Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance vs SCOM comparison

Cisco and Microsoft are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #45 with an average rating of 9.0, while Microsoft is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.2. Cisco holds a 1.3% mindshare in NMS, compared to Microsoft’s 2.6% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance and SCOM based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Network Monitoring Software solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance vs. SCOM Report (Updated: September 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance vs. SCOM

September 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Juniper Mist Premium Analytics

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2024, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Juniper Mist Premium Analytics is 0.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance is 1.3%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SCOM is 2.6%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Shiva_Prasad

Senior Technical Consultant at Black Box Network Services

Jan 25, 2024

A cloud solution for warehousing with a troubleshooting feature

The initial setup is straightforward. It's based on user requirements. We also conduct heat mapping using a couple of tools. The only requirement is to understand the technical or configuration aspects from the user's end and then configure it. Mist takes no more than 15 to 20 minutes for a particular deployment. You need to understand the end user's environment and have a concrete plan on whether it's a greenfield installation or an existing one, considering the density and height. Based on that, we need to develop a passive heat map. Then, you need to discuss with the user to understand exactly what needs to be configured and what they require in their environment. Based on that, you can proceed with the installation. Additionally, you can perform post-installation heat mapping to ensure it matches the earlier heat map. I rate the initial setup an eight out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy.

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Sylvain Germe

Application and Network Performance Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

Jan 9, 2023

Highly scalable, responsive support, but lacking new features

This solution is geared towards on-premise setups, and would not be useful if the company plans to move to the cloud within the next two years, such as Google Cloud for example. If the goal is to monitor bandwidth at remote sites and identify performance issues because the network is under the control, this solution is useful. However, if a company primarily uses cloud-based servers and does not manage the internet connection of its remote sites, the solution becomes less useful. I rate Accedian Skylight a seven out of ten. I have a positive opinion of the tool, but it can be challenging to set up. It is also limited in its applicability to certain use cases. I am familiar with the engineers behind the solution and have a good impression of them. However, I am not pleased with the fact that the company removed many features and raised prices after it was acquired by Accedian.

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Hussein Taha

IT Enterprise System Administrator at Nafeza

Dec 13, 2022

We can monitor all the VMs in our environment and access full insight reports for all the VMs, but the solution is not stable

There is no room for update or enhancement in SCOM because Microsoft has retired it as an on-prem solution and moved it to the cloud. The current version will be the last on-prem given Microsoft's push to move all their solutions to the cloud. The GI is difficult to work with and the reporting servers are also difficult. Another dimension that makes SCOM difficult is the number of components. The reporting server, the database, and the two components of the database (operational and warehouse) are all difficult to work with. This is why SCOM is a difficult solution to implement, configure, and troubleshoot.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The single dashboard is a valuable feature."

"We can manage the entire system across the network and troubleshoot the pain points."

"The response times, with the performance, are really interesting too, where you can see the packet loss."

"The solution’s UI and single pane of glass is good. The new dashboard is modern with its new design. The look of it is not pretty, but it is efficient, which is good. It is user-friendly; you can find what you need on the interface quickly."

"It is about finding operational problems. When sites go down, we try to determine who is at fault. While there is not much finger-pointing, the solution is just trying to analyse when there is an outage and where do we start looking to fix it. The very nature of why organization chooses to use the solution is to accelerate the meantime to resolution and find where problems lie to get them rectified as quickly as possible."

"What I like most about Accedian Skylight is that it's a UI application, so using it is easy. I also like that the support for Accedian Skylight is helpful."

"The ability to measure performance end-to-end across the cloud data center allows us to take corrective action to keep our channels online."

"This solution has helped to improve the interaction between our network, datacenter, and application teams. I have used other tools, but this tool can pinpoint the root cause of my application or network issue in the majority of the cases. So, it helps different divisions or groups in the IT department to troubleshoot together and get an issue resolved. This tool helps a lot in our day-to-day networking application and IT operations."

"I think the analytics features are okay. My customer also likes the interface, the GUI, because it's easy to operate."

"For us, the most valuable feature is something called TWAMP that allows for real-time traffic in a way that is 10 times lighter than things like SolarWinds. It's in the sub-milliseconds of accuracy, and you can divide tasks so that you can literally see things like the tagging for Quality of Service. That had been incorrect with the carrier, but there was no way on this planet you'd be able to tell a carrier that they're wrong. I have dozens of scenarios where we found "No, that's not right," and got it resolved instantly."

More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance pros

"The most valuable feature is the monitoring of Windows and Linux servers."

"This solution satisfies all of the requirements that we need for our Windows-based systems, so if you are using the Windows platform then this is an easy solution."

"This solution allows us to standardize all of the reports for monitoring the network, so it helps a lot for auditing purposes."

"The stability has been great."

"It discovers the components automatically, which is a fantastic thing. The discovery works in an automatic way, and it has a dynamic way of discovering the components, assets, and applications. It doesn't require any manual intervention."

"I like some of their newer features, such as maintenance schedules, because SCOM records SLA and SLO time."

"SCOM's most valuable features are the network path feature, reporting, and integration with business intelligence."

"We are able to do problem determination on runaway processes."

More SCOM pros

Cons

"The Wi-Fi side needs improvement."

"The technical support needs improvement."

"It needs the possibility to export data because it is not easy to see larger data sets, e.g., for one month. It would be interesting to export data into a PDF or dashboard to keep a history of the situation."

"The UI interface of Accedian Skylight could improve."

"I would like to see some improvements in parts of their synthetic transactions, which includes all the latency, jitter, and throughput. I would like to see some Layer 7 analytics in there. I want to be able to do a DNS request, HTTP GET request, or even SIP call point-to-point or via registration."

"This solution is expensive compared to some others."

"There should be an option to update and upgrade the solution to the new version without having to re-buy it. I have clients switching to other solutions. The old solution is great, but if you change your license to a new one, you have to almost re-buy it completely."

"If you want a new version, you go to the website. The hardest part is finding the link, where is that .bin file? Sometimes it's pretty hidden in a document... it's hidden in the release notes or in another file somewhere. And it's usually not on the first page either."

"For the PVX, they are in the process of getting the results to export to cloud and SaaS for analytics. They told me that this will happen later this year. Right now, for the most part, I create that data myself."

"It's a bit slow. When I execute a query, something general with a short timeframe that covers one month, for instance, and I do not specify the IP source or IP destination, it can take ages because it has to query the whole database."

More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance cons

"The solution’s initial setup is difficult."

"The solution should have more tools for monitoring the cloud engine versus on-premise."

"Then there is also an issue with capacity and limited space. That is something that needs to be improved."

"The solution should be more user-friendly and offer a better user interface."

"I would like more customized reports. People should have some customization option on the dashboards for whenever they put multiple lists into it. Beyond customizing the content, there should be the ability to customize the colors so that they can engage some priority and mark challenges separately."

"The price could be improved."

"The GI is difficult to work with and the reporting servers are also difficult."

"System Center just provided upgrade and update features for Windows clients, and Windows systems, and did not support Linux, Android, or iOS, and other operating systems. They need to provide better integration with other operating systems if they don't already."

More SCOM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."

"Pricing is a little bit expensive."

"It provides value and the cost is not huge."

"It's not for free, clearly. But on the other hand, it offers very interesting functionality. We pay around €100,000."

"The pricing is cheaper than other competing products, which is better for our budgets."

"The price is competitive overall, depending on the type of customer."

"The pricing of Accedian Skylight is really good. The sensors are low cost. Their model to analytics for sensors is by license, endpoint, or session. With the probes for their analytics, if they get deployed virtually, they are free. The licensing is only based on flows. So, you can effectively deploy probes everywhere in your network. Then, if you want to look at a specific type of traffic, you can enter into it with a very low cost license. You can just use things like spam ports, mirrors, TAPs, and aggregators to optimize what sort of traffic you send to these analysis tools. Then, if you want to start looking at more, you can up your licensed as you go. You are not getting forced into expensive appliances or subscription models."

"The solution was previously well-regarded, but after being acquired by Accedian, the prices have significantly increased. This has made it challenging to sell the product due to its high cost. It is an expensive solution."

"We understand there's a significant cost difference, but have yet to investigate fully."

More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance pricing and cost advice

"If you have a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, then this is part of the agreement."

"The pricing and licensing are fair."

"Our licensing fees are approximately $30 per user, per month."

"It is the cheapest product available in the market."

"We have an enterprise agreement that includes this product as part of it."

"There is a license needed to use this solution and it is paid annually."

"We have to pay for a license and the price is fine for us."

"The pricing is good, and it's part of their system center suite."

More SCOM pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

40%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Juniper Mist Premium Analytics?

We can manage the entire system across the network and troubleshoot the pain points.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper Mist Premium Analytics?

The solution is expensive. I rate the pricing an eight out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Juniper Mist Premium Analytics?

The technical support needs improvement.

See all answers

What do you like most about Accedian Skylight?

The feature I used to like the most was its ability to decode layer seven protocols, although this is becoming less u...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Accedian Skylight?

The solution was previously well-regarded, but after being acquired by Accedian, the prices have significantly increa...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Accedian Skylight?

There should be an option to update and upgrade the solution to the new version without having to re-buy it. I have c...

See all answers

What do you like most about SCOM?

The tool helps to monitor Windows servers. It offers alerts from a central location.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SCOM?

The platform is cost-effective due to our existing Microsoft support.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SCOM?

Might be the APM (Application Performance Monitoring) solutions, which it lacks compared to other tools. I don't know...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 37% of the time

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Compared 25% of the time

Meraki Dashboard vs Juniper Mist Premium Analytics

Compared 22% of the time

InfluxDB vs Juniper Mist Premium Analytics

Compared 16% of the time

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ThousandEyes vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Compared 44% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Compared 12% of the time

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Compared 9% of the time

Dynatrace vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Compared 6% of the time

Niagara Visibility Controller vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Compared 2% of the time

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Dynatrace vs SCOM

Compared 19% of the time

Zabbix vs SCOM

Compared 13% of the time

Datadog vs SCOM

Compared 7% of the time

LogicMonitor vs SCOM

Compared 4% of the time

AppDynamics vs SCOM

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

August 2024

Download Juniper Mist Premium Analytics product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

September 2024

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance report

Download Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance product report

Buyer's Guide

SCOM

August 2024

Download SCOM product report

Also Known As

No data available

Accedian Skylight, Accedian SkyLIGHT PVX, SkyLIGHT PVX, SecurActive, Performance Vision

System Center Operations Manager, SCOM 2012

Learn More

Juniper

Video not available

Cisco

Microsoft

Overview

Juniper Mist Premium Analytics is a comprehensive network analytics solution that provides organizations with valuable insights into their network performance and user experience. The primary use case of this product is to enable IT teams to proactively monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize their network infrastructure.

The most valuable functionality of Juniper Mist Premium Analytics is its AI-driven insights and recommendations. Leveraging machine learning algorithms, it analyzes vast amounts of network data to identify anomalies, predict potential issues, and suggest remediation actions. This proactive approach helps organizations minimize network downtime, improve user experience, and optimize network performance.

By providing real-time visibility into network performance, Juniper Mist Premium Analytics helps organizations quickly identify and resolve network issues. It offers detailed analytics on network traffic, application performance, and user behavior, allowing IT teams to pinpoint the root cause of problems and take immediate action. This not only reduces troubleshooting time but also enhances overall network reliability.

Furthermore, Juniper Mist Premium Analytics enables organizations to optimize their network infrastructure. It provides insights into network capacity utilization, application usage patterns, and user behavior, allowing IT teams to make informed decisions about network design, resource allocation, and capacity planning. This helps organizations to ensure that their network is efficiently utilized and can support the growing demands of their users.

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance offers real-time application and network performance monitoring, VPN management, and network diagnostics across multiple sites.

Organizations use Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance for active and passive monitoring, stress testing, and troubleshooting performance issues. Deployed both on-premise and in the cloud, it supports IT infrastructure, security, and analytics with end-to-end performance measurement across cloud data centers. The modern, intuitive interface features TWAMP for real-time traffic accuracy and standardized reports, along with insightful dashboards for circuit performance, latency, jitter, and throughput monitoring.

What are the most important features?

TWAMP: Provides real-time traffic accuracy and standardized reporting.
Insightful Dashboards: Monitor circuit performance, latency, jitter, and throughput.
Security Integration: Compatible with tools like Splunk for enhanced security.
Application Support: Facilitates comprehensive network performance analysis.

What benefits or ROI should users look for in reviews?

Quick Corrective Actions: Immediate response capabilities for performance issues.
Easy Navigation: User-friendly layouts simplify monitoring and troubleshooting.
Comprehensive Analytics: Advanced tools for in-depth network performance insights.
Cloud and On-Premise Options: Flexible deployment to meet different needs.

In industries like finance and healthcare, Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance ensures robust performance monitoring and quick diagnostics for VPNs and internet lines. It aids in maintaining the integrity and security of data transference, facilitating active and passive monitoring, stress testing, and performance troubleshooting across geographically dispersed locations, ensuring seamless operation and compliance with industry standards.

SCOM (System Center Operations Manager) is a cross-platform data center monitoring and reporting tool that checks the status of various objects defined within the environment, such as server hardware, system services, etc. The solution allows data center administrators to deploy, configure, manage, and monitor the operations, services, devices and applications of multiple enterprise IT systems via a single pane of glass. It is suitable for businesses of all sizes.

SCOM Features

SCOM has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Application monitoring
Database monitoring
Threshold alerts
IT Asset Discovery
Predictive capabilities
Server usage monitoring and capacity forecasting
Application performance management console
Server availability and performance monitoring
Collaboration tools
Virtualization monitoring
Patch management
Out-of-the box templates to monitor applications
Application dependency mapping and thresholding

SCOM Benefits

There are several benefits to implementing SCOM. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Management and monitoring of Windows as well as Unix/Linux platforms
Remotely connect to Windows machines and perform administrative tasks from the console itself
Custom dashboard creation to help monitor the datacenter with ease
Agent based monitoring
Integrates well with other Microsoft products
Easy to use and reliable

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the SCOM solution.

A Manager at a financial services firm says, “The feature I like most about SCOM is that it is easy-to-use. I find it very user-friendly. I also like the knowledge base which it has. You can find the resolution to questions or issues directly within the SCOM itself. It will alert you with a recommendation of what you need to do at the same time. This sort of self-diagnosis or prompting is one of the great values you get from SCOM compared to other solutions.”

PeerSpot user Zahari Z., Information Technology Auditor at a financial services firm, mentions, “Availability monitoring is the feature I have found most valuable, as well as the capacity and ability to send notifications. There is a mechanism to set up a notification from the SCOM and whenever there is a drop in the availability the notification alerts not only for availability but for other issues as well. You can align thresholds according to the speed of your environment and you can have a threshold related notification, which is one of the useful features.”

Bill W., Sr. Systems Engineer at Arapahoe County Government, comments, “ I like some of their newer features, such as maintenance schedules, because SCOM records SLA and SLO time. When we patch, things are automatically put into maintenance mode so that the numbers for our systems being down, do not count against us.”

A Project Manager at a tech services company explains, “The feature I have found most valuable is the book feature. While we run the Sprint one we can add some setups for multiple sprints.”

A Systems Engineer at an educational organization states, “Because it's Windows-based, it actually reports quite well. It reports everything you can think of on the Windows server and allows you to monitor anything. It's excellent for those in the Windows world as it's very good at it.”

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

T-Systems, Thomson Reuters, Bordeaux Metropole, CGI, Citadelle Regional Hospital Center, Lorraine Institute of Oncology, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Groupe BPCE, Group S, Splitpoint, Horus-Net, Audatex, Indexis, Province de Liège, EASI, Spie Batignolles, Faymonville

Dialog Telekom

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance vs. SCOM

September 2024

Free Report: Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance vs. SCOM

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