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NetBrain 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:
 

Customer Service

No sentiment score available
Sentiment score
6.8
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager's customer service is praised for helpfulness but criticized for slow response times and ticket prioritization.
 

Room For Improvement

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Sentiment score
4.8
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager requires better reporting, integration, AI features, enhanced interface, expanded support, more automation, and cost reduction.
 

Scalability Issues

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Sentiment score
7.1
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is praised for its scalability, effectively managing from hundreds to over 25,000 network devices.
 

Setup Cost

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No sentiment score available
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager's annual licensing starts at $1,000, scaling with devices and features up to $30,000.
 

Stability Issues

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Sentiment score
6.7
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is stable and reliable, with minor issues primarily related to system updates and hardware specs.
 

Valuable Features

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Sentiment score
7.9
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager provides efficient, user-friendly network configuration management with automation, security, compliance, and customizable dashboards.
 

Categories and Ranking

NetBrain
Ranking in Network Automation
6th
Average Rating
7.2
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Network Troubleshooting (14th)
SolarWinds Network Configur...
Ranking in Network Automation
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Network Automation category, the mindshare of NetBrain is 13.7%, up from 8.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is 14.1%, down from 15.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Deborah Gamelin - PeerSpot reviewer
Good monitoring and troubleshoot capabilities, improves overall network traffic visibility
In my organization, we had 130,000 network devices that needed to be brought into the solution and mapped. NetBrain can handle the scale but the engineers that manage those devices have to go in and update all of them to allow NetBrain permission to poll them. It can get a little stressful for everybody when you're trying to roll out new stuff when you've got other issues that have to be addressed with other devices. In some cases, our devices had no automation at all. One example is the Cisco 3650. Right now, if you went through the inventory list, you see that we have different versions running. Some are on one version, whereas others are on another version. The problem with upgrading them is that they need to be done overnight because we don't want to disrupt any network traffic during business hours. Consequently, it could take us years to upgrade the versions before we can even get them onto these new tools. This may be an internal issue but it's a big one when you have a lot of devices. Even if you had 10,000 devices, it's still an issue. You have to consider the compatibility of the device against the tool, and being able to use certain commands to upgrade it.
RajeshB - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers additional functionality, including warranty management
Setting up a solution involves configuring a server and a web console, which is straightforward. Network team coordination is necessary when applying it to devices. This involves creating device connection profiles and ensuring SNMP is enabled. Initially, there were challenges involved in this process, but once the setup was complete, operations proceeded smoothly. All network devices are automatically added to NPM during auto-discovery in SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor, including Network Configuration Manager features. Once configuration profile credentials are established in NCM, they are automatically deployed to all network devices. The solution is easy to use and deploy, although initial setup may require coordination and overcoming challenges.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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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

No data available
SolarWinds NCM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CompuCon, TD Ameritrade, Move Inc.
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 NetBrain vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.