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Fortinet FortiSIEM vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 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

Fortinet FortiSIEM
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
7th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds Security Event M...
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
24th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSIEM is 3.3%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is 0.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiSIEM3.3%
SolarWinds Security Event Manager0.7%
Other96.0%
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

Oliver Jackson - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems monitoring enhanced by firewall and intrusion detection features
My primary use case for Fortinet FortiSIEM is systems monitoring and alerting. I use it for standard functions like log monitoring, incident detection, and notification.  My customers are mostly medium-sized enterprises ranging from engineering companies, mining companies, independent schools, and…
Yashokanth Partkunan - PeerSpot reviewer
Has supported client needs efficiently but requires deeper analysis features and faster support
The log analyzing capability of SolarWinds Security Event Manager should go into more depth than the current environment. More modification and enhancements are required on the dashboard side in order to make it closer to optimal performance. From observation and feedback from users, they need more functionality related to monitoring, and in-depth analyzing needs to be improved.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Fortinet FortiSIEM is highly scalable. I would rate its scalability nine out of ten."
"The most valuable feature is auto-discovery. When you send logs from any device to port 514, it helps register those devices automatically."
"The ability to write my own parsers for the devices that are not supported by Fortinet is the most valuable feature."
"Its automated response feature has benefited our customer communication. Analysts feel more confident in providing timely responses."
"Fortinet FortiSIEM is less costly than other products and is available 24/7."
"It provides extensive logging and record-keeping for internal networks, cloud applications, and services as well as perimeter physical network security."
"Some of our customers who use this solution have seen improvement in their connection with load balancing on both connections."
"It's a very nice solution to work with."
"The most valuable feature is the reporting."
"It's extremely easy to deploy."
"The graphical user interface is very user-friendly. SolarWinds is a hybrid solution so you can use it across many platforms."
"The solution helps you monitor database instances, application instances, other customer application things, Linux servers, IBM servers, and Oracle servers."
"It performs network behavior monitoring, log monitoring, and disaster recovery monitoring."
"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."
"It's easy to build rules and actions based on the logs and event types we collect with the software."
"SolarWinds Security Event Manager has been generally working well."
 

Cons

"The dashboards need to be improved. It gives you so much detail, but sometimes too much detail, especially to an executive, it's too much."
"We need to see incident reports about the event log, without events from the administrator or through human interaction."
"They could work on their documentation. If there's anything about the solution that needs improvement, it's that. For example, documentation already is on a very high level but specifically on the CLI there are tons of features which can be fine-tuned and thousands of commands are very difficult to document. If they could make this easier, it would improve the overall solution."
"There could be improvements like introducing some solutions directly into FortiSIEM to avoid the need for separately purchasing additional tools like FortiStore."
"The support of the product changed recently, and I don't think it's for the better. They should work to improve the support they offer to clients."
"When our team tried configuring logs for Microsoft SQL, it did not work."
"Their product support, in general, is not that great. The product support is in the same ecosystem. Their support is improving but it's not that great.vvv"
"It's difficult to integrate unsupported devices with FortiSIEM compared to QRadar. It's easier to integrate and develop processes in QRadar. It's harder to develop a custom process in FortiSIEM."
"The only issue is the pricetag. SolarWinds is a costly solution."
"The product should improve the ease with which you can create event alerts. They are not as hard now but you need to have an easier way."
"Training for this solution needs to be improved, as new employees are sometimes unfamiliar with the product."
"It is a very technical program. They can simplify it so that it isn't so hard to deal with."
"The company had to use a third party for the implementation of the solution."
"One of the drawbacks of being so flexible is that it is also a fairly complicated software application to install, configure, and maintain."
"I imagine we will have to develop our own reports soon, this seems to be more cumbersome."
"It can be difficult for users who are inexperienced with the solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is available for both, perpetual and subscription licenses."
"There are additional features that cost more than the standard licensing fees."
"Please be cheaper and more simplified."
"Fortinet FortiSIEM is very cost-efficient compared to other SIEM solutions."
"The price of Fortinet FortiSIEM is a lot less when compared to other solutions."
"Fortinet FortiSIEM is cheaper compared to other products."
"There is a need to make yearly payments towards the licensing charges attached to the product. The free version license of the product is available for two months."
"This is probably more on the lower cost end of the spectrum compared to competing products. Fortinet's license model is based on events per second, which makes sense, but that's not typical. It makes it very hard to calculate what your costs are going to be as you scale the platform because some log sources, such as firewall logs, are very noisy, and there are lots and lots of events per second, but some of them are not. So, it becomes a bit of a science experiment trying to guess what your costs are going to be as you scale the solution. This is where other competing products perhaps have a more straightforward license model."
"Licensing is on devices, so if you have many, then this may be high."
"We do a yearly license renewal. For a year, the solution costs roughly $500,000 USD. There are no costs beyond this yearly fee."
"It is in the appropriate mid-range. It is not as expensive as some of the other solutions. It is also not cheap."
"The price of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is reasonable."
"Licenses can only be purchased in blocks of fifty at a time."
"The tool is available at a good price for customers compared to other solutions in the market. I rate the product's price as an eight out of ten."
"The pricing model would benefit from having package deals with other SolarWinds products."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Government
7%
University
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise23
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiSIEM?
Fortinet FortiSIEM needs to provide better API integrations to users.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiSIEM?
I am not familiar with the price and cost of Fortinet FortiSIEM. I cannot tell you if it is high, expensive, or low. However, I can say that it is cost-effective as it provides everything needed.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiSIEM?
Regarding Fortinet FortiSIEM, I cannot identify any specific areas for improvement because I can find everything I need. For the time being, I cannot find a real point for improvement. Everything i...
What do you like most about SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?
The solution helps you monitor database instances, application instances, other customer application things, Linux servers, IBM servers, and Oracle servers.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?
The tool is available at a good price for customers compared to other solutions in the market. I rate the product's price as an eight out of ten.
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?
I think the customization area in the tool can be considered as an area of concern where improvements are required In the future, I want to see the tool have better customization abilities with som...
 

Also Known As

FortiSIEM, AccelOps
SolarWinds LEM, Solarwinds SIEM, TriGeo, Log and Event Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

FortiSIEM has hundreds of customers worldwide in markets including managed services, technology, financial services, healthcare, and government. Customers include Aruba Networks, Compushare, Port of San Diego, Cleveland Indians, Infoblox, Healthways, and Referentia.
NetSuite, EasyStreet, Legacy Texas Bank, and Energy Federal Credit Union, to name a few.
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiSIEM vs. SolarWinds Security Event Manager and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.