The most valuable feature is being able to see what's going on in the environment, to identify where problems might be or where we could potentially have problems in the future.
Business/Systems Analyst at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I see what's going on in the environment. It identifies current and potential future problems.
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
I'm pretty pleased with the product. Right now, I can't really say anything negative about it.
For how long have I used the solution?
We probably used the older version for the last couple of years. We're actually in the process of rolling out the new vRealize Operations, so we don't have it fully implemented yet; that's where we're at. We changed our licensing model to buy the vCloud Standard, which included it. Right now, we're in the process of getting it spun up.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It seems very stable. I know the previous version was stable. No downtime at all.
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VMware Aria Operations
November 2024
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It seems to be very scalable for the environment that I'm dealing with, which is a fairly large environment. It's not the biggest environment in the world, but it's definitely scalable for my environment.
How are customer service and support?
I think their support has some challenges. I've had better support from other vendors, to be honest. Some of my biggest complaints are delays in getting problems resolved and getting responses. I can say that is pretty much the same for my colleagues as well.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup is straightforward. We set it up in-house.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend it. I think it's a great solution. I think it's a great product as far as vSphere environments, because it is geared towards vSphere; made by the people who created vSphere.
When I decide to work with a vendor, I think longevity is an important criteria. I like to make sure that I'm partnering with a vendor that's going to be around tomorrow. I like to see a large footprint. That way I know there's widespread adoption for their product. I like responsiveness, when I have a demand, or a need.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Global Command Center Analyst at AstraZeneca
If any server has high CPU utilization, we can get its usage patterns along with the time frame, although they should show the processes that are consuming the CPU/memory usage.
What is most valuable?
The detailed metrics of the virtual servers/machines and the graphing capabilities. It's amazing to use this product.
How has it helped my organization?
If any server has high CPU utilization, we can get its usage patterns along with the time frame, which helps our team to analyze the system and to take action more appropriately.
What needs improvement?
They should show the processes that are consuming the CPU/memory usage rather than taking the RDP of the server.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used it for one and a half years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
No issues encountered.
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:
No issues encountered.
Technical Support:10/10.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Apart from vROps, we do use SCOM but the main reason for switching to vROps is because of it shows real-time server statistics and it updates after every 5 minutes in vROps automatically.
How was the initial setup?
It's straightforward and I find easy to use it.
What about the implementation team?
It was done in-house.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
- SCOM
- HPOM
What other advice do I have?
I would say that it will be easier for any team to investigate patterns of CPU/memory use of any VM and the drive utilization.
In addition, you can add many options like memory ballooning, ESX memory utilization, etc. in your own way.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
VMware Aria Operations
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about VMware Aria Operations. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
System Engineer at Kinetic IT
Enhances monthly resource utilization with powerful reporting and good scalability
Pros and Cons
- "The most effective feature is the reporting tool, especially for PMS reporting at the end of the month, focusing on underutilized or overutilized resources."
- "It could be more proactive."
What is our primary use case?
My primary use case is for monitoring mostly.
What is most valuable?
The most effective feature is the reporting tool, especially for PMS reporting at the end of the month, focusing on underutilized or overutilized resources.
What needs improvement?
It could be more proactive. Even though it's not originally designed as a monitoring tool, it could be adapted to provide monitoring functionalities.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for more than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I don't have major issues with stability. Occasionally it fills up the logs. Otherwise, it's fine.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is quite scalable.
How are customer service and support?
My experience with VMware Aria Operations support is always good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I used to use Avamar, but it's been quite a time. I'm not using packaged systems at the moment.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is quite easy. I would rate it a seven out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
If a company has a business case and use for it, they should definitely go for it.
I'd rate the solution ten out often.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid 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.
Last updated: Oct 15, 2024
Flag as inappropriateInfrastructure capacity & demand manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It is a scalable product, and we have a couple of 100 users using it in our organization
Pros and Cons
- "They keep improving and updating their apps over time."
- "They should include an integration feature through which we can connect to different vendors by installing a small plugin."
What is our primary use case?
We can manage the virtual environment of our organization with the help of the solution.
What needs improvement?
They keep improving and updating their apps over time. In each new version, we get lots of good features; thus, I don't have any concerns.
They should include an integration feature through which we can connect to different vendors by installing a small plugin.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for more than five years. Also, I have been using it for 16-17 years, personally.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable product. We have a couple of 100 users using the solution in our organization.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are using VMware as it is a known product that helps to manage companies' virtual environments. Consumers are accustomed to using VMware, and it's a very old product as well. That's the main reason we are using it.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend others use the solution and rate it as a nine.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Manager Data Center & Services at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
A good infrastructure monitoring & analytics collection tool that could benefit from an improved licensing model
Pros and Cons
- "We like that we are able to combine all infrastructure monitoring using this solution, meaning we receive analytics from across our whole network."
- "We would like to see an improved licensing model to be set up for this solution. The current model charges per CPU, as opposed to being product-based, which would allow us to monitor our complete virtual infrastructure under a single license."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution to monitor the virtual infrastructure health with deep-dive analytics ensuring hypervisors, VMs, network, and storage health. We can also use it for future forecasts for virtual machines, and allocate additional resources for where contention occurs.
How has it helped my organization?
Efficient use of resources/planning has helped my organization.
What is most valuable?
We like that we are able to combine all infrastructure monitoring using this solution, meaning we receive analytics from across our whole network.
What needs improvement?
We would like to see an improved licensing model to be set up for this solution. The current model charges per CPU, as opposed to being product-based, which would allow us to monitor our complete virtual infrastructure under a single license.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this product for two years.
What other advice do I have?
We would rate this solution a seven 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.
System Administrator at Orange Business Services
A good reporting tool that lack customizable views, and can currently only be operated on-premises
Pros and Cons
- "We appreciate that this solution gives accurate reporting."
- "We would like the default views on the reports for this solution to be improved; at present we have to customize the view before use."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution solely for reporting purposes.
What is most valuable?
We appreciate that this solution gives accurate reporting.
What needs improvement?
We would like the default views on the reports for this solution to be improved; at present we have to customize the view before use.
We would also like the option for this solution to be cloud operated.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for just over one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have found this to be a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
To our knowledge, this is a scalable product.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of this solution was easy.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Shared Cloud L2 Ops Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Straightforward to deploy, stable, easy to use, and provides good alerting
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature for me that the pre-implemented, existing dashboards. The fact that I don't need to create a dashboard myself is helpful"
- "I would like to have more documentation, in the form of knowledge bases, that better explain the technology, related products, and what the capabilities are."
What is our primary use case?
This year, we introduced the vROps feature to our platform, as part of our infrastructure.
The main use is to provide us with visibility of our environment. It helps with proactively detecting and dealing with issues that may arise, such as problems with our hardware. It provides us with alerts when there are things that we need to perform. For example, it may say that I need to expand my disk space.
From my perspective, the visibility that it provides into our apps and infrastructure is fine. There are no concerns or issues because we only use VMware.
We are currently integrating it with different VMware products including vCenter and Cloud Director.
How has it helped my organization?
This product contains features for proactive monitoring but we do not use it because we have our own monitoring solution. It can do things such as sending an email in response to an event.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature for me is the pre-implemented, existing dashboards. The fact that I don't need to create a dashboard myself is helpful. You have the option to create them but most of the dashboards and reports that we need have already been created.
I have not compared the vROps interface against other similar technology, but with respect to it being user-friendly, I haven't had any issues with it. The most commonly used functions are easy to access.
As somebody who works in operations, the capacity management features are very important. It's a very good product in that regard.
What needs improvement?
I would like to have more documentation, in the form of knowledge bases, that better explain the technology, related products, and what the capabilities are.
Having an installation guide that assists with installation and integration would be helpful.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VMware vRealize Operations for approximately six months. We are still in the beginning phase.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
To this point, I haven't encountered any issues or had any alerts with this product. As we grow, maybe later it could happen, or we could experience instability in the product, but for now, it's okay.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability-wise, it is good because you can create your own reports. There is no default report, but you can create your own templates or your own reports. You always have the choice of creating a new one or using an existing one.
The infrastructure team is the one that works directly with this solution. As part of that team, we provide VMware features and virtualization for our customers. There are five or six of us on the team.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have not been in contact with technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Prior to vROps, we did not use another similar solution. We implemented it in order to have as much visibility as possible for resource management. Previously, we only knew about the CPU consumption. Now, we can use the reports to better check the resources.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. It is just a matter of installing the appliance, setting the IPs, etc, and then performing the integrations between other VMware components. The configuration took approximately two hours.
What about the implementation team?
I completed the deployment on my own.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate other similar solutions prior to implementing vROps.
What other advice do I have?
As we are still in the beginning phase, we have not yet worked with all of the features. For example, I know that it can connect with vROps Log Insight, but we have not integrated it.
Given my experience, I'm not sure at this point whether this solution is applicable to other technologies such as AWS or Azure. However, if the support exists, it is very good because future environments and implementations will rely on multiple technologies. It will not be VMware alone, but rather, it will include AWS, Azure, and others. Support for all of these options is very nice. It appears that VMware has this vision because they already have support for the NSX and NSX-T network technology.
I expect that it will save us money in the future, but still being in the implementation phase, we have not yet had this experience.
My advice for anybody who is implementing this product is to plan for integration with your entire platform and VMware products, such as Cloud Director.
Overall, this is a good product that is easy to install and use, and integration with other products is smooth. Although we have not used all of the features, it does provide us with good visibility.
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.
IT Consultant at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
Flexible reporting, with a choice of KPIs, helps the company understand capacity and see future needs
Pros and Cons
- "For me, the most valuable feature of vROps is its reporting. We use the reports to send information to certain groups within our company to help forecast the use of resources."
- "For me, the technical support is the biggest problem. I've been working with them since 2016 and in the first years their response was faster than it is today. That is a problem. Also, I need to put together and send them a lot of information. And then I wait one day, two days. The support has been getting worse over the last few years. They need to improve it."
What is our primary use case?
I work for a Post Office service and we use this solution to monitor business core assets which help to deliver packages. There are many applications we need to monitor as part of our service and to see their availability. We also use it to analyze and to forecast. Finally, we use it for business reports for sharing the status of memory, CPU, and data storage. The solution is very big in terms of how many variables you can extract.
How has it helped my organization?
There are many clusters that are displayed, each solution and its specific application. For example, for our front-end website I can specifically monitor the resources, the memory, the storage it consumes. I can extract this information to create a report for a specific cluster.
Each group of employees has access to reports about specific clusters. You choose the information to add to the forecast from various KPIs. It helps the company understand capacity and to see the information it needs to see regarding the future.
In the country where we operate, we have something called a PDI, a development and innovation program or plan, for looking toward the future and delivering new applications. vROps gave me the information I needed to build a new PDI. It gave me excellent data for that.
Every four years, we have a plan to replace hardware. In our last replacement, vROps helped me to reduce the hardware we needed because we could optimize our solution. We have also saved on power and other data center costs. In that area it has saved us 30 percent.
It has also helped to decrease our overall downtime a lot, because I can see the distribution of memory and the CPUs. I can see if there are issues with storage or the network or CPU. It helps me to plan so that the system is more available.
We have integrated vROps with vRealize Log Insight. With this we can correlate logs between vROps and the ESXi. I have shared this dashboard with a group of people. They can see this information day by day and look for issues and problems in the production area. We can see the relationship between the tracing and the logs from the ESXi and the server, in the same dashboard. We can see what actions are needed to solve problems. That is a very important capability for our company.
What is most valuable?
For me, the most valuable feature of vROps is its reporting. We use the reports to send information to certain groups within our company to help forecast the use of resources.
It provides a focus on the VMs. At a glance, it shows the applications inside of each VM. The next step would be to use the plug-in, the APM.
The ITIL is very important for helping resolve capacity issues. It helps deliver a lot of information about issues faster.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using vROps for six or seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable. I don't have any problems keeping it running. The maintenance is easy and it's easy to upgrade.
When it comes to maintenance, usually there is a ticket, and the person within our company who is responsible will analyze it. It may be a new upgrade, a new feature, a patch. A person is assigned to it to decide if it's necessary to upgrade or apply the patch. Once it's approved we set aside time to take care of it, but it's generally not difficult.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is excellent, no problem. In the time we have used it, our environment has grown. We can add more servers, more data. Scaling it is easy.
We have two sites and together there are 276 servers. But thanks to the use of vROps, with each new purchase I buy fewer servers. When we started with it we had more than 300 servers. Now we purchase fewer of them.
How are customer service and technical support?
For me, the technical support is the biggest problem. I've been working with them since 2016 and in the first years their response was faster than it is today. That is a problem. Also, I need to put together and send them a lot of information. And then I wait one day, two days. The support has been getting worse over the last few years. They need to improve it. Two days for them to respond is a big problem for me.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I realized we needed a solution to monitor our VMs. So six or seven years ago we decided to buy a solution to monitor, forecast, and give us unique dashboards with information on issues such as capacity, and to monitor applications, etc.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is a simple process. In our company we have a system, BMC, which makes it possible to deliver information and to integrate BMC and vROps, using the SDT and VMware. This process, the integration between BMC and VMware took two years.
What about the implementation team?
We did the implementation ourselves with an internal team.
What was our ROI?
At the higher levels in my company, such as the CIO, they looked at what the solution delivers and they felt the ROI was faster with this solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
When we last did a comparison of solutions, the pricing was equal or similar.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Because we are a government company there are compliance requirements. Any purchase has to go through a public process. We have to publish the information in the market. We looked at BMC and CA, and we looked at CA recently.
We tested and did a proof of concept for each of the solutions, not a big test but a simple process; enough to see how they operate. For me, the big difference was that vROps is a VMware solution and is integrated with other products such as vRealize Log Insight and vRealize Automation, and of course, vCenter. And the unique dashboard was also a great addition to our operations.
What other advice do I have?
In the future I'd like to use the plug-in and the APM. In the future, using the APM, things will be better. Nowadays, applications have under-utilization of hardware.
I'm happy with the solution. There are many options for using it because of the features vROps has.
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.
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Updated: November 2024
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