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Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista vs IBM Tivoli NetCool comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista
Ranking in Network Management Applications
15th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.2
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM Tivoli NetCool
Ranking in Network Management Applications
14th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista is 1.9%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Tivoli NetCool is 2.0%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications
 

Featured Reviews

John Mark - PeerSpot reviewer
An unified solution best suited for network management and connectivity
The support of Omnivista could be better. It's very expensive because it requires a subscription for support, and the licenses are proprietary. If you want to scale or expand your operation by adding more WiFi access points, you have to buy another license. The web-based interface of OmniVista is user-friendly, but for some administrative tasks and functions, you have to use the CLI, which is difficult if you don't have enough training. It relies heavily on CLI guides and manuals. For improvements, I'd suggest making the WiFi access points lighter. Lighter access points like those from TP-Link or Ubiquiti would be better. Additionally, the switches struggle with heat in our environment. They can get very hot and damage the electrical components due to inadequate cooling.
Petar Ganev - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable for enterprise monitoring but no longer actively developed
There are problems with the latest security requirements because many things have changed in recent years, and now the security audits are very strict. And we need to switch to something else. We need to patch it constantly. Moreover, it is a very old tool and a little bit difficult to support. Otherwise, they work okay.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Being able to see the health of the network is most valuable. It is very strong in terms of stability and scalability. Their technical support is also good."
"The most valuable feature of Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista is the monitoring of wired and wireless equipment."
"OmniVista is a unified solution. It makes management easier in case the router, switch and the WiFi are of the same brand. It also allows us to monitor the WiFi signal strength, switch speed, and bandwidth consumption, and easily block users. We also use the analytics feature, which provides a dashboard showing the number of users per WiFi access point, signal strength, and internet performance. It also monitors the temperature of the equipment."
"Network management solution that's very stable and scalable. It has a straightforward installation, fast technical support, and multiple features such as reporting, network health analysis, etc."
"The reports are good."
"The command line is very user-friendly, making it easy to implement the network."
"It is a good investment for features."
"The solution is easy to manage."
"Anything is possible with Tivoli. It's quite a robust system."
"The tool is much easier to manage than running scripts and figuring out how many endpoints have been exceeded."
"NetCool has a huge database that can collect and process about one million alarms a day."
"The tool had many built-in automation capabilities."
"The feature I have found most valuable with NetCool is how it collaborates all the alarms, and then it does a predictive analysis, providing a consolidated alarm view and management."
"It's very easy to use."
"The solution has very good integration capabilities."
"Support is one of the best aspects of this solution. NetCool is a good product that has good flexibility. There are a lot of documents available online which is one of the best features of IBM Tivoli Suite. Whenever an issue happens, rather than going to technical support, if you find the exact issue in Google, you can get tech notes for that particular issue."
 

Cons

"One feature that is missing is the netting feature, which allows for public-to-private network transitions and vice versa."
"I would like to see a little better reporting, not reporting features, the report maker to be a little better."
"The support of Omnivista could be better. It's very expensive because it requires a subscription for support, and the licenses are proprietary. If you want to scale or expand your operation by adding more WiFi access points, you have to buy another license for that. The web-based interface of OmniVista is user-friendly, but for some administrative tasks and functions, you have to use the CLI, which is difficult if you don't have enough training. It relies heavily on CLI guides and manuals. For improvements, I'd suggest making the WiFi access points lighter.. Lighter access points like those from TP-Link or Ubiquiti would be better. Additionally, the switches struggle with heat in our environment. They can get very hot and damage the electrical components due to inadequate cooling."
"In version 8.7.70, I am not able to change a user from administrative to room once the user is created."
"Adding a reliable and proper heatmap for the access points would make this solution better."
"The support of Omnivista could be better. It's very expensive because it requires a subscription for support, and the licenses are proprietary. If you want to scale or expand your operation by adding more WiFi access points, you have to buy another license."
"The location of the WiFi connection should be available to all users."
"They should add more security features."
"The solution is not user-friendly."
"The solution does not have any AI capabilities."
"The installation could be simplified, and technical support could be faster."
"The installation could be simplified, and technical support could be faster."
"The solution is too expensive."
"In terms of improvement, I would like to see more AIOps, Artificial Intelligent Operations in the next release. IBM develops new features for Power BI or Cognos Analytics, which is good. As of now, we use Cognos Analytics, we are not using Power BI. They have the Insight concept but we don't like that."
"Customization and integration that you need to do to make the product fit your needs is very complex. It is not a product that somebody could easily pick up without any prior training or experience."
"Tivoli NetCool is based on a Linux platform, it would be beneficial if they moved it to Windows because not everyone is acquainted with Linux."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista is cheaper compared to other tools on the market. The license for this software is a one-time license only, so there is no renewal needed. It's a perpetual license."
"Its price is reasonable."
"This is an open-source solution, we do not pay any money to use it."
"I would rate OmniVista's pricing seven out of ten since it is expensive."
"The price of the product is too expensive."
"It costs around 100k for every ten servers, which is lower than similar products from other vendors."
"Customers are required to pay a licensing fee."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Healthcare Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Computer Software Company
32%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista?
In version 8.7.70, I am not able to change a user from administrative to room once the user is created. This limitation is challenging and was confirmed by Alcatel as not possible in the 8.7.70 ver...
What is your primary use case for Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista?
The solution is used for auditing and providing audit reports, sending mails, and notifications.
What advice do you have for others considering Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista?
I rate Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista an overall nine out of ten. The issue with changing a user from administrative to room under the user section needs improvement. If this could be resolved, the ratin...
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
I have worked from 1973 with all kind of systems in large enterprises across the world. And have experience with all kind of software in monitoring from infra to end to end, it depends on the funct...
What do you like most about IBM Tivoli NetCool?
The tool had many built-in automation capabilities.
What needs improvement with IBM Tivoli NetCool?
The main challenge is its licensing model, which is very complicated.
 

Also Known As

Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista 8770, OmniVista 8770, OmniVista 2500, OmniVista Cirrus, Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista 2500, Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista Cirrus, OmniVista 2500 NMS, OmniVista 2500 VMM, OmniVista 3600,
Tivoli NetCool
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Blickle and Scherer, Loughborough University, CSF Inox, Caritas Speyer
Claranet, Consolidated Communications, Telus, €sterreichische Bundesbahnen (€BB), Telekom Srbija, Bendigo Community Telco, Capgemini, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB)
Find out what your peers are saying about Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista vs. IBM Tivoli NetCool and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.