrastructure and setting up everything for the directory and DNS system. This was for on-premises servers, not for Azure cloud.
I consider the process I was involved in as straightforward since I have extensive experience with the system.
For the deployment of SCOM, we only need a database team for the database system. The deployment requires just two people: one from SQL and one from Active Directory.
For maintenance of SCOM, we don't require additional staff. It is completely maintained by us. We have the management servers, operation console, sub console, and reporting servers, all of which are upgraded regularly.
This review rates SCOM as 10 out of 10.
We use SCOM to configure different monitors using several management packs. It integrates systems like Active Directory and correlates them, and it is used for monitoring and managing systems.
SCOM allows integration of several systems, providing correlation between different systems such as Active Directory and monitoring servers. It offers alerting capabilities and threshold settings for system monitoring.
SCOM integrates several systems and offers correlation features, like setting up everything around Active Directory or DNS. It provides alerting capabilities and threshold settings, which are helpful for monitoring.
SCOM is not as straightforward in terms of user interface or general experience, which could be improved. Additionally, I would like to see a software-as-a-service version in Azure to eliminate the need for on-premise infrastructure.
I have been working with SCOM for over almost 12 to 15 years.
I have never contacted support for any issues with system center products like SCOM and SCCM.
Positive
We use Defender portal to manage security on devices and SolarWinds for network monitoring.
The setup involved integrating with SCCM and was quite extensive, but it was completed in one day with SQL and rules.
I am not aware of the exact pricing as it is managed by my supervisor. As an academic institution, we receive substantial discounts.
SCOM's transition to a software-as-a-service version in Azure would be a great improvement.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
Neutral
I manage SCOM. We use it mainly for Windows operating system monitoring and especially for Microsoft products, like Active Directory, Exchange, SharePoint, Teams, Skype for Business, System Center, and MECM. Application-level monitoring for these Microsoft products has been taken care of by SCOM because it's a native tool by Microsoft.
So it provides end-to-end application monitoring. Apart from this, it is capable of monitoring the operating system. So this is the tool which we are using as of now.
One of the good features is the inbuilt reporting in SCOM. It has a reporting tool where you can fetch the performance data and have historical data. By default, SCOM has a data warehouse, so all the data is collected and stored there, and you can use it for future analysis. That is one of the features.
And apart from that, we have the web console. You don't need to have the thick client installed on your laptop. You can just go to the web console URL and see the HTML dashboards and live alerts. You can even see the live data and live performance data, the graphical view of the current performance of your application.
It is very quick. The inbuilt management pack that Microsoft provides is really helpful. I know it's a mature product, and they keep upgrading the management pack. The MP, that's the main feature that provides end-to-end monitoring for those applications.
They do keep upgrading the management pack, so that's a good thing. Moreover, the users, the application team, Exchange team, and SharePoint team, feel like they've been getting alerts when there's any issue in that environment before the users report them. SCOM triggers the alerts. So that's the best tool for that.
Might be the APM (Application Performance Monitoring) solutions, which it lacks compared to other tools. I don't know what other tools are in the market, so I don't know what SCOM lacks. I need to check, as it depends on the requirements. Once other teams have the requirement, and if that is not fulfilled, maybe they would have chosen another tool.
But for me, whatever requirement my user provided has been fulfilled via SCOM. So there might be a few other requirements, which are from other teams, like software development teams, Java teams, and so on. They might have different requirements, but I haven't got those in my scope. That's the problem.
If they had been in my scope, I would have started exploring it, and then I would have known if it's lacking or if it's already there because I haven't used a few features in SCOM, like distributed application monitoring and other stuff.
In future releases, I would like to see APM solutions and dashboards like Grafana. It's not like Grafana. If it is possible to integrate with Grafana, that would be great because I have a lot of data in the data warehouse. If I get a chance to integrate with Grafana, I can show it there because SCOM collects a lot of data from the servers.
I have been dealing with it for over ten years.
The customer service and support are good. I've been at Microsoft, and I've been supporting this tool from that end. So customers are happy. If it's really a bug, it's a bug, and then it'll be fixed and released in the next update. And support is always there.
Now, I've moved out of Microsoft. So I'm a customer now.
From the beginning, I worked with SCOM. So I have no idea about other products.
We use an agent-based solution. We have the SCOM agent installed on all the application servers, so it collects the data from those applications. And then for ticketing, we can integrate with ServiceNow and BMC Remedy too.
Recently, the major thing is the maintenance mode scheduling has been a good feature.
And overall, Microsoft has made SCOM a SaaS, cloud-based solution, where you don't need to have the on-premises SCOM infrastructure. You can use it from the cloud itself, and you can use the same management pack there as well.
It's actually implemented by another team, but I've taken care of SCOM. So it's like two different teams.
I would rate it an eight out of ten. I would recommend it to others.
The product's availability reports are valuable because they provide feedback on service stability. If a service isn't stable, the team focuses on maintenance or looks for alternative solutions.
They could provide better dashboards, detailed logs, and reports crucial for monitoring services in real-time.
I have been working with SCOM for over five years.
I rate the product stability an eight.
We manage around 2,900 SCOM users. I rate the scalability an eight.
The technical support services are good.
Positive
Sometimes, configuring agents with specific ports can be complex. I rate the setup process a seven.
My team installs web agents on servers and configures them based on service owner requirements.
It helps make informed decisions on server upgrades and replacements.
The platform is cost-effective due to our existing Microsoft support.
The performance reports and hardware performance alerts have been critical for maintaining our system's health.
Alerts notify the server or service owner of problems, allowing quick decisions or actions to keep the service running based on configured thresholds.
I rate it a ten out of ten.
I use SCOM for performance monitoring on the Windows environments, role-based access for SharePoint, software deployment, and reporting on any issues in the logs.
The solution's reporting engine has given me detailed information on which applications or services I've either failed or about to fail in terms of the predictive makeup on Azure cloud.
The solution gives us an overview of where the bottlenecks could be. When there are issues, the solution helps us to easily detect which node the issues came from. Applying patches and fixes is also very easy once you've configured the system into the configuration manager correctly.
The solution should have more tools for monitoring the cloud engine versus on-premise. It sufficiently covers the on premise modules, but more work needs to be done in terms of monitoring various nodes of the cloud-based environment.
Since SCOM is a vast solution that covers so many areas, it would be nice to get an actual certification. I know Microsoft has discontinued certification on the SCOM and SCCM products.
I have been using SCOM for ten years.
SCOM is a stable solution.
The solution scales to the cloud, but it could scale across and support a vast number of platforms, especially your Unix environment. In terms of coverage, SCOM does cover a fair amount of the Microsoft environment.
The solution's initial setup is a bit complex, but it's not a problem once you get the hang of it.
The solution's deployment takes around two to three days.
The problem is that the solution does not have a predictable alert. It would help you diagnose faults easily, but it needs more predictive alerts. If a service is about to get affected or if there's a lot of noise on the network, those alerts need to come through on time so that it's more of an early warning wake-up call. You can either add more resources to a constrained tool or apply an available solution prior.
Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
We use the product in our Windows servers.
The tool helps to monitor Windows servers. It offers alerts from a central location.
SCOM needs to improve its usability.
I like that the solution is one of the few tools that can seamlessly manage multiple applications or servers. Some other monitoring tools struggle with that.
The tool's deployment is neither easy nor complex. I rate it a five out of ten. It typically takes about a day or so to deploy the infrastructure. After that, deploying the agents depends on how you do it, and multiple methods are available.
We require only about two people for deployment, at most. If you include me, that's four. Depending on the job classification, you need server admins and maybe a network specialist. Someone with a good understanding of computers who can log on to a computer or server and navigate the admin console is also needed.
The tool helps us avoid costs by allowing us to use transactions which don't cost anything to build. It's the next best thing to having a help desk when a user reports a problem.
I would recommend the tool for Windows servers and not for Linux ones. I rate it a seven out of ten.
We use SCOM for monitoring our servers in one place.
The most valuable features in SCOM are Azure monitoring and integration with Azure Monitor for monitoring Azure-hosted servers from SCOM on-premises.
In terms of improvement, direct integration with third-party tools, like ticketing systems, is lacking but would be beneficial.
I have been working with SCOM for a year.
SCOM is generally stable with occasional glitches, particularly during patching when downtime occurs. We provide DR services from one data center, which increases scalability but lacks redundancy. Overall, I would rate the stability at around nine out of ten.
I would rate the scalability of SCOM as an eight out of ten. In our company, we manage 500 servers using SCOM.
The technical support is good.
Setting up SCOM is straightforward. We decide on the number of servers to monitor, configure management servers and gateway services, and install SCOM using the setup executable. Onboarding servers involves scripting or installing the SCOM console, making the process easy with no complexity.
Compared to competitors like AppDynamics, SCOM is better for monitoring Microsoft services and roles. It has agent-based pricing, with no bulk license options, but generally reasonable.
SCOM improves system monitoring by centralizing server monitoring.
The alerting capabilities in SCOM are helpful for our organization. The notification feature works well and is beneficial for keeping us informed.
We use the default reporting tool in SCOM, which is Microsoft Server Reporting. It is user-friendly and integrates well with SCOM.
Integrating SCOM into our current IT environment was easy.
Overall, I would rate SCOM as a nine out of ten. I would recommend it to others.
We mainly use SCOM for logging purposes and mounting configurations. It alerts us when any services have a problem. It really depends on the products that are being used in the backend. There are different kinds of virtual machines and different kinds of environments like VMware and Hyper-V.
One customer deploys the solution on a hyper conversion input service, and two customers deploy the solution on-premises.
The solution could be used in any sized company. It's been used in the manufacturing, IT, and telecom sectors.
The monitoring features are the most valuable. We have seen a major benefit from that so far.
There could be more integration of SIM in the solution.
The solution is stable.
Previous versions were not very stable. There were some issues while we were configuring the hierarchy.
The scalability is of medium difficulty.
Overall, support is not great but it's not bad. Microsoft's standard support is good. Sometimes, there aren't specific engineers who can help us with SCOM when we have an issue. A knowledge-based environment would help us more.
I would rate technical support 3.5 out of 5.
We have also used ManageEngine OpManager to monitor the environment and Solar Wind.
They don't support integration of multiple products. Considering the stability and scalability, Microsoft is a better option. It depends on the use cases.
I would rate the initial setup 4.5 out of 5.
It's a complex process. When we deploy any other solution, it comes with a built-in SQL database. With SCOM, it was more of a complicated process.
If it doesn't have a hierarchy, then it takes about one hour. It's a standard installation. If there are hierarchies, like multiple site deployments, then it would take about three to five hours.
I don't know the exact cost because it's managed by our sales team, but Microsoft is on the higher side.
I would rate SCOM as 8 out of 10.
It depends on how the customer is using the product. My advice is that if you're interested in SCOM, you need to consider the environment, the business case, and what kind of business you are running.
We use this tool to patch laptops, conduct an inventory, and gather information about our systems. We use SCCM and another solution around SCCM to gain a complete view of our laptops and desktops.
We use the solution for deployment purposes, including deploying solutions, new products, applications, and patch solutions.
The solution primarily drives system information, and I believe it works fine.
Regarding certain issues in the solution, it can be difficult to generate reports if we have a program that is not user-friendly for reporting. While this is not necessarily negative, we may need to use another solution. We can explore alternatives through certain products from Azure, but it may still be difficult to generate reports without specific development.
In short, I feel the reporting feature of the solution needs to be better since it is very difficult to have a report of the best quality.
We use the SCOM solution in our company and provide it to clients, if possible. Our role is to build a solution architecture for our clients. While SCOM is not our primary product, we have been using it for ten years, and it remains the latest solution to expedite our system information.
I think the solution is stable, but we had to meet with our engineer to address some tuning issues. When the solution gets appropriately tuned, it is a good solution.
I have worked with four big international companies using this solution.
My team uses Microsoft support to assist our clients, but we have a specific link with Microsoft to provide support for certain clients.
I work with solutions like Microsoft SCCM and Microsoft Intune.
We use the solution in our work for a big company, but we are rarely involved in the setup of the solution. The company uses and upgrades the solution but is not typically involved in new installations.
I work for a big company and thus have access to a certain piece of system information that can be considered big and vast. Due to its size, we have separated the activities, primarily because there are many activities. Also, we have many engineers working on the solution.
I recommend others to try this solution. Also, I rate this solution a seven out of ten.
