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Broadcom DX Application Performance Management vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Broadcom DX Application Per...
Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
31st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
162
Ranking in other categories
Container Monitoring (8th)
SolarWinds Server and Appli...
Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
20th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.0
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Server Monitoring (10th), Active Directory Management (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of Broadcom DX Application Performance Management is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is 1.6%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
 

Featured Reviews

Marco Aurelio - PeerSpot reviewer
Simple setup, light on resources, but lacking compatibility with applications
We are currently in the process of evaluating other options for APM. We are looking at Cisco and Dynatrace. We are also considering replacing our CA solution for server and network monitoring with Zabbix. We have two large licenses but they are old and we are planning to move to the cloud. The new version of Broadcom DX Application Performance Management does not yet have a cloud option, but we did receive an offer for upgrading to a SaaS solution. However, it still does not have support for OpenShift 4 because it uses agents installed within the image. As we are migrating to OpenShift 4, this solution will not work for us. Our purchasing process is public, as a public government bank, and it is published in the journal, and Broadcom probably saw that they did not have a solution for our requirements because of the use of agents inside the image. 10 technicians can handle the maintenance of the solution. This covers the needs of a financial institution that needs support 24 hours a day. I would recommend Broadcom DX Application Performance Management for small to medium infrastructures. It is very scalable and stable. Additionally, the suite has good integration with the CA help desk system, which makes it more efficient for resolving issues. One advantage of Broadcom's solution is that it is fully integrated, unlike other solutions, such as Dynatrace APM which require linking to a separate ticketing software. This solution is a good option to have a fully integrated suite. I do not view the limitation with OpenShift 4 as a problem with Broadcom, as it is specific to our environment. If you use other containerization methods, such as OpenShift 3 or others, this issue would not be present. The cost of training is also relatively low when compared to other solutions like Cisco's support. It is less expensive to certify your personnel with Broadcom. Other solutions that are well-positioned in Gartner's Quadrant, such as Dynatrace, tend to be more expensive in terms of training. Broadcom is not well-positioned in Gartner's Quadrant for APM solutions, as it works as a suite and not as a specialized APM solution. Solutions, such as Dynatrace, on the other hand, are specifically for APM and are well-positioned in Gartner's Quadrant as recommended solutions to buy. Broadcom is ranked relatively low in Gartner's grading. I rate Broadcom DX Application Performance Management a seven out of ten. The version we are currently using of Broadcom DX Application Performance Management is not very recent, and even the newer versions don't have as advanced features as other solutions, particularly in terms of APM and cloud capabilities. However, I still consider it a good grade, not a bad one, because the solution is very stable and has good scalability.
Subhajit Nag - PeerSpot reviewer
The component and cable monitoring features are good, but the interface is slow
SolarWinds' interface is slow, and this is a global concern. Every SolarWinds user complains about the sluggishness. The response is slow. If you browse from one page to another, you have to wait. Our company is a massive user with plenty of licenses, so the performance issues could be due to the load per license. Ten thousand components can be mapped under one license. So SolarWinds needs to take care of the speed problem. It cannot be this slow. That is a huge complaint. Otherwise, the tool is good. It should also be easier to upgrade SolarWinds. AppDynamics is harder to deploy but easier to upgrade. So AppDynamics takes a lot of time and effort to install, but you can upgrade it in minutes. SolarWinds is the opposite. It's easy to deploy, but upgrades take forever. To date, nobody can complete it on time, so the production environment is sitting idle. The upgrade time matters because you only install the solution once, but you'll need to upgrade the solution repeatedly over the life of the product. A complex installation isn't an issue, but I mind if the upgrade takes too long because it's already in production.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Users no longer need to depend upon the console for a compatible Java version. Now, users can directly learn the version, perform all their actions, and see all of those performance-related issues."
"Gives us the ability to know how our application is performing in real-time."
"I like that it gives you a wide range of data where you can see the application outage response from concurrent locations and the number of stalled jobs."
"Scalable, stable, and easy to deploy APM tool which effectively monitors code-level visibility."
"Stability is one of the strongest attributes of CA APM. It is very stable on all platforms."
"For the most part, we run constantly without any issue at this point because of APM.​"
"The time it takes to track problems in applications is the most valuable return that we have from this solution."
"The way these tools show the information is very useful. this is a tool that records information from Java and .NET applications, and obtain information about how many times an method has been call in a period of time (usually 30 sec), how many times respond in this span of time or is delayed or stall."
"It is simple to implement and can provide fairly decent Windows-based monitoring, beyond simple SNMP. It is great for monitoring newbies and smaller shops."
"SolarWinds is a very stable platform compared to others on the market."
"SolarWinds SAM has provided us with dynamic thresholds based on historical trends and requirements. The threshold gets configured automatically, so it's no longer necessary to configure it manually every time."
"Manage Groups: The capability to group appropriate devices gives better visibility of sites, categories, or critical regions. The same can be used to represent a dashboard for higher management."
"Hardware health: It allows for proactive monitoring of the hardware health and is a game changer."
"The solution is great for monitoring. If something is going wrong, we can immediately find the root cause."
"AppInsight for SQL: Enables us to see the relevant error log entries on the same page as performance parameters."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is its powerful monitoring capabilities."
 

Cons

"Documentation needs to be centralized."
"The reports are a key part of APM in my vision because it is through them that we manage to generate the evidence to direct the development team and operational support to address. However, we can not extract the information of the tool through reports. We have needed several times to use screen print screen, CTRL + C and CTRL + V."
"I think as we're all moving forward to automated deployments, it'd be nice to have that out-of-the-box with this product."
"Its profiling. The uniqueness instead of me looking at sampling data, I need to know the m-1 event that actually triggered my scenario where that m event caused a catastrophic event, like a ripple effect; I need to know that m-1. What triggered my major event means I need to understand the event that triggered it and before the cause of that event itself."
"The following need improvement: 1) Integration of third-party content into app maps (e.g. data coming from beats/elastic platform). 2) Support of new application server technologies, time to adopt new versions of them. 3) Dashboarding capabilities (as with all other vendors). 4) Application architecture of the central Enterprise Manager should be developed into a cloud native architecture. 5) Mitigation of SPOF – PostgreSQL database, behind Team Center."
"User Experience is a BIG one. Integration of all of APM components into one swift deployment."
"The integration with CA Spectrum is quite difficult to create, and it is also only one way, only being used to view alarms coming from CA APM."
"CEM needs to be simplified, because it causes too many interruptions in our daily work."
"The major concern in the product revolves around application performance monitoring since end-to-end application monitoring is not possible with the tool."
"Currently SolarWinds SAM offers AppInsight for modern versions of: IIS, Exchange, SQL Server. They have shown to be powerful and insightful tools. However, AppInsight needs to be offered for more applications: Citrix, SharePoint, AX, etc."
"An additional feature that would improve this solution is the ability to complete root cause analysis."
"One product area that could benefit from improvement is the synchronization of licensing periods across different modules"
"Support for the IBM Mainframe is needed."
"The setup was complex. We had local support to assist us."
"The tool's AppStack needs to improve in the storage monitoring part. It should also include an analytics and recommendation approach. If I have found a fault in a server or application, I would like to know what caused it and how do I recover from it."
"I would like to see support for non-Windows or non-Microsoft domains, especially Apache and other non-Windows servers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"All discounts are case by case to accommodate the client's budgets."
"Negotiate a lot, but do not forget to buy the product because it is worth it."
"Althougth it is a bit expensive, it is really worth it"
"The pricing structure should be based on memory or CPU usage rather than the number of agents, as it makes the solution more expensive for us."
"Depends on the size of the product you need."
"Dynatrace is the most expensive of these tools followed by AppDynamics which is "medium-expensive." CA APM is a bit lower in price than either Dynatrace or AppDynanics... In my opinion, if you can afford it, go for AppDynamics instead of CA APM."
"Pricing and licensing are not issues."
"There is some research needed to determine licensing costs, based on the number of DataPower instances for the Nastel agent, for example."
"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. It is just the standard price, but it can vary depending on the current rate of the dollar."
"We pay around $ 2,000 to $ 5,000 yearly for the solution."
"Understanding the counts of objects to monitor will determine the licensing need. In terms of pricing, it’s not cheap but it’s not expensive as larger vendors whose products don’t have all the features or integrations."
"I would advise potential buyers to wait until the end of the quarter, end of year, or other time to place orders. There are actually great deals to be had at those times if your budget cycle can match up."
"I have always said SolarWinds is very “proud” of their products, meaning they are expensive. I cannot afford to purchase all the licenses I need for all the SolarWinds products."
"Pricing and licensing is fair for what you get. It does have a great bang-for-the-buck appeal."
"When planning for the number of licenses to purchase, make sure you understand all of the elements within an application required to really understand performance well. In our case, we quickly came to the conclusion that an unlimited license for SAM was the way to go."
"We are on an annual license to use the solution. The price of the solution is expensive. The price is based on a bunch of factors, such as the number of engines and elements."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
Educational Organization
35%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Broadcom DX Application Performance Management?
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...there is a very easy way to deal with it by adding more servers to the application.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Broadcom DX Application Performance Management?
The initial pricing is reasonable and competitive compared to other solutions. The challenge arises during annual renewals, as the price increase can be significant, around twenty percent or more, ...
What needs improvement with Broadcom DX Application Performance Management?
The first area for improvement is the discovery feature, which should be enhanced to collect comprehensive information from applications and services. This includes using agents or scripts to gathe...
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?
There are no specific features or functionality I would like to see improved or enhanced in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor at this time. I have not encountered any missing features or fu...
 

Also Known As

DX APM, CA APM, CA NetQoS Performance Center, Wily Introscope, CA Wily APM, CA App Experience Analytics, CA AXA
SolarWinds SAM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Lexmark, Intermountain Healthcare, National Australia Bank, BBVA Compass Bank, Innovapost, Dansk Supermarked Group, U.S. Cellular, Orange, Cetip
Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite
Find out what your peers are saying about Broadcom DX Application Performance Management vs. SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.