IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) vs Wireshark comparison

IBM SevOne Network Performa...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) and Wireshark based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Zabbix, Auvik, Datadog and others in Network Monitoring Software.

To learn more, read our detailed Network Monitoring Software Report (Updated: March 2026).

Network Monitoring Software

March 2026

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Helped 886,576 peers since 2012

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

IBM SevOne Network Performa...

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (39th), Server Monitoring (17th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (42nd), Log Management (41st), Cloud Monitoring Software (31st)

Wireshark

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Troubleshooting (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Management solutions, they serve different purposes. IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) is designed for Network Monitoring Software and holds a mindshare of 1.0%, up 1.0% compared to last year.
Wireshark, on the other hand, focuses on Network Troubleshooting, holds 15.0% mindshare, up 13.3% since last year.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM)	1.0%
Zabbix	4.3%
SolarWinds NPM	3.6%
Other	91.1%

Network Monitoring Software

Network Troubleshooting Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Wireshark	15.0%
AirMagnet Survey PRO	9.8%
LinkRunner	7.2%
Other	68.0%

Network Troubleshooting

Featured Reviews

Grzegorz Nowak

Solution Architect at Wingu

Improves infrastructure planning by helping us analyze network traffic

We use SevOne to collect and report on network flows SevOne improves infrastructure planning by helping us analyze network traffic. We can look at bandwidth for specific endpoints on the customer's network and analyze traffic to identify issues. For example, maybe some connectors are unavailable.…

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Vijay Duggal

Network Specialist at Squarepoint Capital

Provides detailed traffic analysis and helps troubleshoot issues

There is a disadvantage when it comes to sampling intervals. While the solution supports sampling as fine as one millisecond, it requires a copy at that interval. My Python script allows me to achieve a granularity of up to ten microseconds, but I can't go beyond that. When dealing with provisioning on both issues, it would be beneficial if I could go down to the microsecond level, if not the nanosecond. Additionally, I've heard from a colleague that Wireshark might be less effective in the voice domain.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"With this tool it is interesting to show the info to the client and explain where the traffic is."

"The monitoring of the network is very customizable."

"SevOne has improved my organization by taking us to a single pane of glass for alerting on the network reports."

"While some competitors have a feature here or there that might be better on the whole, this is the best solution for us on the market for the dollar with the simplest ramp up and ease of administration."

"The SMP and the xStats, which is for flat file integration, are both useful for integrating the various metrics that the device provides to monitor the performance of those systems."

"As an IT Manager this tool helps me sleep better knowing that SevOne is my eyes and ears watching the entire infrastructure."

"The comprehensiveness of this solution's collection of network performance and flow data is one of the basics in the field for what it does. It meets all of our needs. So for all those areas, for the most straightforward collection capabilities, right up to NetFlow and even telemetry, it meets all those demands. Not only just basic or fundamental SNMP collection capability, but the product also supports what we need for the future with telemetry streaming. So it's very comprehensive."

"Flexible architecture: You can extend the system and its capacity by attaching another cluster pair."

More IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) pros

"Wireshark is a network analytic tool which provides such intelligent information in a network."

"Wireshark is the world's most powerful network protocol analyzer tool."

"Wireshark's best feature is that it's adaptive, which means it's the go-to tool for network-related developers."

"The solution is easy to install and use."

"Wireshark is a great tool to help network engineers identify network problems like broadcasting, injection, poisoning, etc."

"It gives us the ability to pinpoint problems and to communicate network problems with software and hardware vendors."

"Being able to dissect email data and figure out what is inside email messages was the most valuable feature."

"Wireshark's best features are that it lets us see what traffic is in the network and what data should be encrypted."

More Wireshark pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the integration with different vendors and the reporting capabilities."

"High-frequency polling is data-intensive because you're pulling more. If SevOne could figure out a way to manage the impact of high-frequency polling on the system, that would be very popular."

"One area that requires a little bit of improvement is the topology of visualization and being able to map out connections, end-to-end."

"NMS has several areas for improvement. It should be more user-friendly inside of NMS for some of the functionality in there. It's been getting better the last version or two, but the there have been bugs in there whenever I've gone to new versions."

"The method of searching for SIP and the way to create the groups."

"I think that the upgrade process could be improved, which can be painful at times."

"When I started using it, I tried adding one of the BroadWorks application servers into SevOne; it created thousands and thousands of objects from that one application server and we immediately ran out of license."

"There are a lot of pain points. My main problem is that we don't have a high availability system."

More IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) cons

"Can be difficult for non packet heads to understand"

"You need good network connectivity to download during the setup, otherwise, it might take a while."

"Cannot be used to diagnose any kind of network intrusions and hacking exploits."

"Bigger memory footprint."

"The only thing that I don't like is sometimes there is an update, and something that I was using is either no longer there or it has changed."

"Great scalability, but they are beginning to sacrifice ease of use for complexity."

"It is not an easy program. You will need to study to use it to its full capabilities (follow a course)."

"Maximum buffer size of captured data should be unlimited and should allow ability to archive all old captures (not save option) in real time, it should support a destination location where old captures can be directed for long term storage."

More Wireshark cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing has been fair."

"There are different options available for licensing, with the per-device option being more expensive but more flexible."

"There are cheaper solutions available."

"A blocking point is the high upfront cost because it is challenging to get it accepted and the purchase approved."

"Choose a SevOne partner who can provide SevOne as a service and can deliver professional services and maintenance."

"It is inexpensive compared to other monitoring tools."

"The tool is not expensive. We were able to negotiate with SevOne on pricing."

"Many tools price things based on the number of KPIs that you're collecting around a device. In many cases, there could be hundreds of metrics that you need to collect. SevOne provides device-level pricing. That gives us the flexibility to turn on, and expand on, the metrics that we're collecting around those devices, without taking a financial hit."

More IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) pricing and cost advice

"Wireshark is free of charge, and there's no license involved."

"Wireshark is free software, so you don't have to pay any licensing fee. Individual people can use it and then donate to Wireshark."

"Wireshark is free software, so you can download it and use it for free with no licensing fees."

"This is an open-source product that can be used free of charge."

"Wireshark is an open-source product, so it's free to use."

"I am using the free version of this solution."

"Wireshark is open-source and free of charge."

"It is an open-source solution."

More Wireshark pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Construction Company

10%

Computer Software Company

University

10%

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	45

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	31
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	27

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with SevOne Network Data Platform?

There is room for improvement in the integration with different vendors and the reporting capabilities. It would be beneficial to have out-of-the-box integration with third-party vendors and improv...

What is your primary use case for SevOne Network Data Platform?

The primary use case of IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) ( /products/ibm-sevone-network-performance-management-npm-reviews ) is network monitoring. It helps to maintain the infrastru...

What advice do you have for others considering SevOne Network Data Platform?

To compete with custom-built tools, IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) should accommodate the desired features and be timely in the delivery of feature updates. I would rate the overal...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Wireshark?

Wireshark is priced at a medium range, not too high, not too low. The pricing could be more flexible, and they might make it more expensive. That said, compared to other products, it is competitive.

What needs improvement with Wireshark?

The speed of the Internet could be improved, especially its performance. Performance can sometimes be a challenge due to numerous factors.

What is your primary use case for Wireshark?

We are using Wireshark for inspecting the vertical line to know the data flow in and out of the cables. This is to determine if there is real traffic flow through the physical connections or not. A...

Zabbix vs IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM)

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Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Network Monitor vs Wireshark

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Observer GigaStor vs Wireshark

Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM)

April 2026

IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) report

Download IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) product report

Download Wireshark product report

March 2026

Also Known As

SevOne

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Overview

The IBM® SevOne Network Performance Management (IBM SevOne NPM) solution helps you spot, address, and prevent network performance issues early with machine learning-powered analytics from a single source. Boost network performance and improve your user application experience by proactively monitoring your multivendor end-to-end network across enterprise, communication, and managed service provider networks.

Transform raw network performance data into intelligent and actionable insights. The IBM SevOne NPM solution goes beyond detection, combining industry-leading expertise and advanced technology to help your IT team plan and optimize your network and act on what matters: improving network performance to provide an exceptional customer experience.

For further information, please visit www.ibm.com/cloud/sevo...

IBM

Wireshark is the world's foremost network protocol analyzer.

Sample Customers

ATOS, Devereux, Spark New Zealand, Access4, Rogers Communication, Lumen (formerly known as CenturyLink)

Comversion, ADP, Talbots