SCOM and PRTG Network Monitor are both strong contenders in the network monitoring category. PRTG seems to have the upper hand due to its rapid deployment, cost-effectiveness, and ease of use.
Features: SCOM is ideal for Microsoft application monitoring, offering powerful reporting tools and robust integration with Microsoft products. It has a wide range of management packs, enabling diverse monitoring tasks. PRTG, on the other hand, offers an intuitive setup process with rapid deployment. It provides an extensive array of built-in sensors for comprehensive network monitoring and has a simpler licensing model.
Room for Improvement: SCOM users often cite high licensing costs and the complexity of configuration as major drawbacks. There is a need for better non-Microsoft product monitoring and more intuitive dashboards. PRTG could benefit from a broader sensor library and improved graphical interfaces to enhance user experience. Its application monitoring and reporting capabilities also have room for advancement.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SCOM is primarily deployed on-premises, which complements Microsoft infrastructures but can present configuration challenges. Customer service quality is often dependent on Microsoft's support agreements. In contrast, PRTG offers flexible deployment options, including on-premises and hybrid cloud, and is praised for its straightforward installation process and adaptability to infrastructure changes. However, its customer support could be improved.
Pricing and ROI: SCOM is part of the System Center Suite and is generally bundled in enterprise agreements, though it is considered expensive when separately acquired. Its ROI is viewed favorably in enterprise settings for its extensive capabilities. PRTG is noted for its reasonable pricing and the value it offers through a complete package of features. Costs can climb with larger deployments, but it delivers good ROI for simpler environments with its lower initial cost.
It provides accurate data for utilization, allowing us to monitor and optimize our investments in WAN connection capacity.
After introducing PRTG Network Monitor, we have saved time, and it's easy for everybody to monitor everything.
I have seen a return on investment with PRTG Network Monitor as it has saved a lot of time, and its monitoring has reduced manpower requirements, which has been helpful.
The setup process is well-documented, making it easy to deploy.
Tutorials are available so I can manage any issue with PRTG Network Monitor easily.
We are getting solutions on time, and they are very helpful.
They often treat issues in isolation, not considering how one problem might relate to another.
When I was working directly with Microsoft at TCS, my first company, the support experience was quite smooth, and we received solutions promptly.
On a scale of one to ten, scalability is rated as 9.5.
PRTG Network Monitor has the ability to scale and add new devices.
You can install them in each network, even if they are not connected, and it works.
The scalability of SCOM, meaning its ability to adapt to our needs, is excellent because we are working with SQL systems and multiple servers.
We haven't needed vendor support for the last three years, which demonstrates the product's stability.
I have not seen many errors or frequent data loss because once we have installed the agent on the system and have the details, not much manual intervention is required.
SCOM is a bit unstable lately, primarily due to a lack of resources.
They need to improve application performance monitoring, error tracing mechanisms, and log management.
PRTG Network Monitor should provide syslog monitoring since it is not available at this time.
PRTG Network Monitor can sometimes be too detailed and cluttered at the beginning, making it heavy to use.
I would like to see a software-as-a-service version in Azure to eliminate the need for on-premise infrastructure.
SCOM is likely to be phased out in favor of more compatible tools like Icinga for application monitoring or when moving to cloud solutions like CloudWatch and Azure.
It would be beneficial to have a summary on one single dashboard, as there are many more possibilities available.
Pricing is by the number of devices, not by sensor.
The prices are very high for PRTG Network Monitor.
It's not too high, nor too low, but it's reasonable.
PRTG Network Monitor already provided me with 100 free sensors, which is enough for my network monitoring.
PRTG Network Monitor has a good dashboard that shows each and every piece of information, so we can easily find out what is happening with the systems.
These reports help me in my day-to-day work, and I rely on them because they provide proof during escalation, with exact downtime logs and related information.
It assists me in detecting server downtime and delivers basic performance monitoring right out of the box.
The most valuable feature of SCOM is its monitoring capability, and we have integrated SCOM with Grafana, which is a dashboarding tool.
SCOM integrates several systems and offers correlation features, like setting up everything around Active Directory or DNS.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| PRTG Network Monitor | 4.1% |
| SCOM | 1.7% |
| Other | 94.2% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 56 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 18 |
| Large Enterprise | 40 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 16 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 22 |
| Large Enterprise | 54 |
PRTG Network Monitor runs on a Windows machine within your network, collecting various statistics from the machines, software, and devices which you designate. PRTG comes with an easy-to-use web interface with point-and-click configuration. You can easily share data from it with non-technical colleagues and customers, including via live graphs and custom reports. This will let you plan for network expansion, see what applications are using most of your connection, and make sure that no one is hogging the entire network just to torrent videos.
To monitor a large IT environment, it's important to be able to scale PRTG up. Paessler PRTG Enterprise Monitor includes all the proven capabilities of PRTG Network Monitor, which are enhanced by exclusive ITOps Board for a service-oriented, central overview of multiple PRTG servers.
SCOM (System Center Operations Manager) is a cross-platform data center monitoring and reporting tool that checks the status of various objects defined within the environment, such as server hardware, system services, etc. The solution allows data center administrators to deploy, configure, manage, and monitor the operations, services, devices and applications of multiple enterprise IT systems via a single pane of glass. It is suitable for businesses of all sizes.
SCOM Features
SCOM has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:
SCOM Benefits
There are several benefits to implementing SCOM. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:
Reviews from Real Users
Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the SCOM solution.
A Manager at a financial services firm says, “The feature I like most about SCOM is that it is easy-to-use. I find it very user-friendly. I also like the knowledge base which it has. You can find the resolution to questions or issues directly within the SCOM itself. It will alert you with a recommendation of what you need to do at the same time. This sort of self-diagnosis or prompting is one of the great values you get from SCOM compared to other solutions.”
PeerSpot user Zahari Z., Information Technology Auditor at a financial services firm, mentions, “Availability monitoring is the feature I have found most valuable, as well as the capacity and ability to send notifications. There is a mechanism to set up a notification from the SCOM and whenever there is a drop in the availability the notification alerts not only for availability but for other issues as well. You can align thresholds according to the speed of your environment and you can have a threshold related notification, which is one of the useful features.”
Bill W., Sr. Systems Engineer at Arapahoe County Government, comments, “ I like some of their newer features, such as maintenance schedules, because SCOM records SLA and SLO time. When we patch, things are automatically put into maintenance mode so that the numbers for our systems being down, do not count against us.”
A Project Manager at a tech services company explains, “The feature I have found most valuable is the book feature. While we run the Sprint one we can add some setups for multiple sprints.”
A Systems Engineer at an educational organization states, “Because it's Windows-based, it actually reports quite well. It reports everything you can think of on the Windows server and allows you to monitor anything. It's excellent for those in the Windows world as it's very good at it.”
We monitor all Network Monitoring Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
