IBM Tivoli NetCool vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager comparison

"The scalability of monitoring, the breadth of supported network components, the scale of the number of monitoring events, and the flexibility in customization make this a well-rounded product."

"The tool is much easier to manage than running scripts and figuring out how many endpoints have been exceeded."

"Full featured - event/fault management, performance management, topology map, discovery, RCA, event enrichment, Proviso will chart data from almost any source with a variety of aggregation options."

"Support is one of the best aspects of this solution. NetCool is a good product that has good flexibility. There are a lot of documents available online which is one of the best features of IBM Tivoli Suite. Whenever an issue happens, rather than going to technical support, if you find the exact issue in Google, you can get tech notes for that particular issue."

"The feature I have found most valuable with NetCool is how it collaborates all the alarms, and then it does a predictive analysis, providing a consolidated alarm view and management."

"The solution has very good integration capabilities."

"It's very easy to use."

"Support is one of the best aspects of this solution; NetCool is a good product that has good flexibility, and there are a lot of documents available online which is one of the best features of IBM Tivoli Suite."

"NCM also helps with vulnerability assessment and remediation."

"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."

"It allows us to manage backups in big companies. It is also useful in managing the configuration changes."

"Configuration pushing, upgrade capabilities, job backup, configuration backup, and real-time configuration change monitoring are highly beneficial features of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager."

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

"The most valuable features the solution offers are compliance, reliability, and information about reliability."

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

"We can proactively monitor our infrastructure in a single pane of glass, unlike before when there were a lot of network management tools that would need to be looked at."

"The solution is not user-friendly."

"IBM's technical support takes a long time to do root cause analysis, and we have to go through several levels of help before getting a solution."

"I think the UI should be updated and made more presentable and eye-catching. Compared to NCE in Huawei, NSN in Nokia, the UiPath and Ubiquiti, it feels very old legacy."

"Tivoli NetCool's has medium scalability - there are some problems with its replications not being mature."

"The solution is too expensive."

"Tivoli NetCool is based on a Linux platform, it would be beneficial if they moved it to Windows because not everyone is acquainted with Linux."

"The installation could be simplified, and technical support could be faster."

"Customization and integration that you need to do to make the product fit your needs is very complex. It is not a product that somebody could easily pick up without any prior training or experience."

"Its customer service response could be faster."

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

"The Network Configuration Manager needs to improve the access control list compliance."

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

"I will email them and I won't see the response for another two or three hours. I have to give them a call and it's a pain, it's a nightmare."

"The third-party plugins available in the solution could improve. I have received some issues with the templates."

"For each device, when you open the network performance monitor, it will give you all of the information about the device, but many of the natural configuration management features are not on that page."

"Further improvements in automation are needed. Currently, there are limitations in performing tasks without logging into routers directly, and we expect more comprehensive device control."

"The price of the product is too expensive."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"It costs around 100k for every ten servers, which is lower than similar products from other vendors."

"Customers are required to pay a licensing fee."

"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 price of the solution is high compared to other solutions."

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

"Pricing is reasonable and competitive."

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

"I have a yearly subscription."

"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 pricing is good."