We compared Splunk Enterprise Security and USM Anywhere based on our users' reviews across several parameters. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Features: Splunk Enterprise Security stands out for its efficiency, extensive integration options, and powerful search functionality. USM Anywhere is highly regarded for its extensive reporting capabilities, thorough vulnerability assessment, seamless file integration, and user-friendly management features. Users say Splunk is a highly scalable and customizable solution.
Room for Improvement: Splunk users recommended improvements in AI capabilities, user-friendliness, and analytics. USM Anywhere users have suggested improvements in self-service plugin management, database optimization, and third-party threat intelligence integration.
Service and Support: While some users found Splunk support to be responsive and helpful, others reported slow response times and a lack of expertise. Reviews of USM Anywhere's support were likewise mixed. Some users say that USM Anywhere's customer service is knowledgeable and responsive, while others have faced delays and incomplete answers.
Ease of Deployment: Some users thought Splunk Enterprise Security was easy to deploy, while others found it challenging and needed assistance from Splunk engineers or third-party integrators. The initial setup for USM Anywhere is generally considered to be straightforward if the user has technical knowledge. Vendor assistance is also available during the deployment phase.
Pricing: Some users consider Splunk Enterprise Security to be expensive, but others said the price is reasonable. A few users expressed concerns about the cost of scaling up the solution and managing large volumes of data. USM Anywhere is seen as more cost-effective than premium solutions like IBM QRadar and Splunk, with pricing considered reasonable and relatively low.
ROI: Users said that it’s challenging to calculate an ROI for Splunk Enterprise Security, and the return varies depending on individual circumstances. While some users have observed a substantial ROI, others have not actively explored or been engaged in ROI conversations. USM Anywhere has garnered favorable feedback regarding its ROI.
Comparison Results: Splunk is highly regarded for its efficient data processing and powerful search capabilities. Users like Splunk's customization options and ability to quickly process data from multiple sources. However, reviews noted that Splunk could be more user-friendly and improve its analytics. USM Anywhere earned praise for its intuitive management interface and vulnerability assessment features, but users say the solution could integrate third-party threat intelligence better.
"One of the most valuable features is that it creates a kind of a single pane of glass for organizations that already use Microsoft software. So, when they have things like Microsoft 365, it is very easy for them to kind of plug in or enroll those endpoints into the Azure Sentinel service."
"Sentinel improved how we investigate incidents. We can create watchlists and update them to align with the latest threat intelligence. The information Microsoft provides enables us to understand thoroughly and improve as we go along. It allows us to provide monthly reports to our clients on their security posture."
"The Log analytics are useful."
"The standout feature of Sentinel is that, because it's cloud-based and because it's from Microsoft, it integrates really well with all the other Microsoft products. It's really simple to set up and get going."
"If you know how to do KQL (kusto query language) queries, which are how you query the log data inside Sentinel, the information is pretty rich. You can get down to a good level of detail regarding event information or notifications."
"The dashboard that allows me to view all the incidents is the most valuable feature."
"I like the KQL query. It simplifies getting data from the table and seeing the logs. All you need to know are the table names. It's quite easy to build use cases by using KQL."
"The UI of Sentinel is very good and easy to use, even for beginners."
"The product is adept at log mining."
"It has a big user base, so the community is useful."
"The dashboards are the most valuable feature. We like the ability to drill in and see what queries are under the dashboard, build new visualizations, edit the querying, and see the reports."
"The correlation searches are most valuable just because we are able to do things like RBA."
"The visibility is amazing with easy dashboard creation."
"The Splunk user community and forum are most valuable."
"It scales better in the cloud than on-premise."
"If I need to integrate devices for logs, it is easier with Splunk. We can integrate different applications, network devices, and databases. It is also very rich in documents. It is the best."
"What I find the most valuable about USM Anywhere is its compliance. It shows a list of all the administrators logged on and does it quite well. There are no whistles and bells, it's reliable and simple to use."
"The Event Correlation and vulnerability scans have been the most useful. As a 24/7 SOC, we use the incoming alarms to give an overview of suspicious traffic going through the network. It's easy to look at the correlated events and see the broad picture of traffic for that customer. Vulnerability scans are good for providing patch and remediation guidelines to keep customer systems secure."
"The setup is very easy and straightforward."
"The USM is a work horse, no matter what devices or the number of logs we throw at it, the system processes them in real time, correlates the events, and alerts on only events that need human review."
"The vulnerability scanning is helpful to identify the areas that need patching or fixes installed."
"It allows for a lot of out-of-the-box features: vuln scanning, HIDS/HIPS, and IDS."
"The AlienVault solution has enabled us to create a SOC on a budget with smaller than usual staff requirements, offering a wider range of solutions for our customers."
"We are able to get alerts perfectly with FIM and VA features."
"There is room for improvement in entity behavior and the integration site."
"It could have a better API to be able to automate many things more extensively and get more extensive data and more expensive deployment possibilities. It can gain some points on the automation part and the integration part. The API is very limited, and I would like to see it extended a bit more."
"If I can use Sentinel offline at home and use it on a local network, it would be great. I'm not sure if I can use Sentinel offline versus the tools I have."
"One key area that can be improved is by building a strong integration with our XDR platform."
"For certain vendors, some of the data that Microsoft Sentinel captures is redacted due to privacy reasons."
"Its documentation is not so simple. It is easy for somebody who is Microsoft certified or more closely attached to Microsoft solutions. It is not easy for those who are working on open-source platforms. There isn't a central point where everything is documented, and there is no specific training or certification."
"Improvement-wise, I would like to see more integration with third-party solutions or old-school antivirus products that have some kind of logging capability. I wouldn't mind having that exposed within Sentinel. We do have situations where certain companies have bought licensing or have made an investment in a product, and that product will be there for the next two or three years. To be able to view information from those legacy products would be great. We can then better leverage the Sentinel solution and its capabilities."
"There is a wider thing called Jupyter Notebooks, which is around the automation side of things. It would be good if there are playbooks that you can utilize without having to have the developer experience to do it in-house. Microsoft could provide more playbooks or more Jupyter Notebooks around MITRE ATT&CK Framework."
"I would like to see an updated dashboard. The dashboard is a little out-of-date. It could be made prettier."
"It needs integration with a configuration management solution."
"We'd like Splunk to reduce false positives."
"There are a lot of competitive products that are doing better than what Splunk is doing on the analytics side."
"The UI could be better. This is applicable to Splunk in general. I know that a lot of people who get their hands on Splunk are hesitant to use it just because they find it overwhelming. There are a lot of options."
"There is improvement needed when importing from some types of data sources."
"Its interface and usability can always be improved."
"It currently has limited default rules and customizations. If they can concentrate more on the compliance part and the security information part, it would be helpful. The platform part is good, but it requires many features from the security aspect."
"I feel that some areas of improvement would be vulnerability scanning. We use a separate product that seems to do a much better job."
"AlienVault must improve their correlation feature. Some of the events do not match with the correlation rules and some of the correlation events are false-positive."
"Source material on the forums to be more up-to-date with the changes happening within the product. Forums being out-of-date with information due to the changes makes troubleshooting a little more difficult - specific to the HIDS agents."
"One area that has room for improvement is storage. AllienVault is a good place to put logs, but sometimes it's a tough place to go get logs... The logger can only hold so much data. If they improved that, that would help."
"We would like more plugins. This being the main point of improvement which would benefit the users."
"There are many reports included but would be nice to have better access to the data."
"Their threat intelligence platform needs to be broadened. They should integrate it with more threat intelligence platforms. For the threat feed that they get from open intelligence, I would like them to add a few premium threat intelligence platforms. They can provide a bundle in which AlienVault has the threat intelligence background of other premium products."
"Adding a parsing interface for the customers would make AT&T AlienVault USM better."
Splunk Enterprise Security is ranked 1st in Log Management with 228 reviews while USM Anywhere is ranked 15th in Log Management with 113 reviews. Splunk Enterprise Security is rated 8.4, while USM Anywhere is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Splunk Enterprise Security writes "It has a drag-and-drop interface, so you don't need to know SQL or Java to construct a query ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of USM Anywhere writes "Easy to use and affordable". Splunk Enterprise Security is most compared with Wazuh, Dynatrace, IBM Security QRadar, Elastic Security and Azure Monitor, whereas USM Anywhere is most compared with Wazuh, AlienVault OSSIM, IBM Security QRadar, Rapid7 InsightIDR and LogRhythm SIEM. See our Splunk Enterprise Security vs. USM Anywhere report.
See our list of best Log Management vendors and best Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) vendors.
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