IT Support Analyst at a sports company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 20
Detects rogue devices, monitors network traffic, and provides credential management
Pros and Cons
  • "Credential management is the most valuable feature. It's helpful to have everything in one essential place."
  • "The user interface could be less cluttered."

What is our primary use case?

We use Auvik as a network scanning tool so that we can detect devices that are connected to our office network. We can get information from those devices and track them down. It's a network monitoring and scanning tool, so we can detect rogue devices and network traffic as well. It's essential to see what's on our network.

Auvik provides a single integrated platform from a network monitoring perspective. Having a single integrated platform is important for our organization because we obviously don't want to check multiple systems.

It's deployed in a single location with multiple networks for different departments. There are 200 endpoints in our organization.

What is most valuable?

Credential management is the most valuable feature. It's helpful to have everything in one essential place. The traffic flow is also a valuable feature. I haven't been able to use it yet, but it's been demonstrated to me and looks very good.

It's easy to use the monitoring and management functions.

What needs improvement?

The user interface could be less cluttered. There's a lot going on, which is good because there's obviously a lot of information displayed. Sometimes I feel a little bit claustrophobic with the user interface. It can be confusing at times because there's so much going on. Once you know how to use it and navigate, it is easy to use.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used Auvik for two weeks.

Buyer's Guide
Auvik Network Management (ANM)
May 2024
Learn what your peers think about Auvik Network Management (ANM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2024.
770,458 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

From what I have seen, it's stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It scales very well, from what I can tell.

How was the initial setup?

The setup is really easy. We implemented Auvik out of the box. It took 15 minutes to install the virtual appliance. We were able to start scanning, and it took 20 minutes to start retrieving information.

Auvik requires maintenance. The network appliance needs to be updated. Obviously, the credentials need to be updated whenever they change. It's a small amount of maintenance. We don't have to worry about it too much because it's cloud-based. The updates are simple, so it's really easy to maintain. You just log in, click a button, and it will update.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at Lansweeper. I'm still in the process of evaluating other solutions.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution as an eight out of ten.

Auvik's cloud-based solution is easier to use compared to the on-premises network monitoring solutions. We don't have to maintain anything, which is nice.

My advice is to deploy Auvik wherever you can to get as much data as possible.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Technical Solutions Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 20
Integrates well, provides good visibility, and has a unique pricing model that allows you to spin devices up and down monthly
Pros and Cons
  • "The integration with other vendors, not just using their SNMP feature, but the actual integration to other cloud-based solutions is also valuable. We use Cisco Meraki, and integration into that has been very helpful."
  • "The deployment could be better. It's something that we've done recently. Auvik uses something called a collector, and I added a collector to our main site. I only added it to the main site, but when it came to adding additional sites because this was in the testing phase, I had to reconfigure that collector. It wasn't overly clear about how to do that and how to share. They call it sharing a collector. I had to mess around a bit to reconfigure that collector and add some new sites."

What is our primary use case?

We are using it for more visibility on our network devices.

How has it helped my organization?

It did highlight a few things in the very beginning. When we were in the trial, it highlighted some misconfigurations, some of which were quite important to fix immediately. It has brought us to a better place from that perspective. There is comfort in knowing that there is something watching the devices. If a site was to go down, or something was to stop working, or someone plugged in something incorrectly where they shouldn't be, we would be notified, and then we could figure out how to fix it straight away, whereas before, we would be in the dark. We didn't have visibility on that before.

It provides a single integrated platform, which is very important because it saves time and it gets to the point very quickly. If there is something that's not quite right, we can find it and figure out a path to resolution.

It's very good for visualizing the network mapping and topology for our organization. It's really helpful. We do need network diagrams to be accurate and up-to-date for certain accreditations that we have. As we are still in our infancy with the product, with the diagrams that we've got, we do need to do a little bit of work. They are very detailed. They do show the connectivity parts, and once I tighten them up, they'd be sufficient for us to use for our audit purposes. They're good.

The overall intuitiveness of the network visualization is pretty good. They are quite intuitive. It gives you the option to drill down into certain sites and see their connectivity and see what goes where. It's pretty good, especially when you get stuck into the filters and you start adding devices and adding different bits and pieces. It works well.

We've got various sites across the country. We aren't global, but in the UK, we've got various sites. It's very helpful to see the topology and what's going on in our other sites as well, whereas before, we had little to no visibility. This visibility is very important.

It helps keep device inventories up-to-date. It has saved time when it comes to us having audits and interrogations.

What is most valuable?

The alerting has been really useful. The integration with other vendors, not just using their SNMP feature, but the actual integration to other cloud-based solutions is also valuable. We use Cisco Meraki, and integration into that has been very helpful.

It's very important that it's user-friendly and easy to understand. They've got quite a good knowledge base as well. Their resource center is pretty helpful. I had to go there a couple of times.

What needs improvement?

The deployment could be better. It's something that we've done recently. Auvik uses something called a collector, and I added a collector to our main site. I only added it to the main site, but when it came to adding additional sites because this was in the testing phase, I had to reconfigure that collector. It wasn't overly clear about how to do that and how to share. They call it sharing a collector. I had to mess around a bit to reconfigure that collector and add some new sites. I originally set Auvik up as a single site and put the credentials. We share the credentials across the other sites as well. I did the credentials onto our headquarters, and then I realized that I could have added the credentials at the very top level or the organizational level. I had to do a bit of reconfiguring to move the credentials over, and then it scanned the device again to make sure they were the right credentials. So, reconfiguring was a little bit of a pain. In the initial setup phase, if it was described a bit better that if you use the same credentials, you can put them here instead of at the site level, that would've been quite beneficial. They could also mention that you can set your collector up as a shared collector from the very beginning. It could be that it does that, and I just missed that step. If that's not there, then just the description as to what it could do and how it would benefit, instead of having to retrospectively change it, would be useful.

There should be a slightly clearer understanding of how devices are charged. We integrated the Meraki system, and certain devices are chargeable and certain devices aren't chargeable. It would be quite useful to have some kind of message saying, "Right, we've discovered these devices on Meraki. Once you are monitoring them, you will be charged this per device, and there'll be an uplift of your billing every month." 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Auvik for a couple of months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Although I haven't taken too much notice of these emails, I have received a fair few in our short period of being with Auvik that describe system outages and maintenance windows and changes. I was a bit surprised at how many I've had, but every time I've wanted to use it, it has been there. It's nice that they email to say that there are potential issues, but there seem to have been a fair few. The downtime hasn't affected us directly, but it potentially has been a fair bit.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It appears to be very scalable. In terms of usage, it spans the whole company's infrastructure. We've got five locations. It spans across all of those and most of the subnets at those locations as well. There are some irrelevant devices that don't need to be monitored there, but we have Cisco switches, and we have Meraki firewalls and wireless access points. We have also got some Polycom and Yealink desk phones that it monitors. It monitors our HP printers, and we've got some Lexmark printers. We monitor those across the sites, and obviously, we've got all of our end-user devices. So, we've got phones, laptops, and a whole mixture of tech that is connected to the end.

We are looking at expanding one of our warehouses to have a lot more infrastructure inside it. Its usage will be expanded. In terms of users, we've only two users who log into the dashboard.

How are customer service and support?

It was pretty good. I only got in touch with them once about the collector we put in. They were pretty helpful. I'm happy to give them a 10 out of 10. They got to the point and helped me out.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

We used PRTG, but it was decommissioned. It was only a free version. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward to add the single site, but when I wanted to change that collector to point at multiple sites and move the configuration of the credentials over to the top level, that was a bit of an arduous task.

We implemented Auvik out of the box. It took about an hour after the collector was implemented before our network mapping started to populate. I had to authorize the networks that it was detecting, and it took about an hour.

Overall, the deployment probably spanned over a couple of weeks. If I had dedicated time for it, it probably would've taken only a day or so to add all our sites and get everything as it should be.

In terms of the implementation strategy, there wasn't too much of a strategy because it was a trial that we then continued onward. We didn't really have too much of a strategy devised.

What about the implementation team?

I deployed it myself. For maintenance, there is just our team, which includes me and my colleague. Maintenance is required only when we have changes on our network.

What was our ROI?

Personally, I have seen an ROI, but I am not sure if the decision holders who deal with spending money have seen that yet because it has not highlighted any issues. It has not had that value in their eyes. It will probably show its value when it highlights what's gone wrong and how quickly it could be repaired due to the information that it provides.

In terms of time savings as compared to our previous platform, the platforms that we used in the past were decommissioned. We were looking at finding alternatives, which is when Auvik came around. I'm not so sure it has had a chance to save too much time just yet because it has not highlighted anything that needs to be repaired. I can imagine it being a great time saver should something go wrong, but because we are only in our early stages of use, we've not been able to benefit from its fault finding so much just yet.

We have not yet seen a reduction in our mean time to resolution (MTTR) because we've not had any problems.

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

Auvik has got quite a unique pricing model where you can spin up and spin down devices monthly. Obviously, there's the option to have a yearly commitment, but you can add different tiers of monitoring on devices. There are lots of bolt-ons and bits and pieces that you can choose to have. You can slim it down to something very cheap every month, or you can spin it up to whatever the requirements are, whereas others are a bit more finicky to set up and understand the billing.

The pricing could be tiered so that you get a discount for more devices. We're fairly early on in the billing process, but it could be slightly cheaper.

When we first signed up, it wasn't overly clear in terms of the devices that were chargeable. They seemed to be on the performance plan for some reason, as opposed to essentials, which had a higher tier of cost. So, I had it switched down to essentials. We use Meraki, and we also use another product called Cisco Umbrella. So, there are some aspects that we already have in other products that are a bit more detailed. I don't need additional functions, such as NetFlow, because we got Meraki Firewall, and we use Cisco Umbrella and all of their devices. We've already got the visibility that Auvik has, and we didn't need that portion of the billing. So, it cost a bit more initially because we were on this performance plan.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We did look into other products, but we didn't do a trial of them. I can't remember the name, but there were a few open-source products that we were considering for which we would have needed servers and other bits and pieces. Auvik being cloud-based was very appealing because we are very cloud-first. We did the test, and we liked it. So, we decided to carry on.

What other advice do I have?

I would advise giving it the time it deserves to set it up correctly. Make sure that you are not preoccupied with other things. It doesn't take a lot of time, but just make sure that you aren't doing other things, and then you'll get it right the first time.

It's pretty straightforward. It takes a little bit of concentration. It's not something you could just set up in a rush. You would need to make sure that you're doing everything properly and giving it the attention it deserves, which sometimes I struggle to do because I multitask quite a bit.

It hasn't yet helped reduce repetitive, low-priority tasks through automation, but I can see it being able to do that. Similarly, its automation hasn't yet had an effect on our IT team's availability.

Comparing Auvik’s cloud-based solution versus on-prem network monitoring solutions, I personally don't see any downside to it being in the cloud as opposed to being on-prem. It has security for logging in, and it's normally always available. It's easy to spin up collectors that will talk out to the cloud. You still have a small on-prem application, but the whole infrastructure, the system, and the database are all living in the cloud, which really helps. Personally, I find it brilliant. It's great having a cloud-based solution that is powerful, like this one.

I would rate it an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Auvik Network Management (ANM)
May 2024
Learn what your peers think about Auvik Network Management (ANM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2024.
770,458 professionals have used our research since 2012.
System Administrator at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Makes it simpler and easier for me, as an IT person, to manage my network
Pros and Cons
  • "Its network discovery capabilities are pretty good. It kind of spiders out and detects pretty much everything on the network, e.g., things that we are using and not using anymore. Its network discovery capabilities allow me to detect these things so I can track them down and shut them off."
  • "The reporting needs a little bit of improvement. Sometimes, I get too many reports. Or, I don't get reports when I should be getting reports. I don't know if this is Auvik's fault or the devices that the reporting is coming from, but I have noticed there have been some discrepancies."

What is our primary use case?

It gives me an overall idea of our network. It shows me where things are at. It tells me about devices being down, e.g., printers. I also use it to see web usage, e.g., what sites people are going to. It has a lot of uses. I check to see the overall network topology, when things go down, or whenever I get alerts from Auvik.

I use the reporting part of it. Every day, I take a look at the reports every day.

We are using the latest version.

How has it helped my organization?

It makes it simpler and easier for me, as an IT person, to manage my network.

The automation of the network mapping enables junior network specialists to resolve issues directly, freeing up senior-level team members to perform higher-value tasks. This has made our operations easier, simpler, and faster.

As things change on a network, Auvik detects that and automatically changes based on those changes. It makes things a lot easier. You don't have to figure it out by mapping it out on a paper, etc. You can just go there and see how things are connected. So, it definitely helps.

What is most valuable?

When the systems go down, Auvik is a pretty useful tool. It lets me know ahead of time that I have an issue somewhere.

It is pretty easy to use. It kind of deploys itself. You put some passwords in there and it just kind of spiders out into your network, testing everything. 

Its network discovery capabilities are pretty good. It kind of spiders out and detects pretty much everything on the network, e.g., things that we are using and not using anymore. Its network discovery capabilities allow me to detect these things so I can track them down and shut them off.

What needs improvement?

The reporting needs a little bit of improvement. Sometimes, I get too many reports. Or, I don't get reports when I should be getting reports. I don't know if this is Auvik's fault or the devices that the reporting is coming from, but I have noticed there have been some discrepancies.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Auvik for five months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have had no issues with its stability.

I get emails letting me know that Auvik will be down for maintenance or updates. No maintenance is required.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Our environment is not very large. I am the only user of it.

How are customer service and technical support?

I haven't needed to use the technical support.

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

We didn't previously have anything in place. We looked for a solution because we had nothing in place for network topology and reporting on systems being up and down as well as having the reporting on other things that Auvik does.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was a little complex.

The deployment took four sessions, which were an hour long each.

Auvik suggested that we put it on a relay server, then we took it from there.

What about the implementation team?

I did need some help from Auvik specialists. With some of the switches, I needed to get them in the device and reporting correctly. There were some problems, so a specialist had to get on and help me configure it.

What was our ROI?

Auvik has decreased our mean time to resolution by 50%.

I find Auvik kind of invaluable. It wasn't that expensive and did provide me with a lot of information. So, it is pretty beneficial.

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

We have licenses per year. It is on a network device, so we pay for switches and firewalls. Everything else is included, e.g., computers, access points, and printers.

Auvik offers a trial period. I recommend taking advantage of that and seeing if it works for your environment.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I looked at competitors. Other providers had multiple systems. I just wanted a single system to do everything. So, Auvik was an all-in-one package.

What other advice do I have?

The TrafficInsights feature shows us network bandwidth usage without the need for expensive, in-line traffic decryption. I use it to see what sites people are going on and how to block certain things, like social media. Though, it is not that important to us, because we don't have an issue with our bandwidth. So, if we had an issue with our bandwidth, I would have to monitor it more, but we don't at the present time.

Auvik is very useful. I would rate it as eight out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
IT Manager at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Makes it easier to find the devices on the network and pull out the information
Pros and Cons
  • "Auvik has decreased our mean time to resolution. It's easier to find the devices on the network and pull out the information. Of course, the SNMP is also good to get the logs. It helps in the network debugging or if we have to find any problems."
  • "It's missing the license checker feature. We are using Salesforce and the license is a really crucial part of the development, and we have to monitor it. Now, I have to write a script and then run it on a random Linux box and get a notification if it's expiring. It's a really specific feature. I'm not sure Auvik will develop it."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use cases are for monitoring the network and backup for the switches and firewalls.

How has it helped my organization?

The daily backups monitoring and the notifications if something goes down have improved my organization.

Auvik has decreased our mean time to resolution. It's easier to find the devices on the network and pull out the information. Of course, the SNMP is also good to get the logs. It helps in the network debugging or if we have to find any problems. 

What is most valuable?

The backup feature is really good. The monitoring feature is the main reason why we use Auvik.

Auvik is really helpful and straightforward. I like the free training as well. It's easy to use.

It's done a pretty good job when it comes to its network discovery capabilities. It's pretty accurate. Although, we have a few VPNs and maybe a bit more complicated setup. It's complicated to do it the right way, but it's fine. It's not a big issue. 

We tried the traffic insights feature. My director uses it to report issues about traffic things. It shows the network bandwidth usage without the need for expensive inline traffic decryption.

This feature to check the bandwidth is good because we have a high bandwidth development, so it's hard to check. If we saw high bandwidth usage, it is not an issue for us because it's part of the development.

We use automated out-of-the-box device configuration backups. Before Auvik we didn't have any solution and we haven't had any script or task to do this. And it was one of the selling points for us to have the backups and see the differences between the configurations. So it's not to save anything. It was one of the reasons why we subscribed to Auvik.

I would rate Auvik's time to value for setup time, automated network mapping, and documentation a ten out of ten. 

The cost savings we have realized to the solution versus its cost is an eight out of ten because we haven't saved a lot but it improved our system. 

What needs improvement?

It's missing the license checker feature. We are using Salesforce and the license is a really crucial part of the development, and we have to monitor it. Now, I have to write a script and then run it on a random Linux box and get a notification if it's expiring. It's a really specific feature. I'm not sure Auvik will develop it.

We used Nagios for monitoring. Since it's an open-source thing, you can easily extend it with plugins. We had the license-checker in Nagios and I miss it in Auvik. There might be a solution to check this license. I just haven't had time to check it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Auvik for around a year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We haven't experienced any stability issues. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is pretty good. We have two studios and two offices and it works perfectly.

We have 50 PCs on one side and 200 PCs on the other side. 

We have one or two users actively using it. 

It requires zero maintenance. Nagios was a continuous polishing and setting up of stuff. Auvik is totally different. Auvik just works out-of-the-box. Nagios needs parenting.

How are customer service and technical support?

We had one ticket and they solved it. That was our experience with technical support. 

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

We previously used Nagios. I liked Nagios, but Auvik has much more features. It's an enterprise product instead of a normal one. We tried Auvik, we liked it, and we bought it.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. My director implemented it and we have two collectors in our two offices. So it was pretty easy. We only had issues with the authentication.

It took around a week. It took one night for him to install it and we were able to fine tune it the next week. We are still learning it.

What about the implementation team?

We did the deployment ourselves. 

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

The licensing is really good. I felt the price was a bit expensive, but it wasn't my decision.

Auvik only charges for certain devices and not the endpoints. We like the way it's licensed. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We didn't evaluate other solutions. Auvik wasn't my choice. We had Nagios and we didn't replace it but we started slowly using Auvik and phasing out Nagios.  

What other advice do I have?

My advice would be not to forget to set up the external IP because it was also a good feature.

I would rate Auvik a ten out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Helpdesk Technician at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Top 20
Enables us to react faster to issues so we're able to keep our SLAs but isn't so compatible with Ubiquiti
Pros and Cons
  • "Monitoring is probably the most active thing Auvik does for us. If a particular device on the network goes down, we have that granularity to see which network element is causing the problem."
  • "Auvik doesn't communicate very well with Ubiquiti devices and will incorrectly flag facets as down. Compatibility with Ubiquiti is my biggest pain point with Auvik."

What is our primary use case?

We're a managed services provider using Auvik to monitor our clients' infrastructure. It is part of a set of tools that keeps us informed when something goes wrong, and we use it to build network maps. You can get an idea of what's happening on-site even if you're unfamiliar with the client's setup.

Sometimes it's the only thing on the network. It's competing with Ubiquiti if we have a Ubiquiti network. Not all the time, but sometimes. 

How has it helped my organization?

Auvik allows us to react faster to issues, so we're able to keep our SLAs. 
Depending on the issue, we're reducing our troubleshooting time to within 20 to 30 minutes. Some of our clients have one-hour SLAs, so that's an important turnaround.

We have much better visibility into our clients' networks, which is helpful when we're troubleshooting. When issues go wrong, we're more present. It helps us automate some low-level tasks. For example, it closes tickets on its own. 

The fact that Auvik is a cloud-based solution is crucial because we're primarily a cloud-based company monitoring multiple clients across several sites. The cloud functionality is handy because we get visibility across distinct companies all from one location. 

What is most valuable?

Monitoring is probably the most active asset Auvik does for us. If a particular device on the network goes down, we have that granularity to see which network element is causing the problem. 

The integrations don't give us too much trouble. It all works with Auto Task reasonably nicely. Once it's set up, it'll close out in Auto Task too, which is great. The network visualization is excellent if you build it out and tweak it, so it reflects the truth. You'll get most of the picture if you let it automatically populate. Once it's built out, the network map is decent.

The network visualization is pretty intuitive. There's not too much going on with the network map there, and you understand what a network looks like. I think it's pretty straightforward.

What needs improvement?

Auvik doesn't communicate very well with Ubiquiti devices and will incorrectly flag facets as down. Compatibility with Ubiquiti is my biggest pain point with Auvik.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Auvik since I joined this company in July 2022.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I haven't had any issues with Auvik's stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Auvik seems fairly scalable. It works for all of our clients, ranging from 10 devices to a few hundred. It works well for small to medium-sized businesses. 

What other advice do I have?

I give Auvik a solid seven out of 10. I might rate it eight if the Ubiquiti issue wasn't always bugging me. It tells me Ubiquiti devices are down when they're not. I recommend giving it a try. If you are trying to track multiple sites and multiple clients, it's worth a look.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: MSP
PeerSpot user
Network Administrator at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
MSP
Provides excellent topography and historical data, with easy-to-use monitoring and management functions
Pros and Cons
  • "The topography and historical data are excellent; the latter essentially allows us to see back in time, which is helpful as users don't always report issues promptly. The ability to go back and look at historical data is a good feature."
  • "The performance could be better; it gets a little clunky and slow-moving at times, and I wonder if that's due to the VM or if it's just the nature of the tool."

What is our primary use case?

We're an MSP, so we function as the IT company for multiple clients, and we primarily use Auvik for monitoring and troubleshooting network issues. It's deployed across various locations, from small to medium-sized businesses, plus one school system.

How has it helped my organization?

Auvik improved our organization by allowing us to stay on top of issues with our clients. It alerts us in a timely manner and allows us to react proactively. In many cases, we get alerts that something is going on before the client realizes it.

The solution affected our IT team's global visibility into our remote and distributed networks, which is helpful. It's great because we can access the Auvik portal anywhere in the world. The visibility it provides is essential, especially for our technicians and engineers working from home.  

Auvik helps us keep our device inventories up-to-date, as it pulls in all the devices on the network and sorts them. We can filter by Mac address, IP address, type of OS and more. This helps tremendously in helping our teams focus on high-level tasks and delegating low-level tasks to junior staff. Most low-level alerts go to our junior admins, which allows them to develop experience and learn the product.    

Auvik keeping our device inventories up-to-date helped save us time and allowed us to find devices we didn't know about when onboarding a client.

We have seen a reduction in our mean time to resolution (MTTR), primarily because our customers don't need to call us; we get alerts and tickets through our ConnectWise portal when Auvik detects an issue. This speeds up our time to repair because we are alerted of problems almost immediately and can start working on a solution.    

What is most valuable?

The topography and historical data are excellent; the latter essentially allows us to see back in time, which is helpful as users don't always report issues promptly. The ability to go back and look at historical data is a good feature.

It's easy to use the monitoring and management functions; everything is intuitive and self-explanatory. The feature set is more important to us than ease of use, as we work with many intelligent people. However, ease of use is helpful for our level one help desk personnel, who aren't used to using network tools like Auvik. In addition to being intuitive, the ease of use flattens the learning curve for our less experienced employees.   

Regarding Auvik helping to visualize our network mapping/topology, it's elementary. It places devices logically in a topology that's easy to understand. We can collapse and expand elements, making it easy to find information and devices in the system. I rate the tool ten out of ten for the overall intuitiveness of network visualization. Everything is worded perfectly and makes perfect sense to anyone working in the IT field.     

We have seen time-to-value with Auvik; it helped us on many occasions when our clients had network problems. It assisted us in ironing out those issues.  

What needs improvement?

The performance could be better; it gets a little clunky and slow-moving at times, and I wonder if that's due to the VM or if it's just the nature of the tool.

Another issue is the solution sometimes signs users out at inopportune times without warning. I'll be working in one window perfectly fine, and I would have a second session open in another window, which can time out and force me to log back in, even though I'm still logged on to the platform in another window. That can be frustrating.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for about six years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is excellent as long as the network, VMs, and hardware are suitable. Running low-quality equipment would affect the stability and user experience.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution scales well. Once you reach around 2,000 devices, a second device is required on the network to offset some of the performance issues that come with that, but it scales easily. It would just be a second OVA running on a box.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is excellent and very quick to respond. They helped us with an issue concerning performance hits in some equipment due to the frequency of the scans Auvik was running.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

We evaluated some trial solutions for other network management tools, and they didn't fit us. SolarWinds NPM was a resource hog, and it wasn't cloud-based, so we ended up going with Auvik because of the ability to use it in the cloud.

We primarily used the in-built networking tools from each vendor. Switching to Auvik saves us about 20 hours because we can see all the relevant data and manage the networks from a single pane of glass.  

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward; it consisted of deploying an OVA which searches for the Auvik instance in the cloud and locks it in once authorized. It's between three and five steps, so it's quick to get up and running.

After the collector code was implemented, our network mapping started to populate almost immediately. However, we had SNMP set up, which needs to be done ahead of time for network devices. The solution pulls in devices and connections via ICMP based on the network it discovers. It may draw in limited details initially until the rest of the details are set up, but IP-based devices are pulled in very quickly. 

In terms of time to set up and maintain Auvik, it's about the same as other tools. It's all about the underlying network configuration. It didn't take much time because I ensured the network was prepped for any potential security monitoring tools we put in place. I didn't have to go in on the back end and set anything up because it was all waiting to go.

The solution requires a little maintenance on the VM side. Performance-wise CPU and RAM maintenance can increase performance. Other than that, the tool essentially runs itself. 

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

I can't speak to the cost; I'm an engineer. Auvik has a subscription-based pricing option, and the other solution we evaluated had high upfront costs. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated Orion and WhatsUp Gold and found that Auvik works much better for us because it allows us to have all our clients in a single plane of glass under our company. With the other products, we would have to set up separate instances at each site and manage them individually from onsite.

What other advice do I have?

I rate the solution eight out of ten. 

Auvik provides a single integrated platform, though that's not as important to us as cost, ease of use, and support, in which the solution excels. We're intelligent people who work with different platforms, as our clients don't have cookie-cutter set-ups at every location. If Auvik weren't a single integrated platform, that wouldn't be much of a hindrance for us.

We haven't used Auvik's automation capabilities.

Auvik's cloud-based solution works as well or better than on-prem network monitoring solutions. The cloud solution depends upon the internet connection at the opposite end but logging in remotely to manage on-prem tools faces the same challenge.  

It works as well, even better. But of course, your Cloud solution is dependent upon the internet connection at the opposite end, so your mileage may vary. But you're still limited by that with on-prem solutions as well, if you're logging in remotely to look at those tools. So it faces the same challenges as the on-prem solutions.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

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

Other
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: MSP/Reseller
PeerSpot user
Tier 2 Support Tech at ArcSource Consulting
MSP
Top 20
Graphical network display helps us stay more organized and up-to-speed on our clients' networks
Pros and Cons
  • "It's a single, integrated platform and that is very important because the more tools that you can build into one product suite, the easier it is for your engineering staff to learn it."
  • "I don't know that there are any remote tools for directly connecting to workstations through Auvik. If there is, I have not used them, so adding a remote tool would be helpful."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for our small and medium businesses, specifically for data collection. We also use it for network mapping.

How has it helped my organization?

It's super helpful in the sense that you can look at the network and it shows you a graphical representation, so you know exactly how things are connected. It helps us stay more organized and more up-to-speed on what is in our clients' networks.

It helps keep device inventories up to date. The amount of data you get from it, whether it's network maps or the overall client information, helps you to solve tickets. We have two tiers for our tickets and we have a NOC team that assists us as well. That is how we run the business and the simpler tickets can be handled by the junior engineers.

Also, its ability to visualize network mapping and topology works extremely well. It's very comparable to SolarWinds, which is what I used in a previous position.

The whole troubleshooting process is made easier, and automation is part of that troubleshooting. And its automation has made us more available because it's enabling us to cut down on the time that it takes to resolve a help desk ticket.

We have absolutely seen a decrease in MTTR, thanks to the amount of data and the network maps. If an engineer is looking at a particular client location, they're able to ascertain, fairly quickly, where devices are located and how everything is connected. It just makes the whole troubleshooting process much simpler.

What is most valuable?

The data collection, as a whole, is valuable. 

The reports seem to be really comprehensive as well. There's a lot of information in terms of the make and model of a specific piece of hardware, IP address, subnets that a device is located on, and network map. It's a single, integrated platform and that is very important because the more tools that you can build into one product suite, the easier it is for your engineering staff to learn it.

It's extremely simple to use the monitoring and management functions of Auvik. Anybody with just a general IT background would be able to use it without a problem. This aspect of the solution is extremely important. As we're training new people, it's nice to have tools that are simple to use yet powerful enough to give you insight into your client's network. It would be a great tool for delegating low-level tasks to junior staff because there are so many built-in features and you get so much information out of Auvik.

What needs improvement?

Nothing really stands out in terms of a lack. If you want to be nit-picky, I don't know that there are any remote tools for directly connecting to workstations through Auvik. If there is, I have not used them, so adding a remote tool would be helpful.

For how long have I used the solution?

I started with my current company about three months ago and that's how long I've had experience in Auvik.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's extremely stable. I haven't had any issues at all. It seems rock-solid.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have it deployed across at least 30 clients' systems, so it's definitely a scalable solution.

How are customer service and support?

I have not had to call technical support yet because the product is fairly simple and straightforward.

What was our ROI?

The ROI would be high. Although I don't handle any of the billing our company receives, from a technical aspect, there is a lot of value from Auvik. I couldn't tell you how long it took to implement because I wasn't around for that, but the usefulness that I get out of Auvik is obvious.

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

I don't know what we pay for Auvik. But whatever the price is, it's worth it because we're getting a lot of value from it for that price.

What other advice do I have?

In terms of technical insight, if you're looking for good insight into your client's environment, Auvik is a great solution.

Auvik has definitely impressed me. It seems like it's very lightweight, yet it gives you a lot of features.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Network Analyst at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Eliminates the need for multiple solutions and saves us time through automation
Pros and Cons
  • "The best features are the alerting and monitoring."
  • "I want to see improvement around backups; we had a case where we created a ticket for online support, and they were able to set up backups for one of our devices, but they were unwilling to do the same backup script with a different device. The script uses the same code, just a different model number, and the engineers weren't willing to add it to the other model."

What is our primary use case?

Auvik is our monitoring solution; we're an MSP, so we use it to monitor multiple medium-sized enterprise clients. It's primarily used by the network team, though other teams log on occasionally. We have five users in our company. 

How has it helped my organization?

Auvik helps us manage our clients better, and it's all from one web page, so we can switch between clients easily without having to log into different systems. We can also remotely access their networks, which is handy. 

We previously used multiple solutions for managing our networks and switching to Auvik resulted in time savings of approximately 20%.  

Auvik increased our IT team's availability, especially as we can look into issues remotely and from our phones if we're away from a PC. All our teammates can log into a webpage instead of installing applications on their computers, which is nice from an availability point of view. We have seen time savings in the area of 10%. 

The solution helps us delegate low-level tasks to junior staff; we send alerts to our NOC team, and they help triage some of the lower-level ones. If they can't resolve it, they escalate it to us. The delegation capability is essential, as it saves us a lot of time.   

Auvik helps keep device inventories up-to-date; we can set it to scan the network, and the information updates automatically. It saves about 30% of our time.

The solution keeping device inventories up-to-date helps our teams focus on high-value tasks and delegate low-level tasks to junior staff.   

What is most valuable?

The best features are the alerting and monitoring. 

Using Auvik, we can remotely access our clients' devices or networks, which is an excellent feature.

The solution also allows us to do backups, check usage, and do SNMP polling for device statistics all in one pane of glass, which is nice.

Auvik's monitoring and managing functions are easy to use, especially as I did some webinars. We need the service, so ease of use is critical.  

Auvik provides a single integrated platform. 

Auvik provides a basic network map, and as long as everything is working correctly, it draws a little topology table, which is a nice feature. 

Auvik helps to reduce repetitive, low-priority tasks through automation, primarily our backups, as that's a repetitive task. From a backup point of view, the solution handles everything, and we only need to verify once in a while, so we have time savings of 90% in this area.   

What needs improvement?

I want to see improvement around backups; we had a case where we created a ticket for online support, and they were able to set up backups for one of our devices, but they were unwilling to do the same backup script with a different device. The script uses the same code, just a different model number, and the engineers weren't willing to add it to the other model.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using Auvik for about a year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Auvik is a stable platform. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Auvik is scalable, though we have one client with many devices, and it can sometimes be slow to load some of the data.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is excellent; I've logged several tickets with them, and they always resolved my issues.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

The company previously used an in-house system, but that was before my time. Auvik has been in place since my arrival. 

How was the initial setup?

I wasn't involved in the deployment, and the product doesn't require any maintenance on our end, as Auvik Networks Inc. handles that in the cloud. 

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

I don't have any insight into the cost, as another department handles that.

What other advice do I have?

I rate the solution eight out of ten. 

To someone comparing network monitoring solutions but concerned about pricing, I'd say Auvik is a good solution, and I recommend it.

Comparing Auvik's cloud-based solution versus on-prem network monitoring solutions, cloud-based is more straightforward and always available, so I prefer it over an on-prem tool.   

Our visibility into remote and distributed networks is about the same as before.

I advise anyone evaluating Auvik to try their POC, as it's straightforward to install and get working.

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: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: MSP
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Auvik Network Management (ANM) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: May 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Auvik Network Management (ANM) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.