Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

DX Spectrum vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

DX Spectrum
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
116
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (6th), Network Monitoring Software (22nd), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (22nd), Network Troubleshooting (7th), DX NetOps (1st)
SolarWinds Network Configur...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (10th), Network Automation (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Management solutions, they serve different purposes. DX Spectrum is designed for DX NetOps and holds a mindshare of 28.6%, down 44.3% compared to last year.
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager, on the other hand, focuses on Configuration Management, holds 1.5% mindshare, up 1.2% since last year.
DX NetOps
Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

DickBaker - PeerSpot reviewer
An all-inclusive monitoring solution that adapts to emerging technologies
The product helps to correlate events.  The solution's most valuable features are its integration with Broadcom tools and scalability. DX Spectrum needs better documentation on its complex features.  I have been using the product since 2005.  I rate DX Spectrum's stability an eight point five…
Manish Ved - PeerSpot reviewer
Network configuration is done well; great pricing
Our model of deployment is on-premises. I would advise other people looking into this solution to read its documentation and better understand what it does before they start using it. I would rate this solution as a whole a 10, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We can monitor MPLS network VPN, network configuration, and backups. It's highly scalable for network configuration management."
"It has a high-quality graphical interface."
"Discovery: Scheduled, on-demand, synchronized with eHealth."
"It is very stable. We have not had any major issues in over 10 years."
"The presentation layer is pretty simple and straightforward."
"We were able to standardize the internal processes across all internal departments, resulting in almost an elimination of non-standard process flows through our organization."
"The integration point."
"It's a good tool. It's simple to do the configuration."
"The most valuable features the solution offers are compliance, reliability, and information about reliability."
"Its main functionality is highly beneficial as it centralizes the management of configuration items across the network."
"It allows us to manage backups in big companies. It is also useful in managing the configuration changes."
"The network performance monitoring of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is a vital feature"
"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."
"Configuration refers to the specific settings and options that determine how a device or system behaves. It can include things, such as network settings, security settings, and other options that are specific to the device or system in question. One of the most valuable features of the solution was its ability to track and monitor changes to the configuration of devices on a network. This can be useful for troubleshooting and identifying potential issues. By keeping track of who made changes to the configuration and when it can be easier to determine the cause of any problems that may arise."
"NCM also helps with vulnerability assessment and remediation."
"The features we find most valuable is the configuration backup automation, the configuration compliance, the security vulnerability detection and upgrading devices."
 

Cons

"I would like to see better scalability, and maybe, a more intuitive user interface. ​"
"DX Spectrum needs to incorporate faster support."
"The Spectrum OneClick is a Java-based client, and that's aging. Really, before any new feature integration, I'd love to see a comprehensive rebuild of the UI."
"Our consultant was four months on-site doing Spectrum setup and working through issues."
"The upgrade process could be smoother. More of the steps around upgrading could be automated."
"The biggest issue is our integration right now between UIM and Spectrum is lacking."
"Make it easier to certify devices."
"It's not a great performance management tool. Its reporting capabilities are not very good at all."
"The network logs could be improved. When the error logs come across with those false positive alarms in the error logs."
"There is room for improvement in automation."
"When we run the SolarWinds NCM jobs at the cellular line, it runs in the morning. They're just not finishing. We're getting false processing."
"We want to be able to store it in a data warehouse format and integrate it with Google single sign-on."
"Its customer service response could be faster."
"There are certain limitations of node-related monitoring"
"On NCM, reporting could be a bit better. It's completely become just one report. When I try to create a custom report, the solution just commits old server data."
"Releasing a product compatible with operating systems other than Windows would be advantageous."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Spectrum is expensive."
"The price is good enough to expect an ideal solution. It's expensive."
"In general, the license cost will be about 30% of the total TCO for this tool (hardware/support team, OS costs, and OS management)."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"The price is very high."
"It is very pricey. With the current trend of enterprises moving towards cheaper and more modern looking solutions like ManageEngine, SevOne, ServicePilot, and Paesller."
"The solution's pricing could be better."
"DX Spectrum's pricing depends on the license number. It is affordable."
"Available at a moderate price"
"You have a base license for 50 devices, and then you can add more licenses as you go."
"The pricing is good."
"In Africa, the cost is a major factor in decision-making for many companies. As a result, some companies may choose cheaper solutions, even if they are open-source, over more expensive ones, such as SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. However, as an engineer, I believe that the functionalities and services offered by SolarWinds justify the cost. Nonetheless, many companies in Africa may still view the prices as unaffordable."
"There is a license for the use of this solution and it is priced well, there is a lot of value for the money."
"The price of the solution is high compared to other solutions."
"We have to pay additionally for its support and maintenance."
"I have a yearly subscription."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which DX NetOps solutions are best for your needs.
831,369 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
7%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about DX Spectrum?
The solution's most valuable features are its integration with Broadcom tools and scalability.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for DX Spectrum?
We are a customer of Broadcom, we use a group license that covers various CA products, including DX Spectrum. The company purchases the licenses they need from this group license, and we do not hav...
What needs improvement with DX Spectrum?
Support from Broadcom could be better. Sometimes we wait a very long time for a solution to level three problems. Challenges and Limitations The only other challenge is the price, which is the main...
What do you like most about SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?
The configuration compliance aspect of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager allows for easy comparison of configuration settings across branches, ensuring adherence to security guidelines and b...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?
The pricing is okay. Overall, I would rate the pricing a three on a scale of one to ten, with ten being most expensive and one being cheap.
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?
The vendor recently introduced AI features to detect alerts. The AI features do not work well. It would be good if the vendor developed the AI feature so that we could understand what patterns the ...
 

Also Known As

CA Spectrum
SolarWinds NCM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

National Informatics Centre India, Banese, Olympus, AlphaServe Technologies, Sicredi
United Lincolnshire Hospitals, Air Rarotonga, NetSuite, Thai AirAsia, REA Group, 335th Signal Command, Agilisys, Marine Expeditionary Force
Find out what your peers are saying about DX Spectrum vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager and other solutions. Updated: September 2020.
831,369 professionals have used our research since 2012.