We compared Datadog and SolarWinds NPM across several parameters based on our users' reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:
Features: Datadog users like its customizable displays, error tracking, and advanced AI/ML capabilities. SolarWinds NPM is commended for its adaptability and extensive network surveillance functionalities.
Room for Improvement: Datadog could enhance its usability and reduce its learning curve. Users said integration was another pain point. SolarWinds NPM needs improvement in edge computing capabilities and data reporting. Users also said the performance could be better and that they would like to see expanded IPAM functionality.
Service and Support: While many users spoke highly of Datadog’s support team, others reported slow support, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. While some customers described SolarWinds support as helpful and responsive, others reported delayed responses.
Ease of Deployment: Datadog’s setup is considered straightforward, and users often receive help from a partner or vendor. Some users said SolarWinds NPM was straightforward to set up, while others perceived it as complex.
Pricing: Opinions about Datadog's price are divided. Some users found it costly, but others thought it was acceptable. Some said the pricing model could be clearer and better explained. The cost of SolarWinds NPM varies depending on the customer’s size and requirements. Some users find it costly.
ROI: Users said Datadog saved them time and improved visibility into security blind spots. Some users reported immediate benefits from using SolarWinds NPM in terms of security and business outcomes, while others have not.
Comparison Results: Datadog is praised for its customizability, easy setup, and robust AI features, but some users say it has room for improvement in areas like usability and integration. Datadog’s pricing and customer service received mixed reviews. SolarWinds NPM is a customizable solution that’s easy to deploy and features comprehensive network monitoring capabilities. However, some users consider it costly and voiced concerns about technical support and user experience.
"We can manage the entire system across the network and troubleshoot the pain points."
"The single dashboard is a valuable feature."
"Datadog documentation on web pages has improved a lot and is pretty easy to follow and find."
"Straightforward to integrate and automate."
"Integrating Datadog with other platforms has made our monitoring processes a bit easier. It's not super simple, but it's manageable."
"The product has offered increased visibility via logging APM, metrics, RUM, etc."
"The CCM, Workflows, Logs, APM, and RUM are all useful aspects of the solution."
"Most of the features in the way Datadog does monitoring are commendable and that is the reason we choose it. We did some comparisons before picking Datadog. Datadog was recommended based on the features provided."
"The ingestion points are unlimited and support customization. We haven't had anything yet that we haven't been able to integrate with it."
"The infrastructure monitoring capabilities are really valuable. You can just log on and see everything that is happening within an IT environment."
"The nice thing about SolarWinds is that it's kind of all-in-one. I can manage the status of my networking devices, whether they are up or down, I can see how much traffic is going across an interface, and I can run a report that tells me exactly what that traffic is."
"A product that is well-tested and trusted in demanding situations."
"I believe the ease of setup and use, including everything, from the initial installation to the discovery of devices is the most valuable."
"I can do everything remotely, including running PowerShell scripts or performing standard updates."
"SolarWinds NPM provides an overview of network monitoring, extending its capabilities to cover other aspects, such as virtual machines and servers. The platform has features like NetPath, which is particularly beneficial for end-users, offering insights into issues like latency, packet loss, and connectivity problems with routers, switches, or servers."
"We have configured multiple alerts for our network devices, including routers and switches, so that we are notified if any interface goes down."
"The SolarWinds NPM framework, upon which most of their flagship products are built, empowers a wide variety of admins and users to quickly find value in their installed products."
"It is considerably cheaper compared to other tools."
"The Wi-Fi side needs improvement."
"The technical support needs improvement."
"We have asked technical support questions, and sometimes they don't get back to us right away. Or when they do, it is not the right answer."
"I would like the tooling to have better integration in Slack, specifically sending out reminders to the relevant people to take breaks, do a retrospective, and specify with emojis which messages to log."
"I would like better navigability across pages."
"At the beginning, when we started throwing logs at it, there was a bit of hiccup. However, this was during their beta period, so hiccups were expected."
"To be very fair, I haven't had enough experience with Datadog to pick out improvements."
"Geo-data is also something very critical that we hope to see in the future."
"The product needs to have more enterprise approach to configuration."
"I want to applaud the efforts in making the UI extremely usable and approachable. My suggestion would be to take another look at how the menu structure is put together, however. Even after using the platform mostly every day for months, I still find myself trying to find a service or feature in the menus."
"I would like to see some enhancement on the reporting side, such as making it a little bit easier to create reports or having a larger assortment of canned reports."
"Better offline license management. I’ve had to get in touch with customer support several times simply to remove an expired license from our NPM servers."
"The integration needs to be improved."
"Robustness of network element mapping tool could be better"
"The product is scalable, but at a cost. Extra modules have to be purchased for each extra server. The initial set up isn't complex, but will require someone who is experienced with the network monitoring system"
"SolarWinds NPM needs to increase its elements. One polling engine can only support 10,000 elements then it becomes slow. There are limitations even if you have the full SLX version license."
"The console could be more user-friendly. It would be better if SolarWinds updated the user interface."
"Technical support and releases are not particularly reliable."
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Datadog is ranked 2nd in Network Monitoring Software with 137 reviews while SolarWinds NPM is ranked 4th in Network Monitoring Software with 147 reviews. Datadog is rated 8.6, while SolarWinds NPM is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Datadog writes "Very good RUM, synthetics, and infrastructure host maps". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SolarWinds NPM writes "High-level, comprehensive, and proactive monitoring in a user-friendly interface". Datadog is most compared with Dynatrace, Azure Monitor, New Relic, AWS X-Ray and Elastic Observability, whereas SolarWinds NPM is most compared with Zabbix, PRTG Network Monitor, ManageEngine OpManager, ThousandEyes and Wireshark. See our Datadog vs. SolarWinds NPM report.
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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.