Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager comparison

"OmniVista is a unified solution. It makes management easier in case the router, switch and the WiFi are of the same brand. It also allows us to monitor the WiFi signal strength, switch speed, and bandwidth consumption, and easily block users. We also use the analytics feature, which provides a dashboard showing the number of users per WiFi access point, signal strength, and internet performance. It also monitors the temperature of the equipment."

"The reports are good."

"I really like Visual RAF. I use that a lot and then I use the up and down status reports because it'll send me emails and text messages when access points go up or down. That way, I'm aware of what's going on."

"The command line is very user-friendly, making it easy to implement the network."

"The solution is easy to manage."

"The most valuable feature of Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista is the monitoring of wired and wireless equipment."

"Being able to see the health of the network is most valuable. It is very strong in terms of stability and scalability. Their technical support is also good."

"It is a good investment for features."

"It is a stable solution."

"It's perfect for network configuration management. It's easy to use."

"The most valuable Real-time fault detection is beneficial as it enables the identification of changes made to a device's configuration through the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. This makes it easy to pinpoint which configurations were added or removed, potentially causing network issues. Such changes are saved in logs for future reference."

"The configuration compliance aspect of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager allows for easy comparison of configuration settings across branches, ensuring adherence to security guidelines and best practices. Automation capabilities have greatly impacted workflows, enabling tasks such as configuration backups, template deployment, and firmware upgrades to be automated, thereby streamlining processes and saving time. Compliance reporting features provide valuable insights into network compliance, offering pre-built security audit reports and customizable options to meet specific requirements."

"The tool is useful for security purposes."

"The network performance monitoring of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is a vital feature"

"What's nice with NCM is you can set up policies that you can then check against the configs to ensure that your device configs adhere to a baseline or standard that you've set in place."

"The features we find most valuable is the configuration backup automation, the configuration compliance, the security vulnerability detection and upgrading devices."

"The support of Omnivista could be better. It's very expensive because it requires a subscription for support, and the licenses are proprietary. If you want to scale or expand your operation by adding more WiFi access points, you have to buy another license for that. The web-based interface of OmniVista is user-friendly, but for some administrative tasks and functions, you have to use the CLI, which is difficult if you don't have enough training. It relies heavily on CLI guides and manuals. For improvements, I'd suggest making the WiFi access points lighter.. Lighter access points like those from TP-Link or Ubiquiti would be better. Additionally, the switches struggle with heat in our environment. They can get very hot and damage the electrical components due to inadequate cooling."

"Adding a reliable and proper heatmap for the access points would make this solution better."

"In version 8.7.70, I am not able to change a user from administrative to room once the user is created."

"I would like to see a little better reporting, not reporting features, the report maker to be a little better."

"One feature that is missing is the netting feature, which allows for public-to-private network transitions and vice versa."

"It needs to be infused with more artificial intelligence and machine learning."

"They should add more security features."

"Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista could improve by adding more cybersecurity features."

"Our experience has shown that most of the problems we've had with SolarWinds NCM are related to software issues."

"There is room for improvement in automation."

"The solution could have better integration."

"The solution could improve by being more secure."

"The network flow is a problem for this solution."

"Its look and feel can be improved. They can also put in more effort into building the THWACK community and use the information about various customer issues and requests to build the new releases."

"When it comes to the way of managing the network devices, SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager should provide the simplest way that devices can relate to the server. For example, when we want to get the devices on board, we go by SSH to make the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager create the connectivity with the device. After that, we pull the configuration. It would be helpful if they could combine both so that everything will be done in one step."

"It would be great if they include a network service manager, network performance manager, or a privileged assessment in the next release."

"Its price is reasonable."

"I would rate OmniVista's pricing seven out of ten since it is expensive."

"This is an open-source solution, we do not pay any money to use it."

"The price of Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista is cheaper compared to other tools on the market. The license for this software is a one-time license only, so there is no renewal needed. It's a perpetual license."

"You have a base license for 50 devices, and then you can add more licenses as you go."

"Available at a moderate price"

"I have a yearly subscription."

"There is a license needed to use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager."

"There is a license for the use of this solution and it is priced well, there is a lot of value for the money."

"We have to pay additionally for its support and maintenance."

"With a minimal bundle, we pay about $3000 a year in licensing costs. If you have multiple devices in your network, you must buy the bundle, which is 100% identical for your infrastructure. If you have 15 devices, you need 15 licenses, for example. That's one bundle. You don't pay for anything over and above that."

"The pricing is good."