SolarWinds is one of the most widely adopted IT management and observability platforms in the world, transforming how organizations monitor and manage complex IT infrastructure across networks, servers, applications, and cloud environments.
Trusted by 86% of Fortune 500 companies for comprehensive infrastructure monitoring, AI-powered automation, and unified observability capabilities, SolarWinds brings together network performance management, application monitoring, and database optimization under one intelligent interface—enabling IT operations teams, network administrators, and internal support personnel to shift from reactive troubleshooting to proactive infrastructure management and automated incident resolution.
What Is SolarWinds?
SolarWinds is a comprehensive IT management and observability platform designed to centralize infrastructure monitoring, application performance management, and IT service operations through unified dashboards with AI-powered analytics and automation for organizations monitoring networks, servers, databases, and cloud environments.
Originally built for network performance monitoring, SolarWinds now supports full-stack observability, service desk operations, workflow automation, and hybrid cloud management for organizations ranging from mid-sized companies to global enterprises. The platform serves IT operations teams, network administrators, systems engineers, and managed service providers who need to maintain comprehensive visibility and control across complex, hybrid IT environments spanning on-premises data centers and multi-cloud infrastructure.
What is SolarWinds used for?
SolarWinds serves as a comprehensive IT management and observability platform for enterprise infrastructure operations:
- Infrastructure Monitoring - Provides unified visibility across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments with real-time performance tracking, automated alerting, and proactive issue resolution that reduces infrastructure downtime
- Network Performance Management - Delivers deep analysis of network traffic, bandwidth utilization, and device health with tools like NetPath for end-to-end network visualization, troubleshooting, and automated configuration management.
- Application Performance Monitoring - Offers code-level visibility into .NET, Java, and Node.js applications with transaction tracing, dependency mapping, and performance profiling for faster problem resolution and optimization.
- Database Performance Analysis - Provides specialized monitoring for SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, and PostgreSQL with query optimization, wait event analysis, and root cause identification capabilities
- IT Service Management - Streamlines ticketing, asset management, and workflow automation with AI-powered triage and resolution capabilities for internal support coordination
- Cloud and Hybrid Observability - Enables seamless monitoring across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud platforms with native integrations for modern cloud-native environments, containers, and serverless architectures.
- Security Event Management - Monitors security events, analyzes threats, and maintains compliance through centralized SIEM capabilities with automated response workflows.
Key Features of SolarWinds
The platform's comprehensive functionality centers on unified observability and intelligent automation across IT operations:
- Unified Observability Platform provides centralized monitoring across networks, infrastructure, applications, and databases, eliminating tool sprawl and enabling faster troubleshooting through correlated insights and unified dashboards.
- AI-Powered Automation leverages AIOps for anomaly detection, intelligent alerting, predictive analytics, and automated remediation workflows that reduce alert fatigue and accelerate incident resolution.
- Hybrid Cloud Monitoring offers seamless visibility across on-premises, private cloud, and public cloud environments with native integrations for AWS, Azure, and modern containerized workloads, including Kubernetes.
- Advanced Network Analytics includes NetPath visualization, traffic analysis, configuration management tools, and automated compliance tracking that provide end-to-end network visibility and troubleshooting capabilities.
- Database Performance Optimization delivers deep analytics for query performance, wait events, resource utilization, and predictive insights across multiple database platforms, including SQL Server, Oracle, and MySQL.
- Service Desk Integration combines ITSM capabilities with monitoring data, enabling automated ticket creation, asset management, workflow orchestration, and incident coordination across IT operations.
- Enterprise Security and Compliance supports role-based access controls, comprehensive audit trails, compliance reporting, and SOC 2 Type 2 certification for regulated environments.
SolarWinds Pros & Cons
SolarWinds offers significant value for organizations requiring comprehensive IT management, though it comes with considerations around implementation complexity and enterprise pricing.
SolarWinds Pros
- Comprehensive feature set spanning network, application, database, and cloud monitoring in a unified platform that eliminates tool sprawl
- Mature and reliable platform with 20+ years of industry experience, proven scalability, and extensive deployment across Fortune 500 companies
- Flexible deployment options supporting both self-hosted and SaaS models for varying security requirements and compliance needs
- Strong integration ecosystem with 50+ native integrations, robust API support, and extensive third-party plugin availability
- Advanced automation using AI and machine learning for proactive monitoring, anomaly detection, and incident response coordination
- Enterprise-grade security with improved transparency, enhanced security controls, and regular third-party assessments following 2020 security improvements
SolarWinds Cons
- A complex learning curve can overwhelm smaller teams or organizations new to enterprise monitoring tools without dedicated IT operations expertise.
- Custom pricing model requires sales engagement and can become expensive as features, monitoring scope, and infrastructure scale increase.
- Potential overkill for simple environments that don't need comprehensive enterprise functionality or advanced observability capabilities
- Customer support is frequently cited as inconsistent or slow in user reviews, particularly for lower-tier support plans.
- Subscription-only model with mandatory 3-year commitments eliminates perpetual licensing flexibility for organizations preferring capital expenditure approach.
SolarWinds Pricing
SolarWinds operates on a subscription-only model with mandatory annual billing, flexible pricing based on monitoring scope, and 3-year minimum commitments for enterprise deployments.
All pricing requires annual billing with 3-year minimum commitments for enterprise contracts. Perpetual licenses are no longer available for new contracts as of August 2025, though existing perpetual license holders maintain their legacy agreements.
When SolarWinds Isn't Enough: Meet Siit
SolarWinds delivers comprehensive infrastructure monitoring and observability—but its focus on technical metrics, alert management, and infrastructure visibility reveals the fundamental limitation of platforms built for IT operations monitoring rather than business process automation. Even with SolarWinds detecting and alerting on infrastructure issues, organizations still face the cross-departmental coordination chaos that happens when those alerts need to trigger workflows across IT, facilities, and business operations.
Siit solves what SolarWinds can't: turning infrastructure alerts into automated business processes where employees actually work.
- Works Where Employees Already Are - While SolarWinds requires console access and technical dashboards, Siit's Slack-native and Teams-native service desk operates entirely within communication platforms. Zero technical console training, zero dashboard navigation, zero adoption friction—employees report issues and track resolution in tools they already use daily.
- Agentic AI That Executes Across Departments - SolarWinds monitors infrastructure within technical boundaries. Siit's AI agents execute complete workflows across IT, HR, Finance, and Operations: pulling employee data from BambooHR, routing approvals to managers in Slack, provisioning replacement equipment through procurement, coordinating facilities responses, and updating asset records. One infrastructure alert, complete cross-departmental resolution.
- Unified Operational Context - While SolarWinds provides technical metrics and infrastructure health data, Siit unifies operational data across all departments through a contextualized employee view. Complete context—employee records, equipment, permissions, incident history—instantly accessible without switching between monitoring consoles and business systems.
- Days to Value, Not Months - SolarWinds implementations require infrastructure discovery, agent deployment, alert configuration, and dashboard customization. Siit connects through 100+ ready-to-use integrations and starts automating cross-departmental workflows within days—without the technical implementation complexity, agent deployment overhead, or administrator training that enterprise monitoring platforms demand.
The result: While SolarWinds optimizes infrastructure monitoring and technical alerting, Siit eliminates the coordination overhead that monitoring platforms can't address—turning infrastructure alerts that require cross-departmental coordination into automated processes where employees get complete resolution in seconds, not the multi-day coordination chains that consume 40% of operational capacity.
Try Siit Today
SolarWinds provides powerful infrastructure monitoring and observability, but Siit transforms those insights into true business process orchestration across every department. Experience how AI-powered workflow coordination turns monitoring alerts into automated resolution while maintaining the visibility and control your operations require.
Book a demo to see cross-departmental automation in action.
SolarWinds Alternatives
For organizations evaluating comprehensive IT management and observability platforms, several alternatives offer different approaches to infrastructure monitoring and performance management. Some tools listed below integrate with modern business process orchestration platforms like Siit.
- PRTG Network Monitor provides unified monitoring with simplified licensing, agentless deployment, and faster implementation, ideal for organizations seeking comprehensive visibility without modular complexity or multi-year commitments
- Datadog offers cloud-native observability with strong APM capabilities, modern microservices support, and usage-based pricing, particularly suited for DevOps environments and containerized architectures.
- Zabbix delivers highly customizable open-source monitoring with no licensing fees and extensive community support, perfect for organizations with strong technical teams requiring flexibility over commercial convenience.
- ManageEngine OpManager combines network and server monitoring with automated mapping and competitive pricing, providing balanced features for mid-size enterprises seeking straightforward implementation without enterprise complexity.y
- Nagios specializes in infrastructure monitoring with extensive plugin architecture and community-driven development, ideal for custom environments requiring deep technical control and open-source flexibility.
