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IT Security Architecture & Implementation Manager at Banque Saudi Fransi
Real User
A comprehensive monitoring system that is reliable and easy to use
Pros and Cons
  • "The interface is user-friendly, making it easy to use."
  • "Having more technical and support resources available in Saudi Arabia would be helpful."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use this solution for network troubleshooting and monitoring.

What is most valuable?

The interface is user-friendly, making it easy to use.

This is a comprehensive product that covers security, networking, and more.

What needs improvement?

Having more technical and support resources available in Saudi Arabia would be helpful.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with SolarWinds NPM for one year.

Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds NPM
November 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Up to now, everything has been reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of scalability, it is very much so. It is not determined by the number of end-users for this type of solution, but rather, by the capacity of network flow. This is something that we expect will increase in the future.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is something that is very important for us. It is the number one factor.

We are dealing with the vendor directly and are satisfied, although having more local engineers, support, and other resources in Saudi Arabia would be helpful.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I find that the pricing is acceptable.

What other advice do I have?

This is a valuable and powerful product that will provide users with more than they expect, all in one place. Other products, by comparison, often have limitations in the features. SolarWinds is comprehensive and covers everything, and I recommend it.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user221865 - PeerSpot reviewer
Platform Engineer III at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
Provided us with a quicker turn around time for diagnosing and remedying a failure or issue.

What is most valuable?

  • Overall simplicity
  • Solarwinds development of the product line

How has it helped my organization?

  • It's provided us with a quicker turn around time for diagnosing and remedying a failure or issue
  • The pre-built templates for Windows are outstanding
  • If you're new, they tell you what the metrics mean and the possible solutions
  • You can also modify baselines it to your environment.

What needs improvement?

It needs group views with performance metrics. They do certain ones well, but not filters to a custom group view.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used NPM and SAM for five years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Data collection can be an issue so you have to maintain that accordingly.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

None yet.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Customer service is pretty good.

Technical Support:

Tier 3 is excellent they know how to repair a problem.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We had Openview for the network side but the cost forced us to switch and it has actually ended up better for us in the long term.

How was the initial setup?

It's very straightforward and super easy to deploy, 15 minutes tops. It's documented well what you need, or there's an option you can do if you're on a limited budget. Also, the support engineers are always there to help with specific questions.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented it in-house.

What was our ROI?

It paid for itself within six months, when compared to our previous solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We did not track it but it was less than four hours worth of total effort. Day to day cost of using the product US$273 given our current licensing model.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No other options evaluated.

What other advice do I have?

Get the trial download to use its all the features for 30 days. Its automation/DevOps is outstanding for its software development kit.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds NPM
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about SolarWinds NPM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
823,875 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user174660 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Analyst with 10,001+ employees
Vendor
NPM is cost effective and reliable to use. Valuable features include graphical presentation of IT data.

What is most valuable?

Graphical presentation of IT data like Bandwidth Util, CPU/Mem Util. etc., Easy way to configure the monitoring etc

How has it helped my organization?

This tool can monitor all IT Infrastructure i.e. N/W, Application and basic OS monitoring, Hardware Monitoring etc. Also we can integrate all Solarwinds Solutions on same console called EOC which will helpful for Data Center Operation teams to monitoring.

Also the graphical reports and content of reports also helps the client and OS/Applications teams to measure the challenges in advance.

What needs improvement?

Solarwinds SAM needs to improve application monitoring for critical applications like MSSQL, Oracle, Exchange etc. They need to add more monitoring parameters.

For how long have I used the solution?

Since 2009

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Yes, have faced few issues while up-gradation of Orion products. But handled successfully with great support provided by Solarwinds.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

It’s fantastic. They will give 24/7 service.

Technical Support:

It’s fantastic again. They are very knowledgeable and have KBs available for the fix in advance.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

No, as NPM it is cost effective and reliable to use.

What about the implementation team?

I have implemented it on multiple client locations. Also took the help from Solarwinds in installation.

What was our ROI?

ROI for Solarwinds products is excellent. It’s the cheapest tools which will fulfill all monitoring needs.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

5000 USD per NPM Poller for unlimited license.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Yes, CA, BMC and HP monitoring suites.

What other advice do I have?

It’s cheap and will easily fulfill the needs of monitoring environment.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user175134 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager - Global Network Ops with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
Implementing this product has given us detailed visibility and understanding of our network

What is most valuable?

NPM, NCM, NTA and VNQM.

How has it helped my organization?

Implementing this product has given us detailed visibility and understanding of our network. Small teams are able to manage large enterprise with this tool.

What needs improvement?

EOC.

For how long have I used the solution?

2 years

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Not much. Where we did we were able to avail support from vendor.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

None except for EOC.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have deployed it in distributed model with EOC. EOC has been a pain. We are keen to move to Centralized Deployment which we are yet to test and see if it overcomes limitations of EOC.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Customer service is very good.

Technical Support:

Good technical support. There is an active online community too.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have used PRTG, MRTG. However Solarwinds is a more integrated suite to tools for the enterprise or provider.

How was the initial setup?

Installation needs reasonable understanding of Windows Servers, SQL Servers, Services and Group Policies (in enterprise). Customization might need good knowledge of SQL programming.

What about the implementation team?

In-house.

What was our ROI?

Good.

What other advice do I have?

The product is highly recommended. I am yet to understand how it stands against the competitions.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1467909 - PeerSpot reviewer
Optical Network Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Real User
Enables us to create customized reports for our company
Pros and Cons
  • "Reporting tools are a great feature along with the ability to create customized reports for you"
  • "Robustness of network element mapping tool could be better"

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case for SolarWinds NPM is for network monitoring and SNMP traps.

What is most valuable?

SolarWinds NPM features that I have found most valuable are the reporting tools and the ability to create customized reports.

What needs improvement?

With regards to suggested areas of improvement for the product, I would like to see the price come down, and in addition I think the network element mapping tool is not as robust as it should be. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SolarWinds NPM for 5-6 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SolarWinds NPM to date has been stable for me. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The SolarWinds NPM product is easy to scale.

How are customer service and support?

I have utilized SolarWinds technical support to help with issues, the experience is adequate for the the level of support we pay for. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of SolarWinds NPM is complex in my view. There are many knobs, dials and buttons to push, and it can take several days to get familiar with the product and it's functionality. 

What other advice do I have?

Approximately 50 users utilize SolarWinds NPM within my company. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1643823 - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President, SaaS Operations at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Reliable, easy to install, and well-monitored
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of this solution is the monitoring capabilities."
  • "If they did some type of synthetic monitoring, it would have been better."

What is our primary use case?

SolarWinds NPM is used to monitor network components and solutions.

We used it to monitor downtime and latency between applications, as well as the latency between services.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of this solution is the monitoring capabilities.

What needs improvement?

If they did some type of synthetic monitoring, it would have been better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with SolarWinds NPM for 10 years.

We are working on the most up-to-date version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SolarWinds NPM is a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

You could question the scalability. It could be improved.

How are customer service and support?

The technicals support is fair. I would rate them a three out of five.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was pretty straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I believe that we pay approximately $80,000 per year.

There can be fees in addition to the licensing fees if you add on.

What other advice do I have?

I would suggest putting in a larger VM infrastructure than they ask for because, if you don't, it'll probably be a little slow.

I would rate SolarWinds NPM an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
CISO with 201-500 employees
Real User
One of the best features is the reports feature. Consolidation of platforms would provide a smoother experience.
Pros and Cons
  • "One of the best features is the reports feature."
  • "Consolidation of platforms would provide a smoother experience."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case for this solution is for default of the stability of the network track.

How has it helped my organization?

If we need to plan the network, or measure our network utilization, SolarWinds enables us to do so. 

What is most valuable?

One of the best features is the reports feature. We can get an editor's report for the last five minutes, fifteen minutes, hour, month, or more. And, the correlation data that we can get from the different resources of data from routing, routers, swtitches and samples is really a benefit.

What needs improvement?

It would be nice to manage all network devces from just one single platform, instead of going to different platforms.

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very scalable. For years we have not had a problem with scalability.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I am looking at other solutions, to compare. For example, I am currently looking at ManageEngine OpManager. We also looked at Zabbix

What other advice do I have?

I would like to see this product becoming more flexible in the future. In addition, integration with other solutions would be helpful.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user616932 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a educational organization
Vendor
With this solution technicians are aware of issues and almost always exactly what caused the issue.

What is most valuable?

The ability to monitor multiple devices using SNMP v3 and HP Procurve SFlow as well as multiple setups for different technicians.

We only use SNMP v3 and all of our devices are HP. Not every technician needs to see everything or have control of everything.

How has it helped my organization?

Technicians are aware of issues and 90% of the time exactly what caused the issue. Repairs can be scheduled ahead of time and RMA’s can be filed without the technician having to drive to the site only to find out it is a bad power supply or fan in a switch or server.

What needs improvement?

The speed needs improving. If you have a very large network and are monitoring a lot of devices the dashboard responds slower.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the solution for almost four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We had some stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We had some scalability issues. The cost for monitoring interfaces is ridiculous.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is not exactly the fastest. You create a ticket in the morning and probably get a response by e-mail from the actual technician the following day.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were using Intermapper previously.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing for monitoring large amounts of equipment is not bad but when you want to monitor the actual interfaces of those devices the cost goes up.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We did not look at any alternatives. This was a government project and only one company responded to their request.

What other advice do I have?

Make sure you have several servers. You must have the actual platform on a separate server from the database. You will need a separate database server for each module you activate such as flows. There is a very big footprint.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user347748 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user347748Senior Technical Analyst at CS Softwares.
Consultant

In my company our customer not have problem with technical support, but when ask is slow we call fot support team. contact me I iiil like tal with ou about Solarwinds. claudia@cstibr.com

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Buyer's Guide
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Updated: November 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free SolarWinds NPM Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.