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PeerSpot user
Engineer at DevScope
Vendor
Great for monitoring several network services but reporting capabilities has room for improvement

For how long have you used this product?
- Approximately since Jan/2012

Which features of this product are most valuable to you?
- The ability to monitor IT Services (SLA) as a whole and not just counters on particular systems.

Can you give an example of how this product has improved the way your organization functions?
- It provided us with the ability to monitor on a reliable way service levels acquired from several network services provided by interconnect devices.

What areas of this product have room for improvement?
- With no doubt one of the areas that has a lot to improve is the reporting capability. Zabbix is a fantastic system for technicians but not as good as the competition to build reports, specially reports for management/not technical.

Did you encounter any issues with deployment, stability or scalability?
- The current version has more detailed documentation but when we first deployed Zabbix (version 1.4) some areas were not very well documented and we had some issues. Nothing that prevented us from deploying the solution but made it a bit harder to do, in particular to configure the agents on Windows servers and configure the needed counters.

Did you previously use a different solution and if so, why did you switch?
- I've used several other solutions in the past, from the "standard" Nagios to Cacti, Solarwinds, Spiceworks, Zenoss, etc.

Before choosing this product, did you evaluate other options? If so, which ones?
- I really knew well other solutions and if Zabbix wouldn't do what we needed, I had other options. Nagios or Cacti would be the chosen ones.

How would you rate the level of customer service and technical support?
- I've never needed to contact customer service or technical support but used the Community Forum to answer some questions/implementation difficulties.

Was the initial setup straightforward or complex? In what ways?
- The first installation was a bit complex due to lack of proper/extensive documentation. Subsequent upgrades have gone smother due to improvements on the documentation and hands-on experience with the Zabbix particularities.

Did you implement through a vendor team or an in-house one? If through a vendor team, how would you rate their level of expertise?
- The implementation was done 100% in-house as I have a good expertise level on such systems.

What is your ROI on this product?
- Zabbix is Open-Source and because we did an in-house implementation the costs can be summarized to a part of one server, due to the implementation on a virtual environment.

What was your original setup cost for this product and what is your day-to-day cost of using this product?
- The setup cost was only the man power hour costs and it really has no day-to-day costs.

What advice would you give to others looking into implementing this product?
- My advice would be to plan well what you need to monitor first - define which systems and which counters you really need to monitor - and start slow, one thing at a time.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Sudip Karmacharya - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Specialist at CAS Trading House
Real User
Leaderboard
A good network monitoring tool that is user-friendly, but lacks automatic push functionality and could benefit from improved stability
Pros and Cons
  • "We like the user-interface for this solution, which makes it an easy to use tool."
  • "We would like to see the addition of automatic push functionality to this product. This would save time when monitoring our servers and networks as, at present, we have to manually install the Zabbix agent on any hardware to be monitored."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution to monitor, install and configure our networks, servers, virtual machines, and cloud services.

What is most valuable?

We like the user-interface for this solution, which makes it an easy to use tool.

This product is also easy to configure to our exact requirements.

What needs improvement?

We would like to see the addition of automatic push functionality to this product. This would save time when monitoring our servers and networks as, at present, we have to manually install the Zabbix agent on any hardware to be monitored.

We would also like inventory management functionality to be added to this solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for three months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have occasionally experienced issues with the stability of this solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable solution, but requires a lot of resources to be engaged in order for it to be scaled.

How was the initial setup?

The setup process for this solution could be easier, as it requires a lot of configuration prior to deployment.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented this solution in-house.

What other advice do I have?

We would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Zabbix
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about Zabbix. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
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reviewer1008675 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Project Manager at a university with 201-500 employees
Real User
A flexible solution with excellent data reporting
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the protocol to manage anything."
  • "An area for improvement would be the ease of doing aggregation from the value or different devices."

What is our primary use case?

My primary use case is switch and database monitoring.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the protocol to manage anything.

What needs improvement?

An area for improvement would be the ease of doing aggregation from the value or different devices.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for three to four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Zabbix is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This product is scalable.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was easy, and deployment took two to three months.

What other advice do I have?

This solution is very good for data reporting. I would rate this solution as ten 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
reviewer1600152 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at a marketing services firm with 11-50 employees
Real User
Good alerts and integration with third-party tools, but should support monitoring of ATM machines
Pros and Cons
  • "The integration with third-party tools and the alerts are most valuable."
  • "We would like to monitor other touchpoints such as ATM machines. It would be great if it can provide monitoring of ATM machines. Compatibility with other products would also be great."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Zabbix just to monitor our small network out here.

What is most valuable?

The integration with third-party tools and the alerts are most valuable.

What needs improvement?

We would like to monitor other touchpoints such as ATM machines. It would be great if it can provide monitoring of ATM machines. Compatibility with other products would also be great.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for two or three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. We have two people who are using this solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

There are a lot of professionals and sites available, so we just get help from them.

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

We were not using any other solution.

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

It is reasonable.

What other advice do I have?

Our requirements are basic, and it is fulfilling them. I would rate Zabbix a seven out of 10.

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_user1005354 - PeerSpot reviewer
Works at Fujitsu
MSP
The auto-config feature is invaluable

What is our primary use case?

Infrastructure monitoring.

How has it helped my organization?

Excellent monitoring tool.

What is most valuable?

Auto-config.

What needs improvement?

Multitenancy.

For how long have I used the solution?

Still implementing.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Senior Director at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Straightforward interface and no issues with stability, but the discovery process is not fully automated
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is service assurance."
  • "Zabbix claims that there is an auto-discovery process but my team member was facing difficulty and was told that it's not really automatic, and there are some manual steps."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Zabbix as our network monitoring solution. We are now trying to understand how to use the service assurance functionality, as we would like to leverage Zabbix for this task.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is service assurance.

The interface is pretty straightforward. As long as the agent is running on another instance and Zabbix is able to connect to the agent, we haven't seen any issues.

What needs improvement?

Zabbix claims that there is an auto-discovery process but my team member was facing difficulty and was told that it's not really automatic, and there are some manual steps. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been working with Zabbix for the past month. We are conducting a proof of concept with it.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We are not yet using Zabbix very much. We have spawned the Zabbix server and only a couple of AWS instances are running, which it is monitoring. This is to make sure there are no billing problems in AWS. At the end of the day, we stop the Zabbix monitoring. The next day when we come in, we start it again.

At this point, with our limited usage, we have not seen any issues with stability. Perhaps, once it has been running full-time for a week or longer, we may hit those types of issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

During our PoC, we only have two technical people working with it.

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

This is the first monitoring product that we have worked with. Prior to this, we were dealing with NMS and CMS products.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was pretty straightforward. We did not face any issues and it was up and running within a day.

What about the implementation team?

Our in-house technician completed the deployment.

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

This is an open-source solution that can be used free of charge.

What other advice do I have?

At this point, it is too early for me to recommend Zabbix one way or the other, as we have just scratched the surface of its capabilities.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Chief Revenue Officer at paramaah it services
Real User
Stable, open-source solution; can be challenging to secure client trust
Pros and Cons
  • "Zabbix is quite stable once it is set up. We haven't had any post-setup issues."
  • "Implementation is always tailored to the customer and the kind of information we need from the client to carry it out can make them very uncomfortable. Sometimes the clients are not ready to share it."

What is our primary use case?

We are implementing this solution for our clients. 

What is most valuable?

What we find the most valuable about Zabbix is that it is open source and there are no licensing costs.

What needs improvement?

While there are a number of benefits to Zabbix being open source, getting that trust from the customer is a little bit on the challenging side. Implementation is always tailored to the customer and the kind of information we need from the client to carry it out can make them very uncomfortable. Sometimes the clients are not ready to share it.

It can also be difficult for us to formulate a price for clients that need a solution for which there is no template. If we can implement a solution with the help of a template, we know how much time and effort it will take so it is easy to estimate a price for the customer. Without templates, estimation is a little bit challenging. 

In addition to the above, although there are templates available for Cisco switches, they do not work for all families of Cisco switches.

These are the challenges we are facing at our company. Overall, setting up Zabbix is a challenge. However once it is setup, managing it is comparatively easy.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Zabbix for a year, I suppose. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Zabbix is quite stable once it is set up. We haven't had any post-setup issues. 

How are customer service and technical support?

We are regularly in touch with Zabbix's technical support. Generally, there is little bit of challenge because of the time zones. Nonetheless, their tech support is not bad. It's good.

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

We did not previously use a different solution. Zabbix was the first solution we worked on. However, right now we are in the process of exploring other solutions.

We are evaluating Motadata. This is a solution based out of India. We are in touch with them, but we are in the very initial stages. We also don't know how it will work out.

How was the initial setup?

Whether or not setup is straightforward or not will depend on the client's use case. From our end, the issue is estimating the effort it will take for us to implement the solution for our clients. We run into issues when it comes to giving the clients a quote for our work ahead of time. 

What other advice do I have?

Because Zabbix is an open source solution, a lot of customization is required. In turn, a lot of information has to be provided by the client about exactly what they want, which parameters they want to monitor, and what the thresholds are. Proprietary solutions would already have those thresholds in place. Once this process is done, it's really very good for your organization. But it does take a lot of work.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: reseller
PeerSpot user
reviewer1768143 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Easy to use and deploy
Pros and Cons
  • "Like other common Linux distributions, some of the most valuable features of this solution are the ease of use and deployment. It's simple and has a lot of packages and a lot of software."
  • "As far as improvements, sometimes I get a bit frustrated when I move from a previous version to a new one because some configuration has changed—I need to investigate the documentation to deal with some configuration. But it doesn't take much time, so it's okay."

What is our primary use case?

We use Ubuntu for the distribution of our products and our web application firewall. Previously, I have also used a desktop version of Ubuntu on my laptop. We use this operating system for our Zabbix server as well, for monitoring, testing, and so on. 

We mostly use a server version, so it's only a command console. There's no graphical interface. 

This solution is deployed both on-premise and on cloud. 

What is most valuable?

Like other common Linux distributions, some of the most valuable features of this solution are the ease of use and deployment. It's simple and has a lot of packages and a lot of software. 

What needs improvement?

As far as improvements, sometimes I get a bit frustrated when I move from a previous version to a new one because some configuration has changed—I need to investigate the documentation to deal with some configuration. But it doesn't take much time, so it's okay. 

I don't have any requests for additional features. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Ubuntu Linux for a little over 10 years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Ubuntu is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is scalable, but the scalability is more appropriate for hardware, not for the operating system. 

In my company, there are only a few users dealing with the desktop version of the Ubuntu operating system. As far as production environments and testing servers, there are maybe a few dozen users. 

How are customer service and support?

We have never contacted technical support. We've never had any problems which demanded support from the Ubuntu teams. 

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

Before using Ubuntu Linux, I used CentOS, Debian, and Kali Linux. 

How was the initial setup?

The installation is really easy. The timeframe depends on the hardware speed, so it's rather fast. I handled the installation by myself. 

We don't actually have a technical team specific to Ubuntu—they're all IT guys, so we all have good skills for doing things ourselves. 

What about the implementation team?

We implemented this solution through an in-house team. 

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

I'm surprised that Ubuntu Linux has a paid license, even some supporting stuff included. We don't use the paid version, we only use the common edition. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Ubuntu Linux a 10 out of 10. It's really great. I recommend Ubuntu Linux to others who are looking into implementing this OS. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Zabbix Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Zabbix Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.