IBM Tivoli NetCool vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager comparison

"The tool had many built-in automation capabilities."

"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."

"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."

"It's very easy to use."

"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."

"It's very easy to use."

"Anything is possible with Tivoli. It's quite a robust system."

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

"SolarWinds NCM provides updates on the status of your network infrastructure. If any issues arise, such as a link failure or a device going offline, you will receive notifications and alerts. Additionally, if someone unplugs a cable, SolarWinds NCM will detect it. It also features a Topology Mapper that displays the connectivity of your network devices, giving you a visual representation of the network's structure. With SolarWinds NCM, you have a clear understanding of what's happening within your network and can generate comprehensive reports."

"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."

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

"The scanning features have proven to be highly valuable, particularly due to the comprehensive information they provide."

"The feature that I really enjoy is the ability to script changes across all of your devices."

"This solution has helped our organization by allowing us to store all the device configurations for the various network devices in NCM and making it easy for us to retrieve and look them over."

"SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager improves the mean time to repair significantly, bringing measurable benefits to customers."

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

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

"The solution does not have any AI capabilities."

"The solution is not user-friendly."

"In terms of improvement, I would like to see more AIOps, Artificial Intelligent Operations in the next release. IBM develops new features for Power BI or Cognos Analytics, which is good. As of now, we use Cognos Analytics, we are not using Power BI. They have the Insight concept but we don't like that."

"UI is outdated, very old legacy."

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

"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."

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

"I would like to see more integration tools. Something like dialysis, for example."

"I would like to see more features in terms of wireless reporting and more historical information for client connectivity in SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager."

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

"There are certain limitations of node-related monitoring"

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

"The only thing that requires some experience, and training doesn't fix, is how to set up your custom policy-based reports to check compliance."

"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."

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

"The price of the product is too expensive."

"Customers are required to pay a licensing fee."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"The pricing is good."

"I have a yearly subscription."

"Additional costs beyond the standard licensing fee are inevitable."

"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."

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

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

"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."