← SolarWinds
SolarWinds role-play cheat sheet
For the mock cold call at the end of most SDR interviews.
What they sell, in one line
Software that helps IT teams monitor, manage and fix their networks, servers, applications and databases.
Who you'd be calling
IT operations managers, sysadmins, network engineers, and IT directors at small to large organizations.
Your opener
“Hi [Name], this is [You] from SolarWinds. We help IT teams see problems in their network and systems before users start complaining. Do you have a quick minute?”
Problems you solve for them
- IT teams find out about outages from users, not from their tools
- Too many separate tools make it hard to see the full picture
- Small teams waste time on manual troubleshooting
Discovery questions to ask
- How do you currently find out when something goes down or slows down?
- How many different tools does your team use to monitor everything?
- When something breaks, how long does it usually take to find the cause?
Objections they'll throw at you
“I'm busy.”
→ I understand, IT never stops. Can I ask one quick question and then let you decide if we should talk more?
“Not interested.”
→ Fair enough. Is monitoring already well covered, or is it just not a focus this quarter?
“We already have a monitoring tool.”
→ Good to hear. What do you like about it, and is there anything you wish it showed you more clearly?
“Send me an email.”
→ Sure. What would be most useful: network, server or application monitoring? And may I check back next week?
Competitors worth knowing
Datadog, Dynatrace, Paessler
Interview tips for this company
- Know a few simple terms: monitoring, network, server, uptime, outage, and be able to explain why they matter.
- Read the company's 'people-first' values on its careers page and weave them into your 'why this company' answer.
Written from public information about SolarWinds to help you practice. Ask an insider what their role play looked like; it's the best prep there is.