What is our primary use case?
I work for a managed service provider, so I have different clients that require help in assessing various tools. I work with Splunk, ScienceLogic, and Nagios most frequently because I have small clients as well.
We have Splunk Observability Cloud for some customers. The dashboards are good, and everything is nice, but unfortunately, it doesn't have long-term storage of the logs. So you need to use a data lake to store the logs.
I would like to see agentless deployment and better integration with ticketing systems like ServiceNow, which is the biggest.
We utilize the ability to enrich data with custom metrics in Splunk Observability Cloud to create tickets in ServiceNow. It is integrated with ServiceNow, but we enrich the tickets by putting the logs in the tickets and things of that nature, so it helps us. However, even that is a mixed approach. From Splunk Observability Cloud, you cannot put the logs directly in the tickets. Instead, it will create a ticket and send you an email with the logs. That integration could be improved.
What is most valuable?
Splunk Observability Cloud has helped me improve my operational performance and my customer's operational performance because we use alerting, so we find when things are not working.
I think it is very good for evaluating the effectiveness of Splunk Observability Cloud in improving digital resilience within my customer's environment.
It does provide some return on investment. It is beneficial in terms of finance to use it.
The dashboards in Splunk Observability Cloud are amazing. If you configure them correctly, they are amazing, and it is quite fast as well.
That is a very good feature of Splunk Observability Cloud because it helps us and it gives more trust in the alerts.
What needs improvement?
There are not complexities with the installation of Splunk Observability Cloud, but with the configuration of alerts and everything because Splunk has its own language in the background. You need to know Splunk in order to configure everything that you want.
It requires some in-depth knowledge of the product. It should be more plug-and-play, similar to ScienceLogic. ScienceLogic uses whatever it finds. You can use PowerShell, you can use scripts that you make. Splunk is more on the old style. It uses agents, and you have to deploy the agents.
The out-of-the-box customizable dashboards provided by Splunk are okay, but usually, I have to create new dashboards because every user wants to see something else. The out-of-the-box dashboards help to get started faster, but in the end, I will have to redo them.
I would like to see agentless deployment and better integration with ticketing systems such as ServiceNow, which is the biggest.
We utilize the ability to enrich data with custom metrics in Splunk Observability Cloud to create tickets in ServiceNow. It is integrated with ServiceNow, but we enrich the tickets by putting the logs in the tickets and things of that nature, so it helps us. However, even that is a mixed approach. From Splunk Observability Cloud, you cannot put the logs directly in the tickets. Instead, it will create a ticket and send you an email with the logs. That integration could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Splunk Observability Cloud for about two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I cannot speak to lowering the cost of unplanned digital downtime using Splunk Observability Cloud because the client will get the bills. However, it reduces the downtime for systems. It improved visibility when you do changes and you do patching and you do emergency changes, so you can see if they were applied correctly or not, if the servers are still down.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
If it is a new deployment and you have a medium client with about 2,000 users or computers or servers, it will take about six months just to install and configure.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is very good with Splunk.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I worked with ScienceLogic before actually working with Splunk.
How was the initial setup?
There are not complexities with the installation of Splunk Observability Cloud, but with the configuration of alerts and everything because Splunk has its own language in the background. You need to know Splunk in order to configure everything that you want.
What about the implementation team?
I do not spend any time personally because I have a team that does it. I have 27 people in my team.
What was our ROI?
It does provide some return on investment. It is beneficial in terms of finance to use it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I think the pricing for Splunk Observability Cloud is still at a good price. If you are looking at Dynatrace, it is way higher.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I am familiar with the Dynatrace operator but I am not actually working with them. I am just looking into differences and tooling and what will benefit my clients better.
What other advice do I have?
You need to know Splunk in order to configure everything that you want.
The out-of-the-box customizable dashboards provided by Splunk are okay, but usually, I have to create new dashboards because every user wants to see something else. The out-of-the-box dashboards help to get started faster, but in the end, I will have to redo them.
We utilize the ability to enrich data with custom metrics in Splunk Observability Cloud to create tickets in ServiceNow. It is integrated with ServiceNow, but we enrich the tickets by putting the logs in the tickets and things of that nature, so it helps us. However, even that is a mixed approach. From Splunk Observability Cloud, you cannot put the logs directly in the tickets. Instead, it will create a ticket and send you an email with the logs. That integration could be improved.
I would rate this product an 8 overall.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator