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Microsoft System Center VS SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

Compare Microsoft System Center VS SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor and see what are their differences

Microsoft System Center logo Microsoft System Center

Microsoft System Center provides solutions to simplify the deployment, configuration, management, and monitoring of the infrastructure.

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor logo SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor provides deep visibility into health, availability and performance of enterprise applications and multi-vendor servers.
  • Microsoft System Center Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-01
  • SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-05

Microsoft System Center features and specs

  • Comprehensive Management Suite
    System Center provides a wide range of tools and capabilities for managing data centers, client devices, and hybrid cloud environments in a cohesive manner.
  • Integration with Microsoft Technologies
    Seamless integration with other Microsoft products such as Windows Server, Microsoft Azure, and Office 365, making it simple to manage a Microsoft-centric environment.
  • Automation and Orchestration
    Offers powerful automation capabilities through System Center Orchestrator and Service Management Automation, helping to streamline repetitive tasks and improve efficiency.
  • Robust Monitoring
    System Center Operations Manager provides extensive monitoring capabilities for both physical and virtual environments, enabling proactive identification and resolution of issues.
  • Scalability
    Can scale to manage large enterprise environments, making it suitable for organizations of various sizes.

Possible disadvantages of Microsoft System Center

  • Complexity
    The suite's breadth and depth can make it complex to deploy and configure, requiring significant expertise and time to fully implement.
  • High Cost
    Licensing for System Center can be expensive, which might be a barrier for small to medium-sized businesses.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its comprehensive nature, there is a steep learning curve for IT staff to become proficient in using all of the tools effectively.
  • Dependency on Microsoft Ecosystem
    While integration with Microsoft products is a strength, it can also be a limitation for organizations with diverse, multi-vendor environments.
  • Resource Intensive
    System Center can be resource-intensive, requiring significant hardware and infrastructure investment to run effectively.

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor features and specs

  • Comprehensive Monitoring
    SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) provides extensive monitoring capabilities for servers, virtual machines, and web applications, allowing for a holistic view of your infrastructure.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The platform features an intuitive dashboard and user interface, making it accessible for users with various levels of technical expertise.
  • Customization
    SAM allows for high levels of customization, enabling users to tailor monitoring and alerts to their specific needs and preferences.
  • Scalability
    The tool scales easily with growing business needs, supporting everything from small environments to large enterprise infrastructures.
  • Integration Capabilities
    SolarWinds SAM can integrate with other SolarWinds products as well as third-party tools, providing a more unified monitoring solution.

Possible disadvantages of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

  • Cost
    SolarWinds SAM is a high-end monitoring solution with a pricing structure that can be expensive, especially for small to mid-sized businesses.
  • Resource Intensive
    The solution can be resource-intensive, potentially requiring significant server resources to run effectively, which may impact overall system performance.
  • Complexity
    Despite its user-friendly interface, the depth and breadth of features may be overwhelming for novice users, requiring a steep learning curve.
  • Maintenance
    Regular maintenance and updates may be needed to keep the system running smoothly, requiring continuous attention from IT staff.
  • Alert Noise
    The default alerting system can produce a high volume of notifications, which may lead to 'alert fatigue' unless fine-tuned meticulously.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Microsoft System Center and SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor)
Monitoring Tools
77 77%
23% 23
Log Management
71 71%
29% 29
Performance Monitoring
81 81%
19% 19
Testing
67 67%
33% 33

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Microsoft System Center and SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

Microsoft System Center Reviews

11 NetBox Alternatives
Microsoft System Center is an amazing application that offers you to have full control over your IT and simplifies your data center management with the help of its great features and tools. It provides its users with several features including management of your infrastructure, monitoring your IT, configuration, deployment, and hundreds of other features that are proved to...

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Reviews

HWMonitor Review & Alternatives for 2023
HWMonitor is a versatile tool in its own right but if you’re looking for something different or more modern, SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor, Paessler PRTG Network Monitor, and HWiNFO stand in as great alternatives. If you have the budget then SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor offers a full-featured hardware monitoring experience that is easy to configure.
Active Directory Monitoring Tools & Software for Enterprise AD Management!
As a long-time user of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM), I can vouch for its efficacy with monitoring Active Directory environments. This is not necessarily your one-stop-shop for Active Directory monitoring, but in many cases you’d be surprised with the robust capabilities.
15 Best IT Monitoring Tools and Software
SolarWinds SAM is functional for both Windows and Linux and can monitor applications and servers both on-prem and in the cloud.
Source: blog.inedo.com

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Microsoft System Center and SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor, you can also consider the following products

Zabbix - Track, record, alert and visualize performance and availability of IT resources

Dynatrace - Cloud-based quality testing, performance monitoring and analytics for mobile apps and websites. Get started with Keynote today!

Datadog - See metrics from all of your apps, tools & services in one place with Datadog's cloud monitoring as a service solution. Try it for free.

Splunk Enterprise - Splunk Enteprise is the fastest way to aggregate, analyze and get answers from your machine data with the help machine learning and real-time visibility.

ManageEngine RecoveryManager Plus - RecoveryManager Plus is one such enterprise backup solution which has the ability to easily backup and restores both the domain controllers and virtual machines.

Now Platform - Get native platform intelligence, so you can predict, prioritize, and proactively manage the work that matters most with the NOW Platform from ServiceNow.