datadog-vs-splunk-enterprise

Datadog and Splunk Enterprise are both data monitoring and analysis tools. Datadog is designed specifically for IT infrastructure monitoring and management, while Splunk Enterprise is commonly used to analyze network events and monitor for security issues. However, both pieces of software share many features, as they are designed to collect and organize large amounts of business data, which can then be visualized or otherwise analyzed. Datadog is favored by mid-sized companies, likely due to its high level of customization and effectiveness in analyzing infrastructure at mid-to-large scales. Splunk is most popular with larger enterprises, likely due to its robust logging features and powerful log search language for managing vast amounts of data.

Features

Although Datadog and Splunk Enterprise both offer strong data capture and analysis features, they specialize in slightly different markets. Each has unique features that set it apart from the other.

Datadog offers a high level of customization for its users, with a flexible API and a streamlined interface that collects performance monitoring, alert management, and data analysis into a single view. Datadog is also a lightweight piece of software that doesn’t place heavy demands on servers. Recent additions to the platform include a mobile application, an improved incident management UI, and pre-configured security analysis dashboards. 

Splunk Enterprise is known for its robust logging capabilities. The software supports the creation of custom rules and search logs using SPL, the software’s query language. Splunk Enterprise also offers a variety of online training documents for both new and experienced users, written both by the company and by community members. Splunk Enterprise also provides highly customizable alerts to inform users about any errors or anomalies in data. Recent updates have added a search history feature for navigating previous data searches, in-line commenting capability for SPL code, and customizable heading banners for all of an enterprise’s Splunk pages.

Limitations

Although Datadog and Splunk Enterprise are both powerful tools for data capture and analysis, they also have limitations that are important to consider before purchasing either one.

Analytics reports in Datadog are customizable, but some analysts find them to be limited, requiring a separate BI tool to handle complex data analysis. Datadog also charges for logging based on the number of log events, making it a potentially pricey option for businesses that generate and log a lot of data.

Splunk Enterprise’s data search can bog down for some users, especially when the search has to parse or return a large amount of data. Additionally, while it’s possible to create custom dashboards with Splunk Enterprise, new users often find the process clunky and unintuitive. Splunk Enterprise can also be resource-intensive, placing a heavy demand on servers. Businesses with limited hardware budgets should carefully evaluate their hardware capacity and expected load before purchasing Splunk Enterprise.

Pricing

Datadog offers several per-month pricing models designed to adapt to different data requirements and infrastructure scales. Their price models include per-host pricing, pricing per million events, and pricing per GB of analyzed log files. For more details on available plans and pricing, refer to the Datadog pricing page. 

Splunk Enterprise also offers a free trial for their software. The vendor only offers one Splunk Enterprise package, which includes all of its features. Pricing for the software is available via a quote from Splunk.