My decision to try SolarWinds was influenced by its prominence in search results.

We previously used PRTG, but it cannot do patch management or IP address management. It can only do server and network monitoring. We switched to SolarWinds because it's more powerful than other competing solutions, and it has all the features needed to satisfy the requirements of our audits.

The driver behind our switch to SolarWinds was our internal audit department. When they performed the audit, they highlighted some gaps. For example, we need a patch manager to prevent vulnerabilities. We also needed a centralized log server for troubleshooting. 

I've used a couple of SEM solutions, like PRTG. SolarWinds is more like a log to get data or a smart listing. In many ways, SolarWinds is unique. I don't think there was a similar product. 

With this company, there was no real SIEM and no real use cases before I deployed it. Because of that, I can develop the use cases the educate the management on what they need in terms of SIS security monitoring.

Prior to this solution, we were using AlienVault and IBM QRadar. I have also used Nagios, which is faster than SolarWinds LEM regarding alerts.

Splunk. The pricing was too high and you need a PhD on customizing the reports.

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.

I had another system, but I wasn't happy with it and its service and support. We just let it go.

I have used IBM QRadar. It is a SIEM solution, but it can do what LEM can do.

We needed a product but didn’t have one. We found it when it was still Trigeo, and followed it to SolarWinds.