SolarWinds NPM Reviews

Name: SolarWinds NPM
Brand: SolarWinds
Rating: 4.1 (156 reviews)

Vendor: SolarWinds

4.1 out of 5

156 reviews
92% willing to recommend

4,764 followers

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What is SolarWinds NPM?

SolarWinds NPM is a network monitoring solution that enables you to detect, diagnose, and resolve network performance issues and outages quickly and efficiently. The solution is a powerful tool that can help you increase service levels, reduce downtime with multi vendor network monitoring, simplify the management of complex network devices, improve operational efficiency, and much more.

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SolarWinds NPM is the #4 ranked solution in best Network Monitoring Tools, #4 ranked solution in Infrastructure Monitoring tools, and #6 ranked solution in top Cloud Monitoring Software. PeerSpot users give SolarWinds NPM an average rating of 8.2 out of 10. Based on the analysis of the 156 most recent SolarWinds NPM reviews, the overall sentiment is positive, with a sentiment score of 7.1. (Among the lowest in the category). SolarWinds NPM is most commonly compared to Datadog: SolarWinds NPM vs Datadog. SolarWinds NPM is popular among the midsize enterprise segment, accounting for 61% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a educational organization, accounting for 56% of all views.

Helped 816,192 peers since 2012

Featured reviews

MohitKumar

Senior Specialist at HCL Technologies

The solution needs to integrate with additional SDN technologies that are part of the hyper market. The solution supports many vendors by default and just included Meraki SDN with the new release, but continued expansion is important. We created a custom method to pair with unsupported vendors but that can produce a lag in performance so future releases should expand SDN support. The solution does a good job of automating features but could expand that even more.

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Raja Xabi

Technical Manager at PTCL.Official

The deployment process has evolved significantly compared to previous versions. In the past, It was complex when deploying one or two times. However, the deployment was quite straightforward with the recent version and the support of our local vendor's technical resources. A major challenge was creating a customized map, which was a requirement for us to have a dynamic representation of our sites spread geographically across the country. The technical resources from the local vendor did not initially have sufficient experience with this feature. Consequently, it took some time for him to learn it by consulting the documentation and senior resources. Eventually, he was able to implement it successfully. The deployment and the integrations were completed within two to three days.

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Alan Arnold

Enterprise Operations Manager at University of Alabama at Birmingham

We were looking at using DPA (Database Performance Analyzer) which is another component of the NPM and that looks like it takes care of an area we had not really dove into yet. But in talking to the DBA, they like another product that they want to use for the database monitoring. It is an Oracle product called OEM (Oracle Enterprise Manager). In talking to the DBA's, there was a lot of functionality that they were just used to and they had issues because they did not see some things that they thought were important but missing in the DPA product. That is the only thing I have run into so far with the product that seems to be a shortfall. Everything else is pretty good. I do not really have other suggestions for additional features beyond working on the development of DPA to make it a more complete tool. We are still learning the product. There may be some things that they could improve in the reporting aspect of the product. You can create custom reports and those types of things. But the product seems to be missing some depth in that area and it leaves a little bit to be desired. For example, the filtering system and formatting reports and things like that seem to have room for improvement. You are a little limited on the information available on that front and the utility could be improved. They do have some templates that you can use for report setup. It would be nice if you could maybe make your own. That might make it a little bit more easy to generate other reports that follow the way you like to do things.

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SolarWinds NPM mindshare

Product category:

As of November 2024, the mindshare of SolarWinds NPM in the Network Monitoring Software category stands at 5.2%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

Key learnings from peers

Last updated Nov 16, 2024

Valuable Features

SolarWinds NPM provides ease of deployment and extensive SNMP monitoring, supporting diverse network devices. Users highlight its intuitive interface and customizable dashboards. Features like NetPath and Performance Analyzer offer real-time visibility into network paths and metrics. Alerting and reporting capabilities are praised for their flexibility and customization. The API and integration with other SolarWinds tools enhance data accessibility and analysis. Many find value in its graphical views, enabling proactive network management.

"SolarWinds has greatly helped us, especially in tracing when the SoundCloud Software goes down without any apparent reason."
"Everything has been complete and stable for our needs over the past four years."
"The most valuable feature is the vital states of the devices as it provides overall CPU and device health information."

Room for Improvement

SolarWinds NPM users highlight several improvement areas, including better network device discovery and real-time analytics capabilities. Users report difficulties with the user interface and find that the web-based interface lacks some features of the traditional GUI. They desire more customization for dashboards and reports and smoother integration with third-party tools and cloud services. High resource usage and costly upgrades are concerns, along with the need for enhanced tech support and improved security features.

"The solution is considered expensive."
"It would be beneficial if NPM offered support for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), as currently, it does not support this and we are migrating our services there."
"The price could be better."

ROI

SolarWinds NPM offers visibility into infrastructure, enhancing strategic spending decisions. Users note significant ROI, with some observing saved costs and reduced downtime. The tool provides valuable historical data aiding in informed decision-making. Many are satisfied with NPM's capabilities, emphasizing its role in cost optimization, particularly in network monitoring. Some experienced substantial returns quickly, while others appreciate proactive measures against network issues, contributing to happy clients and adherence to budgets.

Pricing

SolarWinds NPM pricing varies greatly, with costs influenced by factors like organizational size, node count, and chosen modules. Initial setup ranges from a few thousand dollars to $200,000 for complex arrangements. Annual fees for licensing and support range between $5,000 and $60,000. While generally offering good value compared to competitors, the pricing might appear high to smaller businesses. Per license costs adjust with monitoring needs, covering nodes, interfaces, and additional modules.

"The pricing is in the middle. It's not particularly cost-effective, but it's not overly expensive either."
"The solution's pricing is low compared to a lot of other tools in the market."
"Most of the licenses are perpetual, and the annual maintenance charges are not high."

Popular Use Cases

Organizations primarily use SolarWinds NPM for network monitoring, tracking uptime and performance of network devices such as routers and switches. It monitors bandwidth utilization, detects connectivity issues, and provides alerts for network anomalies. NPM also assists in application performance monitoring and integrates with other SolarWinds products for comprehensive infrastructure management, including server, bandwidth, and device status tracking. Many entities utilize it for analyzing network health, security, and user experience across various environments.

Service and Support

SolarWinds NPM customer service is knowledgeable but sometimes aggressive in sales tactics. Service ratings vary, with slow responses reported for non-critical issues. Support staff are technically capable but response times could improve. Thwack, their community platform, is a valuable resource, providing faster assistance than direct support at times. Users praise technical support for its expertise, though they find newer features challenging to adjust. Some appreciate the quality while others note delays, suggesting improvement in availability.

Deployment

Many found SolarWinds NPM's initial setup straightforward and easy, often requiring minimal time and technical knowledge. The wizard-based installation facilitates the process, though larger deployments with customization needs may prove more complex. Some reported longer setup times due to organizational requirements, but most agree that following the provided guidelines simplifies installation. For those with experience in network monitoring, setup is manageable and does not pose significant challenges.

Scalability

SolarWinds NPM generally accommodates growing network demands well. Organizations report it supports additional nodes and pollers easily, though virtual deployments may experience performance lags. While some face challenges with hardware and licensing costs, many find scalability straightforward. A few note limitations managing extensive nodes without extra resources, and some encountered issues related to network configurations. Overall, most users find SolarWinds NPM scalable across varying environments, but some improvements could be made.

Stability

SolarWinds NPM shows high stability with minimal issues reported by numerous users. Updates often enhance performance, though occasional database or resource-related concerns can arise. Many express satisfaction with its reliability, noting that proper system planning and adherence to prerequisites are essential. Some users encountered temporary instability during upgrades or due to underspecification. In recent years, stability has improved, with users rating it highly compared to other platforms, though a few still experience minor glitches.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our SolarWinds NPM Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

By reviewers

By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

56%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

University

Healthcare Company

Energy/Utilities Company

Retailer

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

Real Estate/Law Firm

Media Company

Non Profit

Insurance Company

Transportation Company

Legal Firm

Outsourcing Company

Recreational Facilities/Services Company

Hospitality Company

Wholesaler/Distributor

Performing Arts

Compare SolarWinds NPM with alternative products

Learn more about SolarWinds NPM

SolarWinds NPM Features

SolarWinds NPM has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Increased scalability
Fault, performance, and availability monitoring
Dynamic network discovery and mapping
Cross-stack network data correlation
Customizable topology
Dependency-aware intelligent alerts
Intelligent maps
Automated capacity forecasting, alerting, and reporting
Logical and physical network monitoring
Monitor Azure vNet gateway visibility

SolarWinds NPM Benefits

There are several benefits to implementing SolarWinds NPM. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Comprehensive monitoring for advanced network devices: With SolarWinds NPM, you can gain insight into the health and performance of your load balancers, Cisco ASA and Palo Alto Networks, firewalls, and Cisco Nexus switches.

Hardware health monitoring: SolarWinds NPM makes it easy for you to monitor, alert, and report on key device metrics, including power supply, fan speed, and temperature.

Customizable performance and availability reports: With this feature, you can choose from more than 100 templates to schedule and also generate custom network performance reports.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the SolarWinds NPM solution.

PeerSpot user Andrew N., Senior Network Engineer at Element Critical, says, “The "Performance Analyzer" feature is the solution's most valuable aspect. It's able to do the bounded graphs of all the interface stats, from errors to broadcasts and to current traffic. With a click of a button you're able to, in one interface, look at historical data for those items.” He also adds, “From the troubleshooting point of view, just having that peace of mind is great. And, The solution is extremely stable. We haven't had any issues in that regard. We haven't had issues with bugs, glitches, or crashes."

Daniel S., Systems and Data Warehouse Supervisor at MMSD, mentions, “The alerting and usage tracking is a valuable feature because it alerts us when we're getting near capacity on disk space, network utilization or processor utilization. It helps us manage our capacity and enables us to be proactive.”

A Senior Vice President and CIO at a financial services firm explains, “As we look to add more servers to our virtual environment and to understand the impact, the solution allows us to dig into the historical charts related to capacity planning. It also gives us visibility of spikes and allows us to track down the reasons for their occurrences. So too, it makes room for potential processes that have gotten hung or runaway and to know when it's time to reboot a server or service.”

Dinesh N., Digital Innovation at Bobcat Company, states, “The best part of the solution is the sharing display. It gives a general public ID wherein everyone can link to a public display. That's a good feature.”

Fazal A., Implementation & Support Specialist at 360Factors, comments, “We have configured multiple alerts for our network devices, including routers and switches, so that we are notified if any interface goes down. In the event an interface goes down, we have multiple reports that include availability monitoring, network uptime monitoring, and network downtime monitoring. These reports are on multiple schedules such as the end of the day, end of the last business day of the week, monthly, and quarterly. This gives us the ability to provide reports to our management and let them know the performance of our network.”

SolarWinds NPM was previously known as Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor, SolarWinds Network Bandwidth Analyzer.