Auvik Network Management (ANM) Reviews

We used Auvik to monitor the networks of our two separate companies. Each company operates on its large network, with approximately 100 to 150 employees.

We implemented Auvik for better visibility of the network.

The intuitiveness of the interface was good. It was not that hard to use.

The network map offers a real-time view of our entire network. Gaining real-time visibility is simple by using the network map and dashboard. We can start by navigating from the top level of the network down to specific elements we're interested in. Alternatively, we can select a specific network segment from the left-hand column for a more focused view.

While Auvik would have provided us with complete visibility into our network, our reliance on rented switches limited our control and prevented them from functionalities like syslog.

We saw the benefits of Auvik as soon as it was deployed.

Auvik helps us reduce our mean time to resolution for network connectivity issues. When a device is unexpectedly disconnected, Auvik can pinpoint the problem quickly. This is especially helpful for troubleshooting complex issues, like a downed VPN.

The most valuable feature of Auvik is its ability to drill down and identify unusual activity on the network, such as unauthorized devices connecting to our Wi-Fi.

One drawback I found with Auvik was its inability to generate clear network diagrams. The connection lines appeared messy, and devices weren't grouped logically. In contrast, HP OpenView, which I used previously, produced well-organized network maps.

I have been using Auvik for 3 years.

Auvik was stable with no crashes or downtime.

Scaling Auvik was easy because it integrates with Discovery. We were able to collect syslogs from controllable devices like firewalls, but Auvik would likely perform even better in an environment where we have control over the switches as well.

In the past, we used HP OpenView. It consisted of two very different programs. Our current solution, which we've been using for some time now, allows for remote connections to machines and collaboration with users. This functionality was absent in Auvik, which would have been a valuable addition. With our current system, we can simply right-click on a machine and initiate a remote connection through tools like Screen Connect or Splashtop.

Auvik was a very good network mapping tool. However, the lines on the map could sometimes be misaligned, making it difficult to understand the network layout. Additionally, a major limitation of Auvik was the lack of remote control functionality. Ideally, the tool would allow administrators to look up a user and connect to their machine's file controller while on the phone with the user for troubleshooting purposes.

Deploying Auvik as a virtual machine is surprisingly easy. We download the template, import it into VMware, and it configures itself automatically.

I completed the deployment in a couple of days.

The implementation was completed in-house.

While Auvik's pricing was attractive, we ultimately had to make budget cuts. After evaluating our various solutions, Auvik was not the best fit for our current needs.

I would rate Auvik 9 out of 10.

Auvik has the potential to reduce the time spent on setup, maintenance, and troubleshooting. While we didn't fully utilize it for that purpose, it could have offered some benefits. However, we ultimately decided to discontinue using Auvik because it lacked features available in our other tools, creating some redundancy.

No maintenance was required on our end.

Auvik offers a demo program. You simply load and install the provided VM template. I can't recall the exact length of the demo period, but I highly recommend trying it out.

Auvik's time-saving features allow us to focus more on critical projects and business initiatives, particularly during our company's renewal phase. Instead of spending time on setup, maintenance, or issue resolution, we can now dedicate our efforts to developing new solutions for managing our next-generation infrastructure, which is crucial in the telecommunications industry.

In terms of improvement, while the network map and dashboards are generally easy to use, the NetFlow app can be a bit compressed and difficult to customize for better readability.

I have been using Auvik for a couple of weeks now. We initially tried out their trial and found their network management features promising, so we decided to subscribe for a month. Since our network infrastructure has grown organically over time, we need a clearer picture before implementing any updates. Auvik is helping us understand our network better.

Auvik's support has been excellent right from the trial phase. Even though we were only at tier one, they were very prompt and helpful. They even helped us solve some tricky configuration issues by granting them access to our dashboard. Their support team is top-notch and very capable. I would rate the support as a ten out of ten.

Positive

Before using Auvik, we tried Zabbix and PRTG for network monitoring, but they didn't provide the topology insights we needed. They focused more on receiving SNMP traps. Auvik stood out for its ability to give us a clear view of our network topology, which was our key requirement.

Setting up Auvik initially was a breeze and it took less than an hour. Whether you are installing it on a physical or virtual machine, the process is straightforward. I used a Docker release on my old Mac desktop and it ran smoothly right out of the box with just a few clicks.

I find Auvik's pricing to be a good value for the features offered. With the professional plan costing around $15.30 per month per device, it is affordable, considering you only pay for active devices like routers and switches. For us, considering our network costs around $400 per month, which we see as a worthwhile investment for the benefits it provides.

I find the Auvik user interface easy to use overall. However, one drawback is that once the network topology map is generated, it is a static view and you can't remove or rearrange devices. This makes it a bit cumbersome to navigate, especially for networks with multiple devices. Exporting the map as a PDF also maintains this static view, which isn't ideal. To work around this, we export the data to Excel and use other tools like draw.io or Visio to redesign the topology for better understanding.

I use Auvik's dashboards, and they generally provide a real-time picture of our network, which is quite accurate. However, there can be some false positives, especially with older devices. The dashboards help understand overall network health. 

Auvik offers free monitoring for all devices except routers and firewalls. This includes devices like network-attached devices, PCs, and printers, making it cost-effective for monitoring a wide range of assets. Additionally, Auvik provides monitoring alerts for device issues, such as low printer paper, adding value beyond just network monitoring.

Overall, I would rate Auvik as a ten out of ten.

It provides comprehensive visibility into your network infrastructure, automates network mapping, sends timely alerts for potential issues, and facilitates configuration management. With Auvik, you can receive notifications directly, ensuring you stay informed about the health and performance of your network.

When I integrated Auvik, the primary goal was to uncover issues that might be occurring without my awareness. Essentially, I wanted to identify potential problems before they escalated to a point where I became aware of them, often when it was already too late. I sought early warnings for network issues to proactively address and mitigate them.

It provides an intuitive interface, supporting ease of use, and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I grasped it. The installation process was swift, and their team proved exceptionally helpful in offering expert guidance on setup and addressing any specific product configurations. Most elements were pre-configured, requiring minimal adjustments. Auvik efficiently scanned and identified network components, generating a comprehensive map crucial for my PCI compliance needs—all accomplished within a day.

The network map and the dashboard provide a near real-time snapshot of my network—about as real-time as I could expect. The system regularly pulls device information, the frequency of which is customizable based on alert settings. This flexibility is advantageous, especially when it comes to specific devices like credit card readers. If immediate notification of issues is crucial, Auvik ensures it is delivered.

The user-friendliness of the network map is contingent on the size of your network. A larger screen is advisable for extensive networks as it encompasses a comprehensive view. Managing a complex network might require some manual manipulation of the map to focus on specific areas. Alternatively, you can utilize the search feature, which proves efficient. Whether you prefer a manual approach or a quick search, both options are available. The search function allows you to easily select a category and device, promptly highlighting the desired item on the map.

It significantly reduced my meantime to resolution. Initially, I was unaware of certain issues within the network, and upon discovering them, I felt a sense of urgency to address multiple problems. However, once these issues were resolved, I gained confidence in the system's ability to alert me promptly to any future issues, providing a proactive approach to network management.

The most valuable aspect, primarily for a solo IT practitioner like myself, is its simplicity in setup. This was a significant factor that led me to choose it. The appeal lies in the unified dashboard, providing a single view encompassing all aspects of my network. The decision was driven by the ease of use—setting up reporting and alerts was straightforward without the need for complex coding or intricate configurations. It served its purpose precisely as designed, meeting my requirements effortlessly.

A notable feature is the ability to filter out static elements, allowing me to focus solely on what matters. Initially, I appreciated the panoramic view as my network unfolded on the map. From there, I could selectively identify areas of interest and importance. Auvik facilitated this process by enabling me to set up alerts for specific aspects, promptly notifying me of any relevant occurrences.

One enhancement I'd appreciate is the ability to configure the network map based on specific criteria. It would be valuable if Auvik allowed users to customize their view, defining what elements they want to see consistently. For example, configuring the map to display only printers in a retail store upon launching Auvik would streamline the process, eliminating the need to filter down the entire network map each time. Implementing a configurable dashboard for the network map would enhance user experience in this regard.

I have been using it for approximately two years.

When it comes to stability, there was an initial issue where one of my servers, set up to handle scanning and reporting, experienced a service interruption. The service would stop, requiring manual restarts. However, upon investigation, it was identified as a configuration problem, which was promptly addressed and resolved. Since then, the system has been stable without any further disruptions.

In terms of scalability, Auvik conducts a network scan. If you expand your network size, the system automatically identifies new devices and seamlessly integrates them into its operations.

Accessing tech support and raising an issue through the ticketing system was a seamless process. The challenges I encountered were device-specific, particularly with some Cisco devices that weren't configured correctly for Auvik utilization. Their tech support team was well-versed in addressing such issues. Initiating a ticket involved a simple phone call, and the response time, although not immediately critical, was reasonable. The overall process was straightforward and relatively easy to navigate. I would rate it ten out of ten.

Positive

We utilized a different solution before transitioning to Auvik. However, this shift occurred concurrently with a network upgrade. In my initial role, I developed an access application to generate a map and reports based on raw data, which was suitable for a simpler network. As our network evolved and became more intricate, the initial application became impractical, leading me to experiment with less robust solutions. While these alternatives provided some features, they fell short of the comprehensive functionality Auvik offers. Throughout this exploration, it became evident that Auvik encompassed all the essential aspects I was seeking, consolidating them into a unified platform.

Regarding issue resolution, it heavily relies on the specific device, but the crucial aspect of becoming aware of the issue is indeed present. The setup process was straightforward, and maintaining the system was equally uncomplicated. The programming is well-executed.

The deployment process was completed within a day, and I utilized the assistance provided. Although I believe I could have easily handled it on my own, their proactive help was voluntary—I hadn't requested it. Throughout the process, they were readily available and seemed invested in seeing it come together smoothly within the day. The primary task in setting it up involved opening a port and sharing the necessary network information for them to initiate network scanning.

I recognized its value on the very same day when I witnessed the network map coming to life, devices being detected, and a wealth of information being captured by the system.

While having an all-encompassing network monitoring solution may come at a cost, my initial approach was to seek cost-effective modules and integrate them seamlessly. While it was feasible to assemble and make various modules work together, the maintenance and usage of multiple modules would have been more cumbersome compared to the convenience of accessing a unified dashboard for all monitoring needs.

The pricing is reasonable, neither exceptionally cheap nor excessively expensive—it aligns well with what I anticipated.

Auvik's pricing structure is primarily based on servers, and the monitoring of actual endpoint devices is either included in the server license price or provided at no extra cost. While I'm not certain of the specific details, I have observed that the billing is influenced by new network nodes.

As a product, it is robust, and it's easy to generate comprehensive information. The key learning curve involves understanding how to refine and customize the data it provides, essentially eliminating unnecessary static. For me, the primary task was configuring it to align with my environment and specific use case, tailoring the information to my needs. The ongoing training they offer, with the flexibility to attend sessions at any time, is invaluable. Overall, I would rate it ten out of ten.

We manually use Auvik for network monitoring, configuration backups, and syslogs.

We implemented Auvik because we wanted to have a redundant monitoring solution that has a cloud component.

Auvik utilizes a cloud component that centralizes all data collection and aggregation. Additionally, we employ multiple on-premises collectors to gather data from individual devices. Therefore, our deployment will have a collector at each site, supplemented by a secondary collector at our main site. This configuration ensures redundancy and seamless data transmission to the Auvik cloud.

Auvik's intuitive interface is easy to use. The intuitive interface helps accelerate our troubleshooting of network issues due to how the information is presented.

Auvik's network map and dashboard provide a real-time picture of our network.

The network map and dashboard provide easy access to real-time visibility, with alerts and other information conveniently displayed. Clicking "Advanced" allows further exploration of specific alerts and other relevant details. While the display can become crowded when monitoring numerous items, the filtering capabilities effectively manage information overload.

The network map provides full visibility into everything we are monitoring with it and that is extremely important for us.

Auvik empowers our low-level techs to solve more tickets on their own. This has saved our senior techs time to focus on other tasks. The overall number of tickets has been reduced.

It has helped reduce our mean time to resolution.

Auvik allows us to spend less time on setup, maintenance, and resolution.

The traffic insights and the configuration management are the most valuable features. 

The traffic insights are presented effectively, and I appreciate that the analysis runs in the cloud, avoiding the need to overload any specific on-premise hardware. Additionally, the configuration backups appear to be straightforward, facilitating the comparison and refresh of new images on existing devices.

One main feature I would like to see in Auvik is the ability to generate alerts based on specific events appearing in syslog messages.

I have been using Auvik for three years.

Auvik is stable.

The scalability of Auvik is excellent and it scales easily.

The technical support is quite fast and accurate. We only encountered one major issue, but they were able to resolve it promptly. While it took a little longer due to the unusual nature of the problem, it was effectively addressed within a week.

Positive

Previously, we used SolarWinds. However, the configuration and maintenance overhead for Auvik is significantly lower, and Auvik itself is much faster.

The initial deployment was straightforward. We had three people for the deployment but it could be done with one person.

The implementation was completed in-house.

Compared to Auvik's competitors, its pricing is largely in line with SolarWinds. However, the exact cost may be slightly lower or higher depending on how the software is used.

Auvik does not charge for server monitoring, which is a significant cost advantage. If we had to pay for each server individually, the cost would become quite high, depending on the size and complexity of our server environment.

I would rate Auvik a nine out of ten.

Minimal maintenance is required to keep the collector devices up to date.

Before implementing Auvik, organizations should confirm that all devices they intend to monitor are compatible with Auvik's capabilities. This is particularly important for web-based devices, as Auvik may have limitations in monitoring such systems.

We primarily use Auvik for managing and monitoring devices, including network devices, access points, and printers. We utilize Auvik's alerts to notify us of offline devices or any unusual behavior it detects, such as high interface utilization or low disk space. Additionally, we employ Auvik to automate the backup of our network switches.

We implemented Auvik because we lacked visibility into potential network issues, such as switch or access point utilization. While I have a wireless controller that provides some insights, Auvik unifies this information into a single, comprehensive view. This centralized visibility enables us to proactively identify and address network problems.

Auvik is deployed in a hybrid model because we have an on-prem collector that sends the information to the cloud.

Auvik is intuitive.

The ease of use provides me with peace of mind. It eliminates the need for me to independently explore certain aspects.

It has significantly reduced our mean time to resolution. For one particular issue, it saved me an estimated 10 to 20 hours at a minimum. Additionally, it has enabled me to respond to a handful of other issues one to two hours quicker.

We have been enabled to dedicate less time to the setup and maintenance of the solution and reduce the time required for issue resolution.

I have utilized configuration backups to replace equipment. I have employed alerting mechanisms to correlate user concerns with known alerts, enabling me to grasp the situation promptly. I can inform users of the need to replace toner cartridges or alert them to power outages caused by switch failures. Overall, this process aids in identifying the expected network status.

One of the primary advantages we observed with Auvik was the immediate availability of switch backups. This enabled me to seamlessly track configuration changes between backups. This was particularly valuable during the initial months when I was implementing numerous network switch installations. Auvik's ability to quickly adapt and incorporate new information is impressive. The only aspect that might require a time investment is understanding the normalcy of specific bandwidth or statistical data. However, this is not a learning process but rather a data-collection exercise.

The monitoring and backup are the most valuable features.

The Auvik network map and dashboard are not reliable enough to provide a real-time view of our network.

Metrics should be reported for individual devices rather than IP addresses.

I believe it would be highly beneficial to display the paths over which each VLAN is accessible on the network map.

I have been using Auvik for almost six months.

The stability of Auvik is excellent. The only time it goes down is when they announce it beforehand for maintenance.

Auvik should be extremely scalable. I have not seen any issues in that regard.

The technical support response time is slow. With 20 years in the service industry and nearly 30 in IT, I find that while the technical support representatives are polite, I sometimes feel more knowledgeable than they are. It's frustrating explaining my concerns to level one support only to have them escalate the issue to an engineer, leaving me in a communication limbo for potentially weeks.

Neutral

The initial deployment was uncomplicated. While Auvik itself was very easy to use, it requires SNMP to be configured correctly on all devices. This is the time-consuming aspect of the process. If SNMP is already configured on all devices and we have the necessary information, the setup can be quite straightforward and likely take less than an hour.

I was the only one from our organization involved in the deployment.

We used Auvik for the implementation.

Initially, I was an enthusiastic advocate for this product. I told many people about it and was very excited about its potential. However, once I started using it regularly, my enthusiasm waned somewhat. While the product does excel in certain areas, the recurring cost can be a deterrent. Overall, I believe the product is fairly priced, but I would consider it a better value if it were improved in certain areas.

If an alternative monitoring solution is not available, Auvik will take care of it. While we pay our MSP to monitor the servers, Auvik provides me with the essential information I need to stay informed about their status at no charge.

I would rate Auvik seven out of ten.

Auvik may require minor maintenance after adding or correcting connections, as some of these changes may not be displayed correctly.

Ensure the SNMP configuration is accurate, as Auvik relies heavily on it for network monitoring and management. Additionally, use managed switches instead of unmanaged switches to avoid potential network disruptions and complications.

It has got a lot of use cases, but in my opinion, it's probably the best full-stack network monitoring management and alerting platform that's out there for routers, switches, firewalls, and non-server infrastructure.

It makes it a lot easier for our IT teams to have visibility into remote and distributed networks. Once you get your IT team members used to it, when you're having an issue, for example, while trying to SSH to something, they will go to Auvik first just because they have the geographic map, and they have these little dummy-proof exclamation marks. So, there might be an issue here. The way Auvik portrays the network from the outside looking in is like being Zeus on a little cloud. We can see what's going on with all our devices which we couldn't see before without having to log into each device individually, or we had to use a diagram that we made when they were set up and refer to that. Now, we have a live reactive changing diagram that allows our network guys to go straight to the actual device that's causing the network issue somewhere in this region and start troubleshooting that right away versus having to troubleshoot three, four, or five devices in that general area blindly, and then, eventually getting to the device they need to work on. It has saved an insurmountable amount of hours of network outages and down networks. It has also reduced our response times. We are able to get that information really quickly, and we don't have to go back and forth. What used to be a four-hour fix is now done in 30 minutes.

It has been great to allow our teams to focus on high-value tasks and delegate low-level tasks to junior staff. It has been great just because of the integration with our PSA ticketing system and the way we can set triggers, priorities, and levels of urgency with notes and all the other cool features they have there. It allows us to route tickets appropriately and then, they already have little checklists that pop up for common alerts that say, "If it's this and this, try this. If not, escalate to senior staff." It has sped that up quite a bit. Often, there's a lot of noise, and by getting the alerting down right to where there are actionable incidents that come in, it has sometimes added a little extra time for the tier one guys because often there are just too many alerts. You have one device that brings down a whole network, but you get alerts on every single device that's inside that network, whereas you only need to know the one. Sometimes, it's not easy from the face value to know which specific device it's until you get used to the tool and the customer.

Auvik keeping our device inventories up-to-date has helped save us time and money. We don't miss a lot of the warranty and inversion roll-ups, and some of our commitments where we have to do quarterly upgrades of the router, switch, and firewall environment. They are the kind of upgrades that aren't done automatically for anyone because you can't do those in the middle of the day. So, our ability to track assets, models, versions, and even warranty expiration dates, which they pull from public databases automatically for you, is invaluable.

They allow for integrations into their platform via API with PSA tools like ConnectWise Manage and ConnectWise Automate. They have a lot of add-on integration and plug-ins for a lot of the big names and IT RMM stacks commonly used in my industry space. These integrations are absolutely valuable. With the integrations into ConnectWise, we are able to automatically create and close tickets across systems. As alerts and new information comes into Auvik, when an issue or a trigger that was alarmed has been resolved, and it detects that it has gone away, based on our threshold, it can talk back to our ticketing system and auto-close it and send a notification. It's phenomenal. You don't have to wait on an email to go to another email, and then that email creates a ticket. It's very useful.

The network visualization is great in terms of overall intuitiveness. They couldn't do any more than doing a coloring book with pop-up pictures and coloring stuff. They made it easy for you to know where to look. They guide you to the right place. I always use the term Windows 85 just because they tried to simplify it so much and make it so easy that it became difficult for people because they are used to doing more steps. They're like, "Wait, that can't be right. That's all I had to do? There have to be more steps." Some of the things are hidden in plain sight, but when you find it once, you're good. The diagrams and the groupings of the sections are very down and out. Like Merkle Tree, they are easy to navigate, and then, they have a lot of cross-referencing hooks inside those sections of the UI that lead you back to the next expected place you'd want to go after making a change in that section. It's nice.

The monitoring and management functions or the out-of-the-box functions are fairly easy to use. When you need to tailor an onboarding for a customer who wants different triggers and conditions for alerts that don't come out of the box in their default alert set for certain device types, you can make it happen and create those, but doing so isn't that easy. Luckily, Auvik support is usually the best. They respond very quickly. You can message them right on a chat. You always get someone who knows what they're talking about, and then, they get you in the right direction. From a user perspective, customizing it's not intuitive, but it can be done with their help.

Its asset inventory is amazing. The only thing that they're still lacking is the ability to make it easier to import assets into their system when onboarding. Other than that, exporting and pulling data that is set up in Auvik is very easy, and it has made QBR with customers and things like that a lot of fun.

So, there should be more custom reporting options when importing or exporting. It should have better data ingestion capabilities, and we should be able to import more than just a CSV. They should also improve it in terms of customization for customer tenants and reporting and onboarding options for migrating from non-Auvik systems or no network monitoring systems into Auvik. It's still a very manual process even with the discovery. The onboardings are probably the longest part.

There is a hidden or unspoken bottleneck that I would like to see improved. When there are 800 to 1,000 devices in one subtenant, that is huge performance segregation. Generally, you're not going to have a lot of customers that have that much, but the solution is to create different sub tenants and such, but it's more of a hassle than it's worth. In the future, I would like to see if they could find a way to break through that bottleneck for the namespace tenants or for the customer tenants to where I could have all the customer network devices in one tenant. They could even be sectionalized inside the tenant, or there could be a way to mask the US1, US2, Customer-1, Customer-2, or whatever namespace in a way that they all also show up in the same portal tenant customer organization, and they all tie into our PSA tools with same API integration. I would like to see that happen. That's been the biggest hurdle for our enterprise customers and deployments because when you're first doing discovery and you start scanning, it starts pulling in everything like printers, computers, phones, and all the stuff you don't need. It adds up to 1,000 really quickly, and then the UI or refresh rate on the tool cripples drastically. That's the biggest thing, but it's not something that can't be overcome either by the options and suggestions they provide as of today. In those kinds of situations, it just requires a little bit of extra work to set up the additional tenants and get everything integrated.

I've been using it for about five years.

Its stability is great. 

I couldn't speak on their actual infrastructure because of the hosted solution. So far, I've seen just massive fast scaling from their infrastructure side just based on namespaces alone. I haven't seen any limitations personally other than the bottleneck I have, but that's not a limitation when there's a solution to create satellite tenants that will talk to each other for the same customer. If that were to continue on, I haven't seen anything that would stop me from creating unlimited 1,000 device namespaces per customer all tied into the same functions of their stack.

I would rate their support a 10 out of 10. It's like they look out for me when I message support. For the last five years, every time I messaged them, they sent me the best guy they had, or that's the experience I've had. I have had nothing but a great experience with their support. I never had to get them on the phone either. It has always been through the chat, which is amazing.

Positive

We only use Auvik for routers, switches, and firewalls or just the network. We don't use it for any servers. We use a combined stack for that piece. Before we moved to Auvik, we used to use two extra tools, and then Auvik replaced those two. Now, we're just down to using two main tools to manage the entire customer infrastructure. We got Auvik and ConnectWise Automate.

In the past 13 years, I've used SolarWinds, NetNat, and Kaseya Traverse. We have used a good handful of managed service provider-focused tools. I used LabTech's very limited network monitoring management tool before they got bought and the name was changed to ConnectWise and ConnectWise Automate, but essentially, LabTech was the same tool as Automate. Anyone in the MSP business over in Houston was either using the Kaseya RMM tool or they were using LabTech's RMM tool to manage their customers. They mainly excelled at just workstations and server management, but they had some limited network functionality or network monitoring and management that you could do. Outside of that, this is the first one that would do it all. Usually, you had to get a vendor-specific one. You'd be doing a bunch of different vendor tools. You'd have a Cisco tool, you'd have a Fortinet tool, or you'd have a SonicWall tool. Each one of those tools monitored and managed just that class of product. It's nice to have one that does it all.

In terms of comparison of Auvik's cloud-based solution versus other on-prem network monitoring solutions, the only thing they have is collectors. They got the collectors, and all they do is that they relay information via HTTPS back to the AWS. AWS does all the magic with the databases.

Deployments are extremely straightforward. My response would be biased because I have been using it for a while, but I don't see anything that someone who doesn't use it regularly might see as a problem or hurdle. I've worked with the support and used the tool so often. So, I know the little caveats where if something is wrong with the way it's talking to a device, if I wait 30 seconds and set the device to unmanaged and then set it back to managed again, I can reset it and reconnect the service. So, it's super easy. Their level of support is quick and very knowledgeable because their support doesn't work with any non-technical people because all of their customers are IT teams. You could probably log into a tenant, and if you have no idea what you're doing, just pop in there in message chat, and you can probably have them walk you through it at a fast enough rate to get you up in line and managing the day-to-day tasks for the customer in that tenant portal in just a matter of a week or less, depending on the size of the network. It could be a matter of a couple of hours.

We have our own process. We streamlined the onboarding process. We took the bits and pieces out of the Auvik documentation that we found to be more relevant and valuable during the initial customer discussions. When you're dealing with a lot of customers who also have internal IT departments, you have to lay out a lot of different concerns, questions, and things that evolve around their specific operations that you just can't predict from the get-go. So, we have our own process where it picks out the protocols that are relevant, the level of permissions that we need, the service accounts that we need, etc. We set those requirements and expectations in our scope with the customer, and they sign off on it that they get us this information within a certain timeframe. That helps speed up the process out of the box. Assuming everything is perfect and we have all of the access and all the keys to the kingdom of someone we're trying to deploy out of the box, we should have no problem deploying it very quickly. That's because all the credentials that we need to manage those devices are automated by an Auvik service account for logins, remote sessions, and SNMP. If all those are plugged in before we deploy the collector, and as we deploy the collector, it does all that magic for us. That's the automation piece involving connecting, discovering, pulling information, and wrapping everything together.

I got a new guy who works with me now, but for the last three years, it has been solely me deploying Auvik for every customer and internally for our operations as well. I deploy it, configure it, and then I hand it off to Ops to maintain it, and they handle it from there. 

In terms of maintenance, it doesn't require much maintenance. In the past few years, there were some instances where they couldn't automatically update collectors from certain versions to certain versions when you passed a certain point. So, you just have to go in and update or just redeploy collectors for customers, which is due to the nature of how they are set up. You could have one that just breaks. You can spin off a brand new one in less than 30 minutes, and you're back to where you were before.

Every time we onboard a new customer to provide our IT services, there's a kickoff call that just says, "Hey, we're doing this." Auvik provides us the ability to perform discovery as soon as we have keys to their infrastructure.

There has been a reduction in our mean time to resolution (MTTR). From incident to resolution, it has probably cut that time down in half for the operations side.

The prices change based on your partnership with them and based on the bulk amount that you buy and the account rep you're talking to. It depends on negotiations and the number of customers you have. 

It's absolutely worth the money. I would probably charge more if I were them. They don't charge you for anything that's not a router, switch, or firewall controller, or a network device. So, you can throw anything like servers and ESX hosts. You can throw network storage and all that stuff in there, and they have functionality in there for you to build out, monitor, and manage those as well, which you don't get charged for. You only get charged per device for a switch, router, or firewall, which is nice. You can have a collector for a customer, and it's just a minimal fee for the tenant. It's pretty neat. You can deploy as many collectors as you want to talk to that tenant for the customer on the fly and do discoveries. We also handle some emergency requests such as, "We need to figure out what we have on our network because we got ransomware, and we need to make sure all of our devices and all of our assets have the new antivirus. We're supposed to have 6,000 devices, but we're only showing this many." There have been times when we've literally just used the tool for discovery on a customer to collect a full report of assets and then used that to fix another whole different type of issue and provide solutions for more revenue to additional projects for that engagement. We use it ad hoc. We use it for month-to-month management of infrastructures. Now, we use it for discoveries and emergency projects where we need to collect a lot of information very quickly when we don't have any other IT at the other end to provide information on situations.

When I got hired with Computex, now Calian, they hired me because they didn't know what to do with Traverse. I made the decision and met with the engineering team. I was certainly 90% of the reason for the decision for them to move away from Kaseya's Traverse tool to Auvik's tool. I made that decision when I came on because I had a lot of background in it, and they had an acquisition where they had that tool for half of their businesses they were providing IT for, and then, they had Traverse. I convinced them to get away from Traverse because it wasn't a good tool, and then we moved over to a tool that did what we needed.

I had to do a lot of training. I had to host a lot of training and calls and some webinars for our NOC team, but once we got a hang of it, we were able to display it while the customer was at our NOC. We could display the active live network monitoring diagrams on our dashboards with all our other systems. It gives everyone a warm feeling when they can look over and see what's going on.

I would advise first figuring out what you're trying to accomplish. If you are trying to ad hoc or duct tape other tools, rethink. Auvik performs and shows the most value when it becomes your sole tool for all of your network monitoring and management and alerting. If you're trying to ad hoc, duct tape, or throw in just for a feature or a filler for another product, you're just going to run into more headache. You only need Auvik to manage all of those things. If you're looking to Auvik for server management, workstation management, it's possible, but it's not built for that. So, make sure that it's for network devices only. It's not really designed to manage storage and hypervisors and remote access. It's not a day-to-day help desk support tool for you to hop on to user workstations and troubleshoot from that standpoint.

If you want just another monitoring solution, Auvik can do it, but Auvik's magic is the fact that it's a full stack. It's not just monitoring. It's full network management, remote access, and preventative maintenance. It's a full RMM tool. So, if you're looking for strictly an alerting tool for your network, you'd be wasting some very well-engineered features on the product by going with Auvik just for that. 

Its ease of use isn't too important for us, but it depends on the kind of use because we have layered access and levels of skill sets that are allowed to do certain things in it. From a broader perspective, 90% of the engineers that work for a managed services provider and 90% of the guys on our support desk aren't going to be there changing anything. It's just going to be the project team that sets it up, onboards it, and configures it. Once that process is standardized for us, there are only minor tweaks, based on the customer type, when we set up new clients. It becomes pretty streamlined. The only time that the ease of use helps is in the beginning when you first start using the tool itself. Once you've been a partner with Auvik, you've onboarded a few customers, and you've dug your way in and out, and around it, and you do a couple hundred after that, it's not as relevant.

It hasn't helped reduce repetitive, low-priority tasks through automation. They don't have much automation in the platform itself. The only automated thing that they do is to monitor conditions, and then the routing of the alerts, who they go to, and how those are handled. In terms of automation of maintenance on the network, there isn't any function like that in Auvik that I'm aware of. It's mostly just analytics monitoring and a remote access tool.

I would rate it a nine out of ten.

We use Auvik to monitor our customers' networks for performance and availability.

Auvik's ease of use is essential for our operations.

We previously used multiple applications to manage our networks. The solution provides a single integrated platform for our organization which is vital for our operations. 

It has streamlined our management of networks, time-wise. Auvik has drastically cut down our time by 50 percent.

Auvik's ability to monitor multiple hardware manufacturers in a single pane of glass makes it very easy for our engineers to respond to alerts.

The ability to help visualize the network mapping or topology allows our engineers to see what is connected to what in order to troubleshoot quicker.

We have found that being able to see the misconfigurations on network devices has lowered our troubleshooting tremendously. This is because we can quickly identify and fix any problems. The solution helps to reduce repetitive, low-priority tasks through automation.

Auvik affects our IT team's visibility into our remote and distributed networks globally, which is extremely important.

The ability to scan the network and find devices frees up our IT team's availability. 

In any engineering job, we're going to have some downtime. Being able to turn our attention to low-level tasks and resolve some easy tickets is great for our IT department.

Auvik helps us keep our device inventories up to date.

Rather than delegating low-level tasks to our junior staff, we use the inventory a lot for pooling devices and serial numbers. If a customer wants to know how many switches they have in place, we can pull the inventory from Auvik.

Compared to the other solutions we use, Auvik is easily the most solid.

We like the alerts, the network mapping, and the backup of configurations.

The monitoring and management functions of Auvik are extremely easy to use straight out of the box.

Auvik's overall intuitiveness of our network's visualization is excellent.

It requires very minimal maintenance.

When we deal with larger networks, the current interface is difficult to navigate around the network map because of the volume of devices. The solution can improve by providing a simpler way to display and navigate through all of the devices on larger networks. 

The stability can use improvement.

I have been using the solution for five years.

Auvik has gone down a couple of times. We haven't been able to log in, but that's common in the industry. 

Auvik's scalability is extremely high.

The technical support is good.

Positive

We have used SolarWinds in the past. We also use ConnectWise manual SNMP monitoring to see if firewalls are up or down. We moved from LogicMonitoring to Auvik five years ago. When we moved from LogicMonitor to Auvik, one aspect was immediately apparent: the notifications were a lot better. The notifications through Auvik were timely and relevant, while the notifications through LogicMonitor were often delayed and irrelevant. The interface for LogicMonitor was not as good as Auvik's. Auvik was a breath of fresh air. The notifications were clear and concise, and the monitoring of devices was top-notch. We quickly realized that there was no going back to LogicMonitor.

Once we put the collector out there and populate the username and passwords for our devices, Auvik is easy to set up. The deployment required two engineers.

It takes between 30 minutes to one hour from the time the collector is implemented to the time our network mapping starts to populate.

The implementation was out of the box and completed in-house. 

We have seen tremendous value with Auvik.

Auvik's pricing is very competitive compared to other network management solutions. We get our pricing from ConnectWise, and we also use SolarWinds. I know that their prices are higher than Auvik's, or at least what's been proposed to us was higher.

We did not evaluate other options. We were introduced to Auvik by Continuum before they were bought by ConnectWise.

I give the solution a ten out of ten.

We generally prefer to install the Auvik collector on-premises onto a server and run it in the Linux configuration. We do this more so than using the cloud, likely for performance reasons.

I recommend Auvik. It is a great tool for managed service providers because it works with any hardware vendor and allows them to scale their networking practice greatly.

We use Auvik for monitoring networks across all of our sites for alerts, reporting, configuration backups, and troubleshooting. Auvik does a little bit of everything when it comes to networking.

I'm not the only person that utilizes Auvik, but I'm the only network engineer. The infrastructure team uses it for server monitoring. Security guys can also access it, but I'm the primary caretaker.

I monitor 34 sites with 200 managed devices, and about another hundred are unmanaged. Altogether, I have over 2,600 devices that are not networked. If you subtract the network from that, it's about 2,300 devices that aren't network devices, including printers, servers, and computers. Auvik crawls and finds those kinds of things on the network. That's what I mean by total picture.

I previously used SolarWinds, which I call a Swiss Army knife of network monitoring systems. SolarWinds is great. It does many things, but it's gotten too bloated and slow. It's not as intuitive as Auvik. SolarWinds didn't do mapping on its own, and the mapping provided was kind of clunky to get running because you have to manage the licensing and everything. Even after tweaking SolarWinds, I couldn't get the mapping capabilities Auvik gives me. 

Also, SolarWinds wasn't a one-stop shop. Auvik is the closest I've gotten to a single pane of glass. It's hard to judge whether Auvik has saved time over SolarWinds after two months because I'm still doing some slight tweaks. It took me months to get SolarWinds the way we need it here. Auvik is still a pretty new product for us. Though it's meeting our basic needs, I'm the kind of guy who likes to squeeze every bit of juice out of my fruit.

The out-of-the-box alerts were pretty on-point, so I've only had to create two alerts on my own. The reporting is easy to access, so pulling reports is more straightforward. That saves time. 

Also, I don't need to add devices to Auvik. It automatically crawls, finds them, and puts them in the inventory. I don't have to go back and draw maps. Auvik does that. Mapping in SolarWinds requires their map tool, a separate product you must install on the server itself. Drawing maps on that was painful. Discovery isn't something I need to do anymore. When I added five new devices to a site, it found them all and brought them into inventory. I didn't have to do that.

Auvik automatically keeps the device inventories updated. I'm shutting down SolarWinds this week. On Friday, I did my final inventory comparing SolarWinds and Auvik. I have not been updating SolarWinds, and Auvik has about 20 more devices on the network side alone because I don't have to go back through and update the inventory. It'll pull it in itself. When something is added, I get an alert saying the new device has been added to the network.

Auvik has sped up my resolution time because you can drill down in Auvik and look at the net flow information faster. The alerts also help, but if this is a data-driven event, I need to look at the net flow, which is much quicker. 

The monitoring and alerts are easy to use and set up. Discovery is the first step in monitoring, and that's a piece of cake with Auvik. It'll scan your networks once you get the credentials set up and automatically find newly added equipment as long as the same credentials are already on that gear. Auvik makes my job a lot easier. I don't have to keep going back to a monitoring system to add devices each time we bring something new. That part alone saves me time.

It's all intuitive and straightforward. The out-of-the-box alerts provided everything I needed, but I've made a couple of additional alerts. You can schedule maintenance windows in Auvik, and the solution won't send any alerts during that time. With other products, you have to turn off the alerts on each device if you don't set it up correctly. Ease of use is crucial because I'm the only network engineer at a company of 900, so I have many things to do. 

I have a single pane of glass. It's easier to go into one system where everything is easy to find. It's a one-stop-shop with everything you need instead of going into multiple products to get it done. I don't consider Auvik entirely cloud-based because you have collectors onsite. The portal for viewing your infrastructure is cloud-based. You don't need to get into a VPN or anything like that to get to it. It's two-factor authentication, so it's a little harder for bad actors to get to your data.

The ability to log in and run commands from the cloud is helpful. You can access a full command line on the device, so I don't need to VPN into the infrastructure, which helps when troubleshooting. It's also beneficial that it's not on-prem. If my leading site, where the on-prem solution is located, goes down, no place is being monitored. As long as the internet connection is up and the collector is running, all my sites are being monitored.

The mapping automatically finds all the interfaces but tags some of them incorrectly. For instance, if it can't find how a CPU interface is connected, it will use the MAC address last seen on the router and sometimes attribute cloud-connected devices to the route, but it's not actually there. That's not a true connection.

It isn't going to the cloud. It's going directly back to the router. I've talked to Auvik support about that already. They're looking into it. Overall, mapping could be a little better. Though they do a great job, there's still room for improvement. It's 100% accurate for some sites but only 90% for others. It gives you a complete view of how things are connected for the most part. Auvik still struggles with wireless bridges and things of that nature. However, Auvik isn't the only product missing that, and there is a simple way to make those connections myself.

I did a couple of trials with Auvik, but we've officially been using the solution for about three months now.

I'm through my testing phase, and now that I'm in my third month using Auvik, I can say it's pretty stable. I had one issue with Syslog, but they fixed it. They made a change that caused an unforeseen issue in Syslog. They resolved the problem in the next release.

Auvik's scalability is pretty good. I'm monitoring 30-plus sites. I was running 30 of them off one collector, so the scalability is pretty good.

I rate Auvik support nine out of 10. 

Positive

SolarWinds does many of the same things, but Auvik has a different approach. If we have some networking event, we can find the problem machine in Auvik and see what it has been talking to a lot faster. 

Auvik is a little more agile. We can find things a little faster with Auvik than in SolarWinds. We don't need to dig as much. The graphical nature of the product makes it easier to navigate.

Deploying Auvik is very straightforward. I implemented it pretty much out of the box. When I had my customer success meetings with Auvik support, I had already done everything they told me to do. I'm experienced in setting up things, so I had it up and running by the time we met to review our technical onboarding.

I can onboard a small site in 10 minutes. Once you input credentials at the top level, it's only a matter of putting in subnets that you want scanned, waiting for them to be scanned, and verifying everything is there. It's about 10 minutes per site once your credentials are squared away.

Once that is ready, it takes Auvik an hour or so per site to stitch everything together. Much of it is on the backend because it makes all those maps and everything like that, which takes time. It has to pull in the data from SNMP and CDP. It looks at all the interfaces and stitches together maps, so it depends on how many collectors you have. It takes longer if you're running a couple of collectors for an entire enterprise because a few collectors are doing a lot of work.

It's much faster if you have a collector at every site. It's probably 15 to 20 minutes per site. I only used one collector when I started because I wanted to see how hard I could push it. It took much less time to set up than SolarWinds. The discovery is pretty simple for what you have to do from my end. As long as you have your credentials at the top level, you add a new site, throw in your subnets, and it finds them for you. 

Auvik doesn't require any maintenance after deployment. I wanted to stress test the collector to see what might break it. I had 30 sites on one collector at one time, but I decided to go back to the suggested implementation.

With a single collector on 30-plus sites, the daily tasks were completed, and we weren't close to using up the CPU or memory on this device—this wasn't a beefy server. It was built to their specs but not overly powerful. Once your collector runs, you don't need to do much with this product because the brains are in the cloud. If your collector goes down, bringing up a new one is a piece of cake.

It's apparent off the bat how much time I'm saving by doing tasks because of the ease of use. Once I got everything discovered, it was evident that I would save time by automatically drawing maps and keeping them updated. I immediately noticed that I would save time, and time is money. I always have several projects and no longer worry about my inventory because Auvik does this for me.

Once the devices are configured, and the collectors are installed, I don't need to add anything to the monitoring system or make sure the backups are there. Auvik grabs it for me.

It's worth the price, depending on how you use the product. Price is a significant component of any purchase; for me, it all goes back to visibility. I have more visibility into everything now than I had before. SolarWinds was on every node, and every interface had to be licensed. With Auvik, the cost could be the same or more depending on the level of visibility you want. The price and value vary according to your network infrastructure and the information you want.

If you want a complete picture of your entire network, then Auvik is a better choice. SolarWinds is a better option if you're only looking at network devices. I think Auvik's price per node is a tad high. That's probably my only knock against Auvik. Your network nodes are billable, including servers, printers, or other devices. You have visibility into those things as well. In other products, each one of those devices is a billable node, so Auvik gives us a little bit more visibility than we had before because now we have more devices in the system.

We looked at Entuity and Datadog. 

I rate Auvik nine out of 10. I deduct a point for the mapping and reporting. I like everything else that Auvik does. The only aspect I don't like 100% is the mapping. Also, they have canned reports instead of a built-in report builder. You have to extract the data in Power BI or some other way. They have great pieces, but I can't customize them and create my own within their system.