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SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)

Score8 out of 10

119 Reviews and Ratings

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What is SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)?

SolarWinds LEM is security information and event management (SIEM) software.

Categories & Use Cases

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Key Features

Learn about the best (and worst!) features SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) has to offer, as determined by TrustRadius' reviewers.
Based on 119 ratings of SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)'s features
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Top Performing Features

  • Deployment flexibility

    Ability to tune system to maximize threat detection and minimize false positives

    Category average: 7.7

  • Host and network-based intrusion detection

    Ability to detect both endpoint intrusion and network ingress detection

    Category average: 7.4

  • Centralized event and log data collection

    Effectiveness of real-time centralized event and log data collection

    Category average: 9

Areas for Improvement

  • Correlation

    Correlation of logs and events to pinpoint significant threats

    Category average: 8.4

  • Event and log normalization/management

    Ability to normalize event syntax so that logs can be compared and are machine-understandable

    Category average: 8.5

  • Integration with Identity and Access Management Tools

    Integration with access control tools like Active Directory and LDAP

    Category average: 7.7

Reviews

What users are saying about SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM).
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Ideal SolarWinds Security Event Manager For Small/Medium Companies At Easy-To-Get Pricing

Incentivized
Verified User
Director in Information Technology (201-500 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SolarWinds Security Event Manager checks a few different boxes: 1. Consolidated events from a huge variety of log sources. 2. A good presentation layer for #1. 3. Applies to more than a few GRC obligations. 4. And does 1-3 at an incredibly reasonable price.

Pros

  • Integrations (around 800?) is great
  • Provides the single pane-of-glass
  • Is part of the SW ecosystem

Cons

  • CAPACITY - 2500 EPS needs to be higher
  • Allow resizing of charts (i.e. drag-and-drop)

Return on Investment

  • ROI is a no-brainer if the EPS issue is not an obstacle
  • GUI is easy to interpret & reports boil stuff down
  • The concept of SIEM that is part of a larger security ecosystem works

Usability

Alternatives Considered

IBM Security QRadar SIEM, Elastic Observability and Splunk Enterprise

Other Software Used

Qualys VMDR, Google Workspace, Tenable Nessus

Set-and-Forget with as needed functionality

Incentivized
Kendal GoodrichView profile
System Engineer II in Information Technology at South Central Regional Medical Center (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use SEM on a daily basis in our environment as per our built-out rules. We are notified of certain security events as they happen. Aside from that, we access SEM to run queries on an as-needed basis. With this we have a monitor running in the background keeping an eye on the events we want to monitor.

Pros

  • Runs without issue
  • Logs extensive detail

Cons

  • The user interface to be more user friendly
  • The query builder is tedious to use

Return on Investment

  • Reduced troubleshooting time
  • Assists in diagnosis of issues

Usability

Usability

Other Software Used

vSphere, VMware Horizon, Fortinet FortiGate

SolarWinds Security Event Manager Review

Incentivized
Brandon DemkoView profile
Systems Administrator in Information Technology at SEKISUI SPI (201-500 employees employees)

Pros

  • It is flexible with a variety of system connectors.
  • Setup is easy.
  • Monitoring log size and system resources is simple.

Cons

  • It is a robust product so, not clear out of the box exactly what it can do.
  • Agent installs can sometimes need manual removal.
  • If you're running an older version of SEM, migrating clients to a new install isn't clear-cut.

Return on Investment

  • It allows us to see in real-time events as they happen, saving us time.

Usability

Other Software Used

Orion, Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) for Endpoints, Cisco AnyConnect

SEM: great software if you're already invested in SolarWinds

Incentivized
Alex Giralias
System Support Engineer in Information Technology at Capita Plc (1001-5000 employees employees)

Pros

  • Allows alerts to be generated
  • Slots into pre-existing Orion system
  • Easy to set up and configure

Cons

  • Online documentation for setup was not great and at points misleading.

Return on Investment

  • Has reduced workload on having to manually review logs
  • Has sped up reaction times via alerts

Alternatives Considered

SolarWinds Virtualization Manager (VMAN)

Other Software Used

SolarWinds Virtualization Manager (VMAN), Azure Active Directory, Veeam Backup & Replication, SysAid, Citrix Gateway (formerly NetScaler Unified Gateway)

Solarwinds - great product with a few small flaws.

Incentivized
Joseph CrookView profile
Technology Specialist II in Information Technology at Portland Community College (1001-5000 employees employees)

Pros

  • We use the client on register systems as event forwarders and log collection.
  • It enables us to verify the access security to high value workstations and register systems.
  • It provides a repository storage for log files so that they do not solely exist on workstations.
  • It helps us ensure PCI standards are being maintained and track security risk issues as well as system health.

Cons

  • Within the scope of my role I have noticed that the client can be problematic during system startup - some of the register systems we use are older and have lower resolution screens. When the client loads it pops up on screen but completely out of scale (to clarify, it may open a window that is 14x14 inches on a screen that only displays 10x10 inches. This is more frustration than a functional problem.
  • Automated rollout would be useful but it is outside of my scope in my job to even know if it already has automated install capability.
  • The GUI itself is a little clunky and there is somewhat of a learning curve - training is provided to clients however a friendlier interface would be helpful.

Return on Investment

  • This is a little outside of my level of involvement to answer adeptly. That being said I do know that it has been instrumental in allowing our organization to implement a central storage for log files and it's something we have wanted to implement for a long time.

Other Software Used

KACE Endpoint Systems Management Appliance

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