Top 10 Resources for Evaluating and Comparing SIEM Solutions
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions are an essential part of the enterprise security toolkit, but they’re also some of the most complicated products on the market.
Information Security professionals, CIOs, and CISOs trying to push their organization into the modern era of SIEM need to conduct extensive research to correctly plan, assess, and deploy the right solution for their organization.
So where should you start? A typical internet search may yield some worthwhile answers, but you’ll likely be spending a lot of time wading through sponsored links to so-called ‘expert’ analysts pushing their own agendas (and products). When it comes to IT buyer’s research, consulting trustworthy independent sources is the name of the game.
With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 best buyer’s resources for evaluating SIEM and Security Analytics solutions. Since each organization needs a tool to match up with their own specific use cases, these resources allow researchers to sift through solutions that satisfy a wide range of security and compliance requirements.
For even more resources, check out our SIEM resource library, which features 8 top resources, and is constantly updated.
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1. Gartner Magic Quadrant & Critical Capabilities
Gartner is the world’s largest information technology research and advisory company, delivering reports and market research studies that assist businesses in making product selections. Gartner is best-known for its Magic Quadrant reports, which rank solution providers based on their ability to execute and completeness of vision. Each Magic Quadrant focuses on a specific market, giving researchers a wide-angle view of the top tools available to them. Gartner currently publishes a Magic Quadrant for SIEM. Gartner also offers Critical Capabilities reports, which allow the reader to compare vendors based on specific use cases which relate to their own environments. Gartner’s Critical Capabilities report for SIEM is available here.
2. Forrester Vendor Landscape: Security User Behavior Analytics
Forrester offers a wide variety of resources to assist business leaders in selecting the right enterprise technology solutions. As one of the most well-established technology research outlets, Forrester is a trusted source of information, offering expansive market studies that encompass a multitude of charts, graphics, and figures. Forrester’s flagship methodology lies in the company’s ever-evolving quarterly Wave reports as well as their in-depth vendor landscape reports. Forrester currently offers a Vendor Landscape report for Security User Behavior Analytics, one of the ‘next-generation’ challengers to the SIEM throne.
3. Solutions Review SIEM and Security Analytics Buyer’s Guide
Solutions Review’s SIEM and Security Analytics Buyer’s Guide is the perfect primer for selecting the right SIEM solution. The 30-page document includes a category overview, 5 questions to ask potential SIEM providers, 5 questions to ask yourself before buying, plus a capabilities reference and complete profiles of the top 24 SIEM solution providers, making it easy for companies considering SIEM implementations to compare and contrast solutions and find their best fit. By using the SIEM Buyer’s Guide in conjunction with other tools on this list, solutions-seekers will be armed with all of the materials they need to ensure selection of the best software for their company.
4. IT Central Station Reviews
For many IT pros, IT Central Station is a go-to resource for peer reviews. Users can either post anonymously to freely express their views or use their real names to promote their expertise, enabling knowledgeable experts, including real users and independent consultants, to share their expertise in a high-quality community of decision makers. Over 162,584 professionals have used IT Central Station research on enterprise tech, and that’s led to a great list of the best Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) vendors based on product reviews, ratings, and comparisons.
5. TrustRadius Software Reviews
TrustRadius is a review site for business software, helping buyers make better product decisions based on unbiased reviews, many of which that come from the actual end-users themselves. The resource collects reviews that are in-depth and substantive, with every reviewer on the site vetted by the TrustRadius research team before publication. This is important to note so you know the reviews aren’t being submitted by paid actors or vendor marketing teams. In addition, TrustRadius employs a handy algorithm that ensures product scores represent only true customer sentiment by correcting for selection bias.
6. Gartner Peer Insights
Gartner Peer Insights is Gartner’s answer to the crowdsourced review site—a crowdsourced review site of their own. With their Peer Insights program, Gartner is trying to present the collective experiences of thousands of qualified (and verified) tech buyers and end users who have already gone where you are headed. Perhaps most importantly, Gartner’s Peer Insights democratizes the evaluation process, allowing for vendors not typically included in Magic Quadrants and Critical Capabilities reports due to their stringent requirements. Gartner’s Peer Insights site on SIEM features 342 reviews on 34 vendors—far more than considered in the Magic Quadrant and Critical capabilities reports.
7. Anton Chuvakin’s Blog
Anton Chuvakin is a Research Director for Gartner’s Security and Risk Management Strategies team and formerly Director of PCI Compliance Solutions at Qualys, and Chief Logging Evangelist with LogLogic. Chuvakin writes reports and blog posts for Gartner and keeps a no-frills personal blog full of valuable insight on SIEM and Security Analytics.
8. Tom’s IT Pro Reviews and Guides
Tom’s IT Pro is a well-known resource for enterprise technology professionals looking for best practices and news, but the site also provides in-depth buyer’s guides and resources on a wide variety of topics, all available without fee or registration. In their lengthy guide to SIEM, Tom and co. explain key features of IAM and how to choose the right SIEM solutions. Tom’s IT Pro also features an extensive guide to building a SIEM business case.
9. SlideShare
SlideShare is a great tool for uncovering insights related to just about any software category. The resource offers a vast library of slideshows, presentations, videos, infographics and more, allowing researchers to uncover best practices, tips of the trade, and important information on some of the top software solutions for enterprise technology professionals. Build your knowledge quickly from concise, well-presented content from top experts. Instead of scrolling through pages of text, you can flip through a SlideShare deck and absorb the same information in a fraction of the time. The resource touts more than 18 million uploads in 40 content categories and is one of the top 100-most visited websites in the world.
10. The Definitive SIEM Glossary
Having a hard time keeping up with InfoSec jargon? We’ve got you covered. Solutions Review’s A to Z SIEM and Security Analytics glossary is the most complete SIEM glossary of terms available on the web. With over 50 terms defined, this resource is sure to help keep you hip to all the latest and greatest lingo and acronyms. The SIEM market is undergoing a major evolution, making terminology and vocabulary an integral part of keeping up to date with all the changeover.