Operational Management at Eleven
Reseller
Top 20
A flexible solution that allows us to monitor many aspects of IT
Pros and Cons
  • "It is very flexible, and we can monitor many aspects of IT as well as ERP and CRM services. It has a very powerful interface and APIs for customization."
  • "Its price can be better. Its price is a problem for us because it is in dollars, and there is a high conversion rate. In terms of new features, it can have BGP monitoring. It should also have a dashboard and maps editor."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for some internet providers and educational institutes.

What is most valuable?

It is very flexible, and we can monitor many aspects of IT as well as ERP and CRM services. It has a very powerful interface and APIs for customization. 

What needs improvement?

Its price can be better. Its price is a problem for us because it is in dollars, and there is a high conversion rate. 

In terms of new features, it can have BGP monitoring. It should also have a dashboard and maps editor.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution since 2014.

Buyer's Guide
PRTG Network Monitor
May 2024
Learn what your peers think about PRTG Network Monitor. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2024.
772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is installed on a Windows Server, and its stability is very nice.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Its scalability is good. For on-premises deployments, the scalability depends on the hardware. For cloud deployments, the scalability depends on the number of servers.

Around 50% of our clients are small organizations and around 20% of our clients are big organizations.

How are customer service and support?

Their technical support is pretty good. As a reseller, we get fairly good support from them, and we also sell support services for our clients.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very easy. An average implementation takes one to two hours.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is expensive.

What other advice do I have?

They have a roadmap in which they have described all the features for the upcoming releases. This roadmap is available on their portal.

I would recommend this solution. I would rate PRTG Network Monitor a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
PeerSpot user
Cloud Engineer at Software Cloud Limited
MSP
Provides us with immediate feedback on our IT infrastructure; we were blind before
Pros and Cons
  • "The alerting is the most valuable feature. I also like the iPhone app. I get alerts in an email on the iPhone app."
  • "In terms of sensors and probes, it would be really cool if PRTG had a purely Azure-based solution. We had to install a probe on one of our cloud servers and then let that probe out from there. It would be really cool if it just monitored Azure without having to install something on the device."

What is our primary use case?

We use it to keep an eye on the equipment we've got out there. We've got a Citrix farm which we shut down on an evening. We have alerts to tell us if they haven't come back up.

How has it helped my organization?

We were blind before. We implemented PRTG to get visibility and to get alerts on when CPU is spiking or RAM is spiking. The benefits are that it keeps us proactive. It keeps us in front of any issues that might arise. For instance, if we've got ten Citrix servers on one site and a couple of those are spiking and we get an alert on it, we can just stop users from logging onto them and spin up an extra server quite quickly.

With the Citrix solution, it now gives us clear visibility if, for some reason, some of the servers haven't come up in the morning. Before the users come in, we've got the servers set to power up by Smart Scale in Citrix to be ready to be used. If they haven't come up, PRTG's telling us they haven't come up. It enables us to jump on that before the users get in. It makes sure that the users' experience is seamless, that it's the same every day. We know every single day if the servers are up or down. PRTG tells us that.

The historical data will help optimize our network performance. We're still relatively new in deploying it. It has given us indications of when CPU spikes, when the most users are on from the most sites - because we have worldwide sites. It's given us an insight into when the busy periods are.

It doesn't necessarily make us more cost-effective but it certainly makes us be on the ball. It makes us be more proactive and it makes us better. In turn that should make us more cost-effective because it allows us to focus more on projects rather than on support. We're not firefighting, we're actually in front of the fire.

It provides us with immediate feedback on our IT infrastructure and it will give us more. We've only got a little bit so far because we've only implemented it recently. We're hoping we're going to get all kinds of really cool analytics out of it.

What is most valuable?

  • The alerting is the most valuable feature. 
  • I also like the iPhone app. I get alerts in an email on the iPhone app.
  • There are plenty of sensors for what we need. It's great.

What needs improvement?

In terms of sensors and probes, it would be really cool if PRTG had a purely Azure-based solution. We had to install a probe on one of our cloud servers and then let that probe out from there. It would be really cool if it just monitored Azure without having to install something on the device. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It hasn't gone down so far, so all good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It looks pretty scalable. At the moment we've just got this on one client's site; quite a big client of ours. And the plan would be to include this in our support package, so when we get new clients we'll put PRTG on their systems as well.

How are customer service and technical support?

We've not used technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were just using the Azure monitoring because all our resources were in Azure. We knew we needed to switch because the service kept filling up in terms of space and the client was alerting us. From a service management point of view, that's horrendous. We needed to the ones alerting the client.

Once we got PRTG on, we were able to not only alert the client, but we were able to rectify the potential issue prior to it being an issue and then alert the client: "We've identified this. We've rectified it. You need to do this."

We did experience system downtime before implementing the solution, but it wasn't a driving factor in our decision to go with PRTG.

We went with it because it looked quite simple. It almost seems too simple. It gives all the information we need. It has that dashboard for alerts on one of our monitors and we get alerts whenever there's an issue. It looked really user-friendly and really simple and it did what we needed it to do. As an IT engineer, you don't really want to be spending all of your time tweaking the monitor. It needs to be a tool.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was straightforward because a colleague of mine used PRTG previously. He knew how to use it and set it up. I had a look at it. I had never used PRTG, but I found it okay to set up. I did a free trial on one device to see if it worked for us and I found it okay to set up.

It took a little while, from the time we set up the solution until it provided us with feedback on our IT infrastructure, because we wanted to get the probes right. It took a little while to set it up on our terms. We didn't just flood it out there. We took our time and got it out. It was used in Azure monitoring and, even though what we were getting was rubbish, it was getting something, and we wanted to make sure we put it out right.

What about the implementation team?

We went straight to PRTG.

What was our ROI?

The solution is actually costing us money. We're taking the hit on the subscription because we haven't been able to bill it to our client yet. When the contract with our client comes up for renewal, we will then factor this into the client's renewal.

It is certainly letting us, as a DevOps team, have some sleep at night. We had a few servers that were limping and we were blind to them. We'd wake up each morning wondering if there was an email or a telephone call saying a server had gone down. This just enables to not worry so much about the solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We've got 1,000 nodes and I believe it's a few hundred quid a month.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We did trial four solutions, including PRTG. Obviously, we were using Azure, and I can't remember the others. They may have been SolarWinds and Opsgenie but that wasn't really going to do it for us.

What other advice do I have?

Get a trial set up and see what it can do. It's really intuitive. It's really straightforward. You get what you need to know out of it and the email alerts are customizable as well. All in all, it's really a positive solution. If you're looking for monitoring, then this is the one.

I don't use the Desktop app much. A colleague of mine set it up and I just focus on the alerts. From what I know, it's fine.

My overall impression of the solution's feature set is good. I'm pleased with it. It does everything we need to do. It would just be really cool if brought us straight into Azure.

I'd currently rate it an eight out of ten, purely because I'm new to it. I'm impressed with it so far. We're getting the reports. It's doing everything we need it to do. As I said, it would be really cool if we could get Azure without having to install a little piece of software.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
PRTG Network Monitor
May 2024
Learn what your peers think about PRTG Network Monitor. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2024.
772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Director at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Reseller
Reliable support, stable, and scalable
Pros and Cons
    • "PRTG Network Monitor can improve Layer 2 and Layer 3 network maps and the GUI more user-friendly. Additionally, they should bundle the features so I can monitor everything on one particular device."

    What needs improvement?

    PRTG Network Monitor can improve Layer 2 and Layer 3 network maps and the GUI more user-friendly. Additionally, they should bundle the features so I can monitor everything on one particular device.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using PRTG Network Monitor for over one year.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    PRTG Network Monitor is stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability of PRTG Network Monitor is good. We only need to buy licenses from PRTG Network Monitor and add more devices or sites, or customers to it. It is easy.

    We have four technicians and one senior technician using PRTG Network Monitor. If something goes down, they can see the problem and then either go to the site or approach the situation remotely.

    How are customer service and support?

    The support from PRTG Network Monitor has been reliable. They have been available when we need them.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup of PRTG Network Monitor is simple. Adding a device for monitoring only takes a few minutes. The technician can add a device to monitor without problems.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The price of PRTG Network Monitor is reasonable for the features that the solution provides. They charge you per monitoring, not per node, it is per port that you need for a device.

    If they could have pricing per device that would be a benefit.

    What other advice do I have?

    My advice to others is if you can't afford SolarWinds and those other expensive solutions, PRTG Network Monitor is the best value for money.

    I rate PRTG Network Monitor an eight out of ten.

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
    PeerSpot user
    Director at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
    Real User
    Has a good alerting system and customizable bandwidth
    Pros and Cons
    • "We like the alerting system, the SNMP monitoring and the customization of the bandwidth."
    • "The automation should be improved."

    What is our primary use case?

    We are using the latest update.

    We use the solution for our firewall interface and bandwidth monitoring.

    The solution may be modified to meet one's requirements. Mine are simply for SNMP bandwidth monitoring for my network interfaces. Others may have different needs when it comes to the solution. 

    What is most valuable?

    The capabilities the solution provides us meet our needs. We feel the solution and its features to be valuable.

    We like the alerting system, the SNMP monitoring and the customization of the bandwidth. It dives deeply into the information concerning metrics. These are the reasons we chose to go with the solution. 

    What needs improvement?

    The automation should be improved. I am talking about automation by code and processes and provisioning the IP desk. Should the automation capabilities be addressed, I would raise my rating from an eight to a ten out of ten. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using PRTG Network Monitor for many years. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution has good performance and I find it to be stable. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution suits our scalability needs. We also onboard many other systems. 

    How are customer service and support?

    We have our own technical team. As such, there has been no need for us to be in touch with technical support. 

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    Prior to the solution, we made use of Zabbix and continue to do so in respect of customers and management. We also tried out another product. 

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was simple, really straightforward.

    What about the implementation team?

    Our team handled the entire setup, internally. 

    Of course, the solution requires maintenance once deployed, as does every software in respect of upgrade, configuration and data backup requirements. This is part of one's product governance. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Our price involves less than 5,000 tiers.

    We are satisfied with the price. 

    What other advice do I have?

    When software version releases come out, we simply install and upgrade them. 

    The solution is cloud-based. We hosted our platform into our own cloud infrastructure.

    For the moment, we are not looking for integration with other products. 

    There are, perhaps, 25 users making use of the solution in our organization.

    The solution boasts good performance. 

    I would certainly recommend the solution to others. 

    I rate PRTG Network Monitor as an eight out of ten. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Private Cloud
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Network Administrator at joplin schools
    Real User
    Easy to use, trouble-free, and offers unlimited license
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is a very stable solution. There are no bugs, glitches and we have not experienced any crashing."
    • "The solution could be better and faster when it comes to performance."

    What is our primary use case?

    The primary use of the solution is to secure network resources and to get a visual of what is connected.

    How has it helped my organization?

    I believe the solution has improved the way our organization works. 

    What is most valuable?

    The features of the solution that stands out are the ease of use and it is trouble-free.

    What needs improvement?

    The solution could be better and faster when it comes to performance. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using the solution for approximately eight years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is a very stable solution. There are no bugs, glitches and we have not experienced any crashing.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution has been adequate for us in terms of scalability.

    There are two people using the solution in our organization and they are part of the network management team.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We have an unlimited license for this solution.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate PRTG Network Monitor a nine out of ten. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Cybersecurity Engineer at a tech services company
    Reseller
    It has been very reliable in updating us if any issues crop up
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is pretty simple to use, which is always a good thing. It's been very reliable in updating us if any issues crop up."
    • "While the desktop app is good, they could slightly improve it. We would like it to be a single pane of glass. At the moment, you can only see certain portions of information. You have to scroll through to make it more granular. We want them to develop the desktop app to be more user-friendly."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use it to manage our systems internally. At some point, we will be offering it as a managed service.

    How has it helped my organization?

    It has helped us make sure that most of our systems stay up. It has also helped us optimize our systems. For a lot of our systems, our software is a service, so they've worked absolutely fine on their own. Where we can't offer software as a service, like our website, it has helped us optimize these applications and keep the uptime on them, helping ensure they stay working.

    The historical data provided by the solution helps us look back at prior instances, then we can use that information to come up with a solution or make improvements.

    What is most valuable?

    It is pretty simple to use, which is always a good thing. It's been very reliable in updating us if any issues crop up.

    The sensors and remote probes seem to work absolutely fine. They don't seem to take up, if any, resources on the machines, which they keep an eye on quite nicely.

    The solution's feature set is very good. It seems to be extremely reliable and all its features work. There is less for us to do, because it does what we need it to do.

    What needs improvement?

    While the desktop app is good, they could slightly improve it. We would like it to be a single pane of glass. At the moment, you can only see certain portions of information. You have to scroll through to make it more granular. We want them to develop the desktop app to be more user-friendly.

    I would like a screen where you can get all the information without have to granually go look for it. If they can make it, so you can sort your own dashboard and customize it based on your needs that would be great.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I have never seen this solution go down once. Compared to everything else out there, which you see drop once in a while, this solution hasn't done that since we've taken it up.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It seems very easy to scale up. When you configure it, that is all you need to do. You only need to set it up once.

    The solution will grow with our business. If we do need to add anything to the solution, it has not been a problem. Do it once, and that's it. It is done.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    We have never really had to use them because the solution has been working that well. 

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    The company is only about a year old. This was the first solution that we used.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is a tiny bit complex, but you expect these things to be a bit complex. However, it wasn't anything too taxing nor did it take a long time to set up.

    It took a couple days from the time that we set up the solution until it provided us with feedback on our IT infrastructure from monitoring.

    What about the implementation team?

    We are the reseller, so we did the deployment.

    What was our ROI?

    It has saved us time. At previous companies that I have worked for, they have used similar solutions, which were not as good as this one. They still had to put a bit of work into working out why and what happened. This solution seems to give us an answer straightaway.

    This solution enables our IT department to be more cost-effective. The reliability of the solution means we are doing less work trying to figure out issues and optimize systems, as it is already supplying us with the information that we need. Therefore, it has saved us a lot of time and effort.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Give the soluton serious consideration. If you are not too sure about it, try the free version. Then, if you like it, you can go to the paid version and roll it out.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    My technical director chose this solution out of all the products that he had a look at, as it stood out straightaway.

    What other advice do I have?

    The modes for the desktop app, like the API, update via email, providing us the information that we need with handy options, which we use mostly when monitoring. There are easily integratable into our call logging system, which automatically logs a call when there is an issue.

    Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller.
    PeerSpot user
    PeerSpot user
    Technical Consultant at Celerity Limited
    Consultant
    Allows For Better Monitoring of Devices and Helps to Identify Issues
    Pros and Cons
    • "Ease of set-up – it is quick and easy to add a probe and start collecting data from a device."
    • "PRTG access works best from the web GUI. There are dedicated apps on Windows/Android/iOS, but they are slow and don’t work as well as the web GUI."

    What is most valuable?

    • Network monitoring - it's able to collect lots of detailed information on network devices and network traffic. The graphing functions allow it to view current and history of the device.
    • Ease of set-up – it is quick and easy to add a probe and start collecting data from a device.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Allows us to monitor devices better, and helps up to identify issues with the monitored device using current or historical data from PRTG.

    What needs improvement?

    PRTG access works best from the web GUI. There are dedicated apps on Windows/Android/iOS, but they are slow and don’t work as well as the web GUI.

    Licenses are very expensive, so I would like to see cheaper licensing.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    Over three years.

    What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

    No, it was quick and easy to set-up and deploy. But if you have lots of devices to set-up, then it can take a long time.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The only issues we had were self-inflicted. We massively exceeded the recommended number of probes on the collecting server and this caused the server to crash and stop collecting data. Once we reduced the number of probes, then the PRTG was stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    No issues with scalability until you reach license or hardware limitations. Then you need to install new servers and have different licensing. Have a plan and idea of what you want to monitor before implementation.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Customer Service:

    Not much interaction with customer service, but whenever I did contact them they were helpful.

    Technical Support:

    Technical support was responsive and helpful.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We previously used WhatsUp for network monitoring, but it was more simplistic and did not provide the depth of monitoring that PRTG did.

    How was the initial setup?

    It was quick and easy to setup new devices.

    What about the implementation team?

    In-house.

    What was our ROI?

    Figures unknown.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    My advice is to be clear with what you want to monitor before you start configuring. PRTG has a large number of probes that can be used to monitor devices, so have a good plan of what you want to monitor. Otherwise it is easy to monitor devices with lots of probes and exceed license allowance or hardware limitations. PRTG licenses are expensive.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    No, PRTG had already been selected as our monitoring tool.

    What other advice do I have?

    There is a free trial installation of PRTG available, which allows monitoring with 100 probes. Install on a server to gain some experience of PRTG and learn what it can do.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    PeerSpot user
    Technical Director - Data Center Solutions at Atrion
    Consultant
    Finally a system monitoring tool that is easy to deploy and simple to use.

    Valuable Features:

    First let me start by saying I have been using system monitoring tools for a very long time. I first cut my teeth with HP Openview "back in the day" and most recently with Microsoft System Center which I have now completely replaced as a monitoring and alerting system with a bit of software called PRTG from a company called Paessler.Here are the top 10 strong points of PRTG: - Rapid deployment - But, there are best practices for sure... - Highly scale-able - Intuitive interface - quick learning curve - Inexpensive to license - Accurate - Works with most infrastructure without customization - Updated often and very easy to update - Good support from the vendor - Kind to diskspace consumption - not sure how they do it! - Easy to re-architect as your infrastructure changesMy company runs a large scale SAAS infrastructure with a large mix of technologies. PRTG is the first software product we have used to accurately alert the right people of trouble. This has been a huge boost in customer satisfaction for sure.

    Room for Improvement:

    There is not much not to love in this software but one item on my wishlist that has yet to be addressed in an intuitive way is the ability to use and manage templates. This would allow you to apply templates easily and then modify templates easily.
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free PRTG Network Monitor Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: May 2024
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free PRTG Network Monitor Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.