SCOM vs Zenoss Cloud comparison

Microsoft and Zenoss are both solutions in the Event Monitoring category. Microsoft is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.2, while Zenoss is ranked #13. Microsoft holds a 9.9% mindshare in EM, compared to Zenoss’s 5.0% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Zenoss users who would recommend it.

SCOM

Read 83 SCOM reviews

9,597 Views
1,631 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

Zenoss Cloud

Read 8 Zenoss Cloud reviews

5,134 Views
565 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

SCOM

Zenoss Cloud

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Zenoss Cloud and SCOM compete in IT infrastructure monitoring and management. Zenoss Cloud stands out for its cloud flexibility, whereas SCOM has an advantage with its integration within the Microsoft ecosystem.

Features: Zenoss Cloud includes real-time analytics, hybrid IT monitoring, and advanced event management, ensuring comprehensive visibility. SCOM supports full integration with Windows servers and Microsoft products, enhancing system alignment. Zenoss Cloud focuses on scalability and cloud handling, while SCOM's strength lies in its detailed Microsoft compatibility.

Room for Improvement: Zenoss Cloud could improve by enhancing support for non-cloud environments, reducing dependency on cloud infrastructure, and expanding integration with non-cloud native tools. SCOM might benefit from streamlining its deployment process, reducing dependence on in-house resources, and extending support for non-Microsoft platforms.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Zenoss Cloud offers quick deployment due to its SaaS model and proactive support to reduce downtime. SCOM's setup is complex, leveraging Microsoft support but requiring significant technical expertise. Zenoss Cloud's deployment is suitable for cloud-focused strategies, while SCOM fits well with Microsoft-based infrastructures.

Pricing and ROI: Zenoss Cloud uses a subscription-based model, offering predictable costs and appealing to those seeking cloud-native ROI. SCOM involves higher initial costs but offers substantial ROI for Microsoft-aligned environments via its integrated features that may justify the upfront expense.

To learn more, read our detailed SCOM vs. Zenoss Cloud Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

SCOM vs. Zenoss Cloud

June 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 900,644 peers since 2012

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

SCOM

Ranking in Event Monitoring

2nd

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

14th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Zenoss Cloud

Ranking in Event Monitoring

13th

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

69th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Infrastructure (18th), Server Monitoring (25th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (55th), Container Monitoring (8th), Cloud Monitoring Software (42nd), AIOps (28th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Event Monitoring category, the mindshare of SCOM is 9.9%, up from 8.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zenoss Cloud is 5.0%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Event Monitoring Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
SCOM	9.9%
Zenoss Cloud	5.0%
Other	85.1%

Event Monitoring

Featured Reviews

Akshita Kukreja

Assistant Manager at SMS group GmbH

Have integrated effective monitoring and seamless alerting with improved visualization capabilities

The most valuable feature of SCOM is its monitoring capability, and we have integrated SCOM with Grafana, which is a dashboarding tool. We have implemented and integrated this to create dashboarding of the SCOM monitoring system for the database, SQL, and the Linux servers we have configured in SCOM. We have created separate dashboarding for it, and the monitoring and creating rules and monitors in the management servers and management packs that SCOM provides are very useful for us. The alerting mechanism of SCOM has benefited our operations because we have modified the thresholds as per our internal requirements. We have configured threshold modifications for the CPU, memory, and especially for disk space. For routine disk space usage on the system, we have provided a separate threshold configuration.

Read full review

ClaudiaChen

Cloud Architect - Senior Technology Architect at Telstra

Generates close to real-time alerts so users can resolve issues, but needs more integration and public cloud monitoring features

As Zenoss Service Dynamics is more for network-centric devices and you want to monitor, for example, a server, its services, IP addresses, and interfaces, if it's a network and you're going to monitor multiple items, you'll be charged multiple times. This is what Zenoss Service Dynamics needs to improve to make sure that customers pay just one fee to monitor the entire server. What I'd like to see in Zenoss Service Dynamics in the future is a public cloud monitoring feature, particularly for the Azure public cloud. Another additional feature I'd like to see in the next release of the solution is integration with the Azure public cloud because I know that there are some services from Azure that Zenoss Service Dynamics is currently unable to monitor.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is used for monitoring the hardware inventory. For instance, it helps with the whole operational monitoring view for the company's infrastructure."

"The System Center 2012 R2 is really powerful, all products work great together, is not so expensive anymore, easy to license, and can cover from end to end (Networking, Hardware layer, OS, App and services, ports, etc.)."

"Availability monitoring is the feature I have found most valuable, as well as the capacity and ability to send notifications."

"This product helps companies detect problems before they cause any real problems like downtime."

"The stability has been great."

"It would have to be the ability to monitor services, devices, and operations for many devices from a single console leveraging a wide variety of Management Packs available."

"Having been in IT for over 20 years, with Microsoft, you know what you are getting."

"The inbuilt management pack that Microsoft provides is really helpful. I know it's a mature product, and they keep upgrading the management pack."

More SCOM pros

"They have also accommodated many state-of-the-art technologies like Docker and ZooKeeper."

"With this solution, they can have one million users at the same time with no crashes."

"Its Docker Container concept is mind blowing. It is the first monitoring tool which comes with Docker features."

"It is the most flexible solution of this type, but it takes time to adapt."

"The custom built integration is one of the most valuable features because you can see all the especially critical items."

"It is very cost-effective compared to the tools I worked with in the past."

"Zenoss is more complex than LogicMonitor, but scalable and hugely customizable."

"What I like most about Zenoss Service Dynamics is that it monitors the devices and gives close to real-time alerts. For example, in case the device is not available, Zenoss Service Dynamics generates an alert so my team can resolve the issue."

More Zenoss Cloud pros

Cons

"I find this product very clunky and not very intuitive to use, it took me a while to find my way around and understand where I needed to go to configure or even get a report is a bit complicated."

"Microsoft needs to train more people about how to sell SCOM (and other System Center family products) because there are a lot of emerging technologies that are replacing Microsoft."

"The management of the servers could be better."

"In a future release, they should add email notification alerts."

"This product is not easy to use."

"There are some negative points about this product. Sometimes, the capabilities of the software don't appear, and you can't directly see the results. You have to wait for a long period to refresh the policy to push it to the software or other patches."

"The console is a point to improve, because it is very heavy and a web console should be in HTML5."

"If they're looking for real-time, within-the-minute monitoring of servers from a console, then I would say that it falls short there."

More SCOM cons

"Now it is stable, but they should design threshold parameters in percentage instead of raw values."

"As Zenoss Service Dynamics is more for network-centric devices and you want to monitor, for example, a server, its services, IP addresses, and interfaces, if it's a network and you're going to monitor multiple items, you'll be charged multiple times. This is what Zenoss Service Dynamics needs to improve to make sure that customers pay just one fee to monitor the entire server. What I'd like to see in Zenoss Service Dynamics in the future is a public cloud monitoring feature, particularly for the Azure public cloud. Another additional feature I'd like to see in the next release of the solution is integration with the Azure public cloud because I know that there are some services from Azure that Zenoss Service Dynamics is currently unable to monitor."

"There was a problem with Zenoss and storage monitoring."

"The AI aspect needs to improve."

"It would be ideal if the product offered sound alerts."

"Technical support is 3/10, poor: Incomplete and poor documentation Undocumented processes Inconsistent solutions to problems depending on source"

"There is room for improvement with the administrative part. They introduced Control Center to manage things in Zenoss 5. The services that Zenoss provides remained the same, but the administrative part, since they introduced Docker, etc., has become a little complex"

"The inclusion of a feature to show a graphical view of the network would be a helpful improvement."

More Zenoss Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"SCOM's pricing is average."

"The pricing and licensing are fair."

"I don't know the exact cost because it's managed by our sales team, but Microsoft is on the higher side."

"We have to pay for a license and the price is fine for us."

"It is the cheapest product available in the market."

"Two customers bought the enterprise agreement with Microsoft and paid for Software Assurance. But few customers don't buy it for Software Assurance. They just buy it and deploy it, and they think that we will be using it for the next five years."

"The pricing is good, and it's part of their system center suite."

"Our Enterprise Agreement includes the price."

More SCOM pricing and cost advice

"It is very cost-effective compared to the tools I worked with in the past. The company is gaining a lot with respect to the cost factor. It provides agentless monitoring and in a very cheap way."

"There are additional costs you'll have to pay apart from the license fee for Zenoss Service Dynamics. I can't remember exactly how much my company is paying because I don't handle the finance part, but the cost is paid annually. On a scale of one to five, with one being the cheapest and five being the most expensive, I'm rating the solution three out of five."

"It depends on the customer, what he wants."

"The pricing depends on the environment, the number of services, and the size of the data center. It can go from $100,000 to a million dollars."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Event Monitoring solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Transportation Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	22
Large Enterprise	54

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Large Enterprise	5

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SCOM?

I am not aware of the exact pricing as it is managed by my supervisor. As an academic institution, we receive substantial discounts.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SCOM?

We believe that the dashboarding in SCOM needs to be improved or enhanced because it is not too expressive in reporting. We can work on deploying new ways of viewing things and modifying visualizat...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for SCOM?

My usual use case for SCOM is as an administrator role where I create reports and provide system configuration for Linux and installation of the SCOM agent. I handle deploying and upgrading the age...

See all answers

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

In my experience, I worked with many monitoring software, but the one that gave me the most functionalities of a large-scale company is Zenoss, due to its ability to monitor completely hybrid and a...

See all answers

Comparisons

Nagios XI vs SCOM

Compared 6% of the time

WhatsUp Gold vs SCOM

Compared 6% of the time

Zabbix vs SCOM

Compared 5% of the time

LogicMonitor vs SCOM

Compared 5% of the time

More SCOM Competitors

Zabbix vs Zenoss Cloud

Compared 6% of the time

Nagios XI vs Zenoss Cloud

Compared 5% of the time

Microsoft System Center vs Zenoss Cloud

Compared 3% of the time

Dynatrace vs Zenoss Cloud

Compared 3% of the time

Nagios Fusion vs Zenoss Cloud

Compared 2% of the time

More Zenoss Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

SCOM

May 2026

Download SCOM product report

Buyer's Guide

Zenoss Cloud

May 2026

Download Zenoss Cloud product report

Also Known As

System Center Operations Manager, SCOM 2012

Cloud Monitoring, Zenoss Service Dynamics

Overview

SCOM monitors Microsoft environments with a focus on Windows servers and applications such as SQL, Exchange, and SharePoint. It offers integration with Active Directory and Azure, along with customizable dashboards, management packs, and robust alert mechanisms, aiding efficient management and control.

SCOM provides a comprehensive monitoring solution for Microsoft technologies, helping organizations track performance and availability of applications, services, and infrastructure. It integrates with Active Directory and Azure, offering capabilities for monitoring Windows and Linux environments. Extensive management packs, customizable dashboards, and automated alerts offer a refined monitoring experience. Users benefit from detailed performance data, network monitoring, and auto-discovery features, enhancing operational insights and server management efficiency.

What are key features of SCOM?

Microsoft Environment Monitoring: Specialized for Windows servers and applications such as SQL, Exchange, and SharePoint.
Integration Capabilities: Seamless integration with Active Directory and Azure for streamlined operations.
Customizable Dashboards: Tailor visual data displays to enhance monitoring and decision-making.
Extensive Management Packs: Broad range of management packs for enhanced resource and application control.
Robust Alert Mechanisms: Comprehensive alerting to maintain service stability and address potential issues promptly.

What benefits should users seek in reviews?

Operational Efficiency: Enhanced management of server applications and infrastructure.
Comprehensive Monitoring: Detailed insights into performance and service availability.
Proactive Issue Notification: Timely alerts for quick issue resolution.
Improved Control: More efficient server management through automation and visibility.

In technology sectors, SCOM is widely implemented for its ability to monitor server applications and infrastructure components. Healthcare and finance utilize its monitoring and alert systems for compliance and uptime. Enterprises integrate SCOM for managing complex systems like Exchange, SharePoint, and Active Directory, enabling comprehensive analytics and reporting.

Microsoft

Zenoss Cloud provides a comprehensive overview of IT environments, supporting cross-cloud functionality, scalability, and robust integrations. It offers dynamic monitoring through its intuitive dashboard and supports hybrid deployments across cloud and on-premises infrastructures.

Zenoss Cloud enables users to monitor network infrastructure and operator platforms efficiently. With features like agentless monitoring and real-time alerts, Zenoss Cloud integrates seamlessly with external systems such as ITSM tools. Its flexible functionality allows for the management of both on-premises and cloud infrastructures like AWS and Azure. Users benefit from easy setup and strong technical support, although they seek enhancements in AI capabilities and simpler installation. The pricing model and complexity for beginners and storage monitoring are areas for improvement.

What are the key features of Zenoss Cloud?

Dynamic Monitoring: Enhances user experience with real-time insights.
Cross-Cloud Functionality: Supports hybrid deployments across AWS and Azure.
Agentless Monitoring: Simplifies deployment with minimal overhead.
Scalability: Grows with your network's demands.
Custom Integration: Supports notifications and alerts tailored to user requirements.

What benefits should users expect from Zenoss Cloud?

Time Efficiency: Quick setup and operation save resources.
Comprehensive Support: Extensive documentation streamlines troubleshooting.
Cost-effective Monitoring: Prevents multiple charges in server monitoring.
Enhanced User Experience: Offers seamless integration with existing IT infrastructures.

Zenoss Cloud is widely used in monitoring solutions for industries including technology and data centers. It supports direct monitoring of systems like vSphere and NetApp, making it ideal for IT operations and managed services. Integration with tools such as ServiceNow and SolarWinds aligns it with diverse IT environments.

Zenoss

Sample Customers

Dialog Telekom

2degrees, Rackspace, State of North Dakota, El Paso Independent School District, NWN Corporation

Buyer's Guide

SCOM vs. Zenoss Cloud

June 2026

Free Report: SCOM vs. Zenoss Cloud

Find out what your peers are saying about SCOM vs. Zenoss Cloud and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our SCOM vs. Zenoss Cloud report.

See our list of best Event Monitoring vendors and best Network Monitoring Software vendors.

We monitor all Event Monitoring 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.