SolarWinds Security Event Manager Reviews and Pricing

Andrew Njagi

Communications and Networks Engineer at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Sep 4, 2019

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A solution that offers easy operation and configuration with a straightforward setup

Pros and Cons

"We did previously use a different solution, but SolarWinds is much better. It's easy to interact with SolarWinds. It's easy to operate, easy to configure and is generally easier compared to what we were working with before."

"The solution's technical support is okay, but we don't have an SLA, and sometimes the response times are very slow."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for monitoring the network.

What is most valuable?

The NTA & NPM are the most valuable features of the solution.

The solution is very user-friendly.

What needs improvement?

We're currently looking for an application monitoring solution and maybe a DHCP management module. It would be ideal if the solution could add these in its next release.

The solution should offer better support and better SLAs.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution since 2005.

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is fairly simple if you have the right licenses in place

How are customer service and support?

The solution's technical support is okay, but we don't have an SLA, and sometimes the response times are very slow.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did previously use a different solution, but SolarWinds is much better. It's easy to interact with SolarWinds. It's easy to operate, easy to configure and is generally easier compared to what we were working with before.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. The deployment took about two weeks. You only need two people for both deployment and maintenance.

What about the implementation team?

We handled the implementation ourselves in house.

What was our ROI?

It gives the business visibility as to what is down so that the turnaround time for fixes is much less.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We do a yearly license renewal.

What other advice do I have?

We are using the on-premises deployment solution.

It is a good solution to work with and it's very easy to use. I would only ensure that the organization that decides to implement the solution has the internal capability to manage it. If not, then I would ensure that direct support or an SLA is in place to help handle any issues or troubleshoot problems.

I would rate the solution nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Sameer Gangan

‎IT Consultant at a consultancy with 5,001-10,000 employees

Aug 19, 2019

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Good security monitoring features, but the user interface needs to be replaced

Pros and Cons

"It performs network behavior monitoring, log monitoring, and disaster recovery monitoring."
"Technical support for this solution is good."

"Training for this solution needs to be improved, as new employees are sometimes unfamiliar with the product."
"The flash-based interface can be improved because sometimes, the speed of monitoring is reduced."

What is our primary use case?

We are using this solution for the purpose of security monitoring. It performs network behavior monitoring, log monitoring, and disaster recovery monitoring.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of this solution is the log monitoring.

What needs improvement?

The flash-based interface can be improved because sometimes, the speed of monitoring is reduced. The interface should be replaced with something else.

Training for this solution needs to be improved, as new employees are sometimes unfamiliar with the product.

The gadgets in SolarWinds should all be in one place.

There should be a default template because as it is now, the user has to create one for each and everything.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution since the end of 2016.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SolarWinds is a big brand, and they will adapt as necessary.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Our monitoring team has between fifteen and twenty users.

We do not have any new infrastructure, so we do not need to increase usage at this time.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support for this solution is good. We have had no problems with them.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Prior to this solution, we were using AlienVault and IBM QRadar. I have also used Nagios, which is faster than SolarWinds LEM regarding alerts.

How was the initial setup?

I would not say that the initial setup is straightforward or complex. It is a bit of both. I would say it's forty percent straightforward and sixty percent complex.

Deployment time depends on the size of the infrastructure, the number of services that are going to be monitored, and the types of services.

What other advice do I have?

This is one of the good products in this market. People are always looking for easy-to-use products, and don't want to invest time on learning new or complex things.

This is a solution that I recommend, although there are a lot of products that are better.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Buyer's Guide

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June 2026

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Byron Anderson

Information Security Engineer at a cloud solution provider with 51-200 employees

May 20, 2019

We’re most impressed by LEM’s ease of deployment, automated reporting, and easy interface navigation.

We’re an Infrastructure-as-a-Service provider and a few months ago, a health care customer with a private cloud and mandatory HIPAA regulatory requirements approached us. The customer had one employee spending over a half day per week manually reviewing log files. Needless to say, manually reviewing log files is boring and generally not a good use of human time. It’s also easy to miss important information about malicious behavior.

They had to review a large number of logs every single day, and they basically didn’t have a good way to do that—they had an employee manually scrolling through each log file. When you start looking at log files you quickly realize that there is not a lot of good in sitting there manually combing through them, especially when you don’t know the sorts of things that you’re looking for. The client came to us and asked if we could find a better way for them to manager their log files.

We came up with a new offering for the customer to provide log management using SolarWinds Log & Event Manager. We had a very short timeline to respond on this for one. We’re a SolarWinds customer, in fact we’ve been one for quite some time. At one point we used the LEM product in the lab at our company, so I mentioned that to our customer and gave them an overview of LEM to see if it would meet their needs. They very quickly decided it was just what they were looking for.

We’re most impressed by LEM’s ease of deployment, automated reporting, and easy interface navigation. It makes digging through tons of log files very quick and easy to find what you need.

Since this initial client implementation, more of our customers have now approached us with compliance and SIEM needs. We now address two distinct markets for our offering in our private cloud customer base: customers needing SIEM for security analysis and automated response, and customers needing to comply with standards such as HIPAA and PCI. Just months after introducing the offering, we already have several customer deployments and several more in the pipeline.

Update 5/20/2019

While I am still a huge fan of SolarWinds and the LEM solution; I have significantly downgraded this from my original review. I feel as though LEM has not kept up with the rest of the SIEM industry which has seen significant advancements in the last few years. LEM lacks many of the features that you can now find in many next-gen SIEM solutions such as integrated threat intelligence, User Behavior Analytics and integration with SOAR technologies. If you are looking for a robust log management solution and LEM supports the log source you are looking to ingest then this could be a good solution for you; however, if you are looking for a next-gen SIEM solution I would caution you on LEM and suggest you look at other solutions.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.

it_user631224Information Security Analyst at a non-profit with 1,001-5,000 employees

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Mar 21, 2017

We have LEM and its been left to rot really and a new manager came in and we have bought logrythm but not put it in yet. Since we have LEM i am now thinking of getting it working and trying to get the money back on the logrythm as it sounds like a bit of loving care and it would work for us

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Alex Janes

Systems administrator at a healthcare company with 201-500 employees

Jan 20, 2019

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Helps maintain logs of access and changes

Pros and Cons

"The most valuable feature is the ease of use for the end user."

"It can be difficult for users who are inexperienced with the solution."

What is our primary use case?

We have a hyper requirement to maintain logs of access and changes, so this solution logs everything.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the ease of use for the end user.

What needs improvement?

It can be difficult for users who are inexperienced with the solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

How is customer service and technical support?

It is managed by our tech support team that is in-house, so we do not need their tech support help.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to users of this solution is to make sure that you know what it is you are looking for, and what it is you are trying to log. Otherwise, it will be difficult to manage.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Jeffrey Robinette

System Engineer at a government with 51-200 employees

Oct 25, 2017

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Allows us to monitor access and pull cyber reports quickly. No more searching through logs on each server.

Pros and Cons

"The out of the box reports and dashboard. It was easy to trim down these windows to something we could quickly use."
"The pricing was low, around 30K so ROI is less than one year."

"I imagine we will have to develop our own reports soon, this seems to be more cumbersome."

What is most valuable?

The out of the box reports and dashboard. It was easy to trim down these windows to something we could quickly use.

How has it helped my organization?

It allows us to monitor access and pull cyber reports quickly. No more searching through logs on each server. There was not much customization, which we had to do with Splunk.

What needs improvement?

I imagine we will have to develop our own reports soon, this seems to be more cumbersome.

For how long have I used the solution?

For five months now.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Not really.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Not yet.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Not yet.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Good. There can be lag times on responses.

Technical Support:

Eight on a scale of 10.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Splunk. The pricing was too high and you need a PhD on customizing the reports.

How was the initial setup?

Setup was straightforward. We were able to use the default reports and window displays.

What about the implementation team?

We did it ourselves.

What was our ROI?

The pricing was low, around 30K so ROI is less than one year. Splunk was elevating into the 100K arena.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Licensing is on devices, so if you have many, then this may be high. The storage can be an issue as well, we already had a SAN setup, but this is true for any SIEM.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Splunk and Oracle Audit Vault. We almost picked Oracle, because it pulls in the databases in a quick manner.

What other advice do I have?

Don't over think the situation. We went with the one which had a better user presentation because we have managers using it as well. Splunk is nicer if you have a bunch of technical people wanting to play with it.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Alireza GhahroodConsultant & Instructor -Cyber Security,GovernanceRIskCompliance (CISO as a Services) at a consultancy with 51-200 employees

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Jul 14, 2018

SolarWinds Log and Event Manager offers the core SIEM capabilities supported by nearly every SIEM, and in addition, the product also supports enhanced file and registry integrity monitoring to generate additional security log entries for endpoints. No other advanced security capabilities are available from SolarWinds Log and Event Manager.

Reporting capabilities
Robust built-in reporting capabilities are offered by SolarWinds SIEM product, including over 300 reporting templates. These templates address the requirements of many security compliance initiatives, including the following:

Federal Information Security Management Act of 2014
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission 27001/27002, Information Security Management
North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
Sarbanes-Oxley Act

it_user313953

IT Manager at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Sep 17, 2015

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Its alerting feature enabled us to fix issues before logging a call with the helpdesk.

Pros and Cons

"We were suffering from a lack of visibility into our logs, so we implemented SolarWinds LEM."

"The solution was a little slow when running some larger queries."

How has it helped my organization?

We were suffering from a lack of visibility into our logs, so we implemented SolarWinds LEM. After building a few rules and alerts, we were notified when events happened before our end users notified us. Many times we were able to fix an issue before a call to the helpdesk was made.

What is most valuable?

Alerting
Searching

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution was a little slow when running some larger queries. After upgrading our SAN many of the problems disappeared.

How are customer service and technical support?

Tech support was always on top of things. I usually got a response within a couple hours of opening a ticket and once on the phone, they took time to answer my questions.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We needed a product but didn’t have one. We found it when it was still Trigeo, and followed it to SolarWinds.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very easy to start getting logs to the solution. It took some time to understand what data to get and what was important.

What about the implementation team?

We did the implementation. My advice, understand what you want in the system and after letting it collect some data, swing back and make sure you have everything setup that you need. Give it some time, and learn it to get the most use out of it.

What other advice do I have?

It’s a great product, but like other SIEM software solutions, you only get out what you put into it.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user121770

Manager of Information Technology with 51-200 employees

Jun 5, 2014

We selected SolarWinds for 24/7 monitoring, forensic trail of unauthorized activity and security at the endpoint.

We needed a solution that could monitor and respond to all of our network and user activity, down to each endpoint, while providing auditors with granular and customizable reports and ensuring forensic traceability in the event of a breach or policy violation.

We stumbled upon a couple of challenges known to other small to mid-sized enterprises:

Outsourced log management was too expensive and incredibly risky. Our network data is too valuable to share with another company. Our members trust us to keep all sensitive data in house.
Enterprise-grade SIEM solutions are priced for large companies and thus stretched well beyond our IT budget. Additionally, all that money didn’t buy real-time analysis and blocking capabilities, which were the most important proactive defense to stop emerging attacks. Enterprise tools watch, aggregate data, and report, but they don’t take action. We needed more advanced solutions to provide comprehensive network management capabilities in real time.

We selected SolarWinds LEM for four specific reasons:

Right-sized for smaller budgets: The solution’s architecture and pricing are tailored to smaller companies. The appliance-based technology is plug-and-play, meaning that implementation takes hours, not weeks or months. And the cost starts at $20,000 – a fraction of competitors’ prices.
24/7 monitoring: SolarWinds LEM monitors all network activity – even when no one is watching – and stops policy violations and network and data breaches in real time, notifying network administrators of threats instantly via email, pager, and/or cell phone. I’ll even know if the cleaning crew or security guard is trying to log on after hours.
Outing the insider: SolarWinds LEM provides a forensic trail of user activities. It identifies insider policy breaches instantly – including unauthorized USB flash drive insertions and downloads – and stops violators in their tracks while notifying network managers.
Security at the end point: SolarWinds LEM’s solution controls policies from servers to endpoints, giving us the ability to shut down any system or user group across our seven branches in the event of threat detection. This granular control prevents fast-moving worms from spreading, quarantining at-risk systems before they can compromise member data.

With SolarWinds LEM, we’re exposing potential threats and preventing them from damaging our business. In one case, SolarWinds LEM instantly red-flagged multiple, simultaneous log-on failures. We examined the attempted user names, passwords, and incoming IP addresses, and quickly recognized that a bot was attempting to hack into our network. With the evidence provided by SolarWinds LEM, we contacted the hacker’s Internet service provider and shut them down.

SolarWinds LEM is a natural extension of our network. In reality, we consider the SolarWinds LEM appliance to be our fourth IT employee.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.