Vendor Spotlight: Pandora FMS

Pandora FMS is a network monitoring tool that was developed by a Spanish team. As with many enthusiast-developed software, the system existed before the company that owns it. In this case, the software was released in October 2004 and the company, Ártica Soluciones Tecnológicas, was founded in October 2005 in Madrid. Oh, and Ártica Soluciones Tecnológicas is Spanish for Arctic Technological Solutions. Why a company based in sunny Madrid should be called “Arctic” hasn’t been explained.

FMS stands for Flexible Monitoring System. The Pandora FMS package is an on-premises software system and focuses on network monitoring.

Founding and Background

Pandora FMS was written by Sancho Lerena Urrea and first released in October 2004. The project began as a response to the lack of effective tools for monitoring heterogeneous environments with complex network topologies. Lerena, who had a background in security and Linux, started developing Pandora FMS while working at AOL Spain and later at BBVA.

The programmer was an early technology genius, starting as a freelance programmer at the age of 17 in 1992 and continuing to work in his craft after he started University in Salamanca. Making a living and supporting himself all the way through to his graduation in the year. 2000. With a degree under his belt, Lerena Urrea forged a career in network security.

It isn’t known exactly when Lerena Urrea started writing the Pandora FMS software, however, by the time he set up Ártica Soluciones Tecnológicas, he was already hiring staff to help with the programming work as well as business administration. Initially, the software was free to use, but that is a typical tactic used by commercial start-ups when their software is in Beta phase. The intention was to create a profitable software business from the network monitoring package.

The initial goal was to create a flexible monitoring system that could integrate various infrastructure elements such as networks, applications, servers, and web services. Over time, Pandora FMS evolved into a comprehensive monitoring tool used by organizations worldwide to manage and prevent system failures.

The package is still available free of charge in the Free edition. However, that version is limited to monitoring 50 nodes. Naturally, the company prefers to focus on its income-generating paid plans.

Timeline and Evolution

Here’s a brief timeline highlighting the key milestones in the evolution of Ártica Soluciones Tecnológicas:

• 2002: Sancho Lerena Urrea, the founder, begins developing the initial version of Pandora FMS as an open-source project.
• 2004: The early versions of Pandora FMS are used in small-scale implementations and tests, marking the project’s early adoption.
• 2005: Ártica Soluciones Tecnológicas is officially founded in Madrid, Spain, with the primary goal of further developing Pandora FMS into a fully-featured enterprise solution.
• 2007: The Ártica team leads an open-source project, Babel Enterprise, a security management tool.
• 2008: Development on Babel Enterprise ends. Ártica gains clients beyond Spain and expands the functionality of Pandora FMS. During this period, is also developed​
• 2009: Ártica receives ISO 27001 certification for information security management, a significant milestone reflecting the company’s commitment to security.
• 2010: The company expanded its product offerings and started providing support and systems management services.
• 2011: The company collaborates with Telefónica to enhance Pandora FMS for centralized management and develops custom solutions for companies like REE (Red Eléctrica de España).
• 2015: Ártica expands globally, offering Pandora FMS in over 50 countries.
• 2020: The company continues to develop new versions of Pandora FMS, integrating cloud and hybrid infrastructure monitoring.

Today, Ártica remains focused on expanding its product suite, providing innovative solutions in IT monitoring, security management, and support services. They now serve a wide array of clients in industries ranging from telecommunications to finance.

Key People and Company Ownership

Sancho Lerena Urrea

Sancho Lerena Urrea has had a fascinating career in the field of technology. Here are some key highlights:

• Professional Career: Before founding Ártica Soluciones Tecnológicas, Lerena worked at AOL Spain and later at BBVA, where he developed Pandora FMS.
• Founding Ártica Soluciones Tecnológicas: In 2005, Lerena founded the company, initially named Ártica, which later became known as Ártica Soluciones Tecnológicas.
• Pandora FMS: The development of Pandora FMS began in 2004, and the first version was released in 2006.
• Current Role: Lerena continues to serve as the CEO of Ártica Soluciones Tecnológicas, leading the company’s growth and innovation.

Sancho Lerena Urrea’s journey is a testament to his passion for technology and his commitment to creating innovative solutions.

Locations

Ártica Soluciones Tecnológicas maintains two offices. These are its headquarters in Madrid, Spain, and its US headquarters in Miami, Florida. Both offices are small; the business only has 60 employees and it has a remote-first hiring policy, so most of its employees work from home, based in many locations around the world.

Target Market and Customer Base

Ártica Soluciones Tecnológicas primarily targets large enterprises and SMEs across various industries, focusing on companies with complex IT infrastructures that require robust monitoring solutions. The company’s flagship product, Pandora FMS, is designed for enterprises needing comprehensive, customizable monitoring of their IT environments, including servers, networks, applications, and business processes.

Target Markets

• Telecommunications: Telecommunications companies need to monitor vast, decentralized IT systems, ensuring service reliability and performance. Telefónica, a leading telecom provider, uses Pandora FMS for centralized IT and network monitoring. By partnering with large telecom operators, Ártica has tailored Pandora FMS to handle enormous data loads and complex network topologies.
• Finance and Banking: The financial sector, including BBVA, AON, and other banking institutions, represents a significant portion of Ártica’s customer base. These organizations require high levels of system uptime and strict monitoring for security and compliance. Pandora FMS helps financial institutions monitor transactional systems, data centers, and ATM networks, ensuring they remain operational with minimal downtime.
• Healthcare: Healthcare institutions, such as The Ottawa Hospital, use Pandora FMS to monitor critical IT systems that support patient care, hospital administration, and medical data storage. Reliability and fast detection of potential issues are essential in such environments where system failures can directly impact patient safety.
• Public Sector and Utilities: Government agencies and utility providers, such as Red Eléctrica de España (REE), use Ártica’s solutions to maintain and monitor their IT systems. In the public sector, continuous service availability is crucial, and Pandora FMS provides real-time monitoring to prevent system outages, optimize resource allocation, and predict infrastructure failures.
• Retail and eCommerce: International eCommerce companies like Rakuten utilize Pandora FMS to oversee their online platforms, manage server loads, and monitor global transactions. In retail, any system failure can lead to revenue loss, so monitoring performance and availability is vital.

Customer Base

Ártica’s customer base includes over 50 countries, indicating its success in the global market. It serves a wide variety of businesses and organizations, from multinational corporations to small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). Below are key components of their customer base:

• Large Enterprises These organizations often operate across multiple regions with complex IT infrastructures. Ártica’s enterprise clients, such as Telefónica and AON, benefit from Pandora FMS’s scalable architecture, which supports thousands of agents monitoring various systems. Enterprises in telecommunications, finance, and retail sectors use the tool for everything from data center management to user application performance.
• Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) While Pandora FMS is widely used by large organizations, it also serves SMEs by offering scalable solutions that can be tailored to smaller-scale operations. Integria IMS, another product by Ártica, targets SMEs by providing a suite for ticketing and project management, allowing businesses with smaller IT teams to manage their systems effectively.
• Open-Source Community Ártica has a strong open-source user base, especially for the community version of Pandora FMS, which provides about 85% of the functionality of the enterprise version. Many organizations use the open-source version to monitor hundreds or even thousands of servers without licensing costs. This helps smaller companies or those with a preference for open-source solutions to benefit from Pandora FMS’s capabilities.

Global Reach

Ártica competes on the global stage with major IT monitoring software providers, such as Splunk, Zabbix, SolarWinds, and Datadog. Their customer base is not limited to Europe but extends to North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. This global presence allows Ártica to service clients across multiple industries that need tailored monitoring solutions for varied operational contexts. With clients like the University of Nazareth in New York and many banks across the United States, Ártica’s international reach continues to grow.

Industries Served

• Telecommunications: Telefónica, EMT
• Finance: BBVA, AON, Allianz
• Healthcare: Ottawa Hospital
• Public Utilities: REE
• Retail & eCommerce: Rakuten, international banks, and e-commerce platforms.

This diverse customer base reflects Ártica’s ability to provide versatile, reliable, and highly adaptable IT monitoring solutions for both large-scale enterprises and smaller businesses. Its emphasis on flexibility and customization allows Ártica to stay competitive, even in markets dominated by much larger players.

Pandora FMS is the flagship product of Ártica Soluciones Tecnológicas, designed as a comprehensive, flexible IT monitoring solution. It caters to a wide range of industries and organizational sizes by offering features for monitoring IT infrastructure, servers, networks, applications, and business processes in real time.

Key Features:

• Full-stack Monitoring: Monitors networks, servers, applications, virtualization environments, cloud infrastructure, and IoT devices.
• Scalability: Designed to handle the monitoring of thousands of agents across distributed systems, but is also efficient for small networks.
• Security Monitoring: The system has automated vulnerability scanning built in.
• Multi-tenant Architecture: Ideal for managed service providers (MSPs) or companies overseeing multiple environments.
• Integrated Event Management: Automated alerts are triggered when pre-defined thresholds are crossed or performance issues are detected.

In addition to the tracking of on-premises network devices and endpoints, Pandora FMS provides monitoring for cloud infrastructure, virtualizations, and hybrid environments, offering visibility into multi-cloud and on-premises setups. The package integrates AI-driven monitoring to identify patterns, detect anomalies, and provide predictive analytics that help anticipate problems before they occur.

Pandora FMS integrates with popular ITSM tools, such as Jira and ServiceNow, CMDBs, and other IT management systems, helping businesses streamline their workflows. The log management feature of the system lays down an audit trail, which is necessary for SIEM tools and compliance management services. Vulnerability scanning is built into the monitoring routines.

Pandora FMS has six editions and one of these is Free. The other five options include a SaaS package plus four on-premises editions. The downloadable software runs on Linux. Device agents are available for Windows, Windows Server, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, BSD, AIX, IPSO, or OpenWRT

Plans and Pricing

Pandora FMS offers different pricing tiers and plans based on the needs of the organization, with options ranging from free open-source software to enterprise-level subscriptions. As it is based in Spain, the price list is set in Euros. Below is an overview of the available plans and pricing:

1. Pandora FMS Free (Community Edition)

Cost: Free

Description: This open-source version is completely free and provides most of the core functionalities required for IT monitoring but lacks advanced enterprise features and official support. This version is limited to monitoring 50 devices.

Features:

• Core monitoring for networks, servers, and applications.
• Basic dashboards, alerting, and reporting features.
• Agent-based and agentless monitoring.

Limitations:

• No official technical support.
• Limited to fewer advanced features such as high availability and SLA reporting.

2. Pandora FMS SaaS

Cost: Starting at €85 ($92) Monthly subscription / Perpetual

Description: This is the cloud-hosted version, which is ideal for organizations that don’t want to maintain their own infrastructure. Prices vary based on the number of monitored nodes and specific usage needs.

Features:

• Includes full enterprise features.
• No need for on-premise infrastructure.
• Flexible, scalable deployment.
• Ongoing technical support and updates included.

Best For: Organizations seeking flexibility with cloud-based infrastructure.

3. Pandora FMS RMM (Remote Monitoring & Management)

Cost: Starting at €590 ($637) Annual subscription / Perpetual.

Description: This plan is designed for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) who need to remotely manage and monitor their clients’ IT infrastructure. The multi-tenant architecture makes it easy for MSPs to manage multiple environments.

Features:

• Centralized control for multiple customer environments.
• Multi-tenant architecture.
• Customizable dashboards for MSP clients.
• Remote monitoring for networks, servers, and endpoints.

Best For: MSPs who need to manage and monitor multiple clients’ infrastructures.

4. Pandora FMS NMS (Network Monitoring Solution)

Cost:  Starting at 1,530€ ($1,652) Annual subscription / Perpetual.

Description: This plan is tailored for network infrastructure monitoring and provides features such as SNMP monitoring, network device mapping, and real-time performance monitoring.

Features:

• Network device discovery and mapping.
• SNMP, ICMP, and WMI protocol monitoring.
• Network traffic analysis.
• Alerts for bandwidth, latency, packet loss, and other network metrics.

Best For: Organizations with large and complex network infrastructures, such as telecoms and ISPs.

5. Pandora FMS ONE

Cost: Starting at €2,352 ($2,539) Annual subscription / Perpetual.

Description: Pandora FMS ONE is a more affordable version of the enterprise edition targeted at small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). It offers full enterprise-level monitoring features in a simplified package.

Features:

• Full enterprise monitoring capabilities.
• Easy setup and management for up to 100 devices.
• Automated discovery, reporting, and alerting.
• Access to technical support.

Best For: SMEs looking for a cost-effective, yet powerful monitoring tool.

6. Pandora FMS Corporate (Enterprise Edition)

Cost: Custom pricing.

Description: This plan is designed for large enterprises with complex and distributed IT infrastructures. It includes advanced features such as high availability, SLA reporting, cloud and hybrid monitoring, and full support from Pandora FMS.

Features:

• Unlimited scalability for thousands of agents.
• Advanced reporting, SLA monitoring, high availability.
• AI-powered predictive analytics and machine learning.
• Cloud, hybrid, and on-premises support.
• Full technical support and access to consulting services.

Best For: Large enterprises and organizations with critical monitoring needs.

Additional Costs

• Consulting and Professional Services: Available at additional costs, depending on the level of customization and consulting required.
• Support Plans: For enterprise and corporate users, support options are included, but specific tiers of support may have additional costs based on response times and availability.

Editions Summary

Pandora FMS offers a range of plans suited to different business sizes and use cases. The Free version is ideal for smaller organizations or those testing the software, while the SaaS and Corporate versions are tailored for larger, more complex infrastructures. The RMM plan caters specifically to MSPs, and the NMS plan focuses on network monitoring. Pandora FMS ONE offers an affordable solution for SMEs seeking enterprise-level monitoring without the complexities.

Major Competitors

Pandora FMS competes with several other IT monitoring and management solutions in the market. Here are some major competitors:

1. Nagios

Nagios is one of the pioneering tools in the IT monitoring space, known for its powerful monitoring capabilities for networks, servers, and applications.

Key Features:

• Extensive Plugin Support: Offers a vast library of plugins for custom monitoring solutions.
• Alerting Mechanism: Configurable alerts via email or SMS to notify administrators of issues.
• Reporting and Dashboards: Provides basic reporting tools and customizable dashboards for visual monitoring.

Strengths: Highly customizable and supported by a large open-source community that contributes to its ecosystem.

Use Cases: Well-suited for organizations seeking an open-source solution that they can tailor to their specific needs.​

2. Zabbix

Zabbix is another popular open-source monitoring solution that focuses on real-time monitoring of servers, networks, and applications.

Key Features:

• Flexible Architecture: Supports distributed monitoring and can scale to large environments.
• Advanced Visualization: Offers rich visualization options, including graphs, maps, and screens.
• Agent and Agentless Monitoring: Capable of monitoring systems using both methods.

Strengths: Robust functionality and support for a wide variety of platforms, making it suitable for heterogeneous environments.

Use Cases: Ideal for organizations with complex IT infrastructure requiring detailed insights and real-time monitoring​.

3. SolarWinds

SolarWinds is a comprehensive IT management platform that provides various monitoring solutions, especially known for its network performance monitoring.

Key Features:

• User-Friendly Interface: Intuitive dashboards that allow easy access to data and insights.
• Multi-Functional Tools: Offers a suite of tools including network performance, server and application monitoring, and log management.
• Alerts and Reporting: Customizable alerting system and detailed reporting functionalities.

Strengths: High usability with a focus on simplifying IT management tasks, which is beneficial for teams of all sizes.

Use Cases: Commonly used by medium to large enterprises that need an integrated IT management solution.

4. PRTG Network Monitor

PRTG is a comprehensive network monitoring solution that provides a wide range of monitoring capabilities with a focus on ease of use.

Key Features:

• All-in-One Monitoring: Monitors networks, servers, applications, and bandwidth usage.
• Flexible Sensor Model: Uses a sensor-based approach, allowing users to monitor various aspects of their infrastructure.
• Visual Dashboards: Offers visually appealing and easy-to-navigate dashboards.

Strengths: Simple setup and configuration make it accessible for teams without extensive monitoring experience.

Use Cases: Suitable for businesses looking for straightforward, real-time monitoring without complex configurations.

5. Dynatrace

Dynatrace is a modern software intelligence platform that provides observability across applications, infrastructure, and user experience.

Key Features:

• AI-Powered Insights: Uses artificial intelligence to automate problem detection and resolution.
• Full-Stack Monitoring: Monitors everything from infrastructure to end-user experiences in real-time.
• Integration with DevOps Tools: Seamless integration with CI/CD tools and cloud environments.

Strengths: Strong capabilities in application performance management, making it a favorite in DevOps environments.

Use Cases: Often utilized by enterprises focusing on optimizing application performance and user experience.

6. Splunk

Primarily known for log management, Splunk also provides performance monitoring and analytics for IT systems.

Key Features:

• Data Analytics: Powerful analytics engine for transforming machine data into actionable insights.
• Real-Time Monitoring: Offers real-time visibility into IT operations.
• Security Features: Capable of integrating security monitoring and compliance.

Strengths: Versatile in handling diverse data sources and extracting insights, which is valuable for compliance and security.

Use Cases: Commonly used in organizations prioritizing security and compliance alongside performance monitoring​.

7. ManageEngine

A suite of IT management tools that includes comprehensive monitoring solutions for networks, servers, and applications.

Key Features:

• Affordable Pricing: Competitive pricing makes it accessible for small and medium-sized businesses.
• Comprehensive Toolset: Offers monitoring alongside IT asset management, service desk, and security information and event management (SIEM).
• Customizable Dashboards: Easy-to-use dashboards for monitoring and reporting.

Strengths: All-in-one solution that integrates multiple IT management functions, enhancing operational efficiency.

Use Cases: Best for organizations looking for a cost-effective, holistic IT management solution.

8. New Relic

New Relic specializes in application performance management (APM) with a focus on real-time insights into application performance and user experiences.

Key Features:

• Detailed APM Capabilities: Provides insights into application performance metrics, user behavior, and transaction tracing.
• Infrastructure Monitoring: Supports infrastructure monitoring alongside application monitoring.
• Custom Alerts: Configurable alerting for performance degradation or user issues.

Strengths: Excellent for organizations focused on optimizing their software performance and enhancing user satisfaction.

Use Cases: Widely adopted by software development teams and IT operations looking to enhance application performance.

9. Site24x7

A cloud-based monitoring solution that provides comprehensive monitoring for websites, servers, and applications.

Key Features:

• Website Monitoring: Tracks website uptime, performance, and transaction monitoring.
• Server Monitoring: Monitors servers across different platforms, both cloud and on-premise.
• User Experience Monitoring: Provides insights into user experiences and performance metrics.

Strengths: A focus on performance and uptime monitoring, particularly beneficial for businesses reliant on web traffic.

Use Cases: Ideal for organizations focused on ensuring high availability and performance of web applications.

10. LogicMonitor

A cloud-based infrastructure monitoring platform that provides full-stack observability across various IT environments.

Key Features:

• Automated Monitoring Setup: Offers an easy onboarding process with automated discovery of devices.
• In-Depth Visibility: Provides detailed insights into network performance, cloud services, and infrastructure.
• Collaboration Tools: Includes features for team collaboration and incident management.

Strengths: Strong capabilities in hybrid cloud environments, making it suitable for organizations with diverse IT ecosystems.

Use Cases: Commonly used by IT operations teams needing comprehensive monitoring for both on-premise and cloud-based resources​.

Spotlight Wrap-Up

Pandora FMS is known as a network monitoring system. It has extended its services to monitor virtualizations and cloud platforms as well. One of the very impressive features of the Pandora FMS system is its security monitoring package. The company doesn’t make enough of that feature, which is strange, given that the business’s founder came from a network security background. Hopefully, the company will start to emphasize its security services more and that will give it an edge over many of its rivals, such as Nagios, Zabbix, Paessler PRTG, and SolarWinds.