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Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance vs ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations comparison

Cisco and ExtraHop Networks are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #40 with an average rating of 8.0, while ExtraHop Networks is ranked #72. Cisco holds a 0.9% mindshare in NMS, compared to ExtraHop Networks’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of ExtraHop Networks users who would recommend it.
Cisco Provider Connectivity...
Read 24 Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance reviews
  • 1,670 Views
  • 1,083 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT O...
Read 8 ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations reviews
  • 1,053 Views
  • 586 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

ExtraHop Reveal(x) and Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance compete in the network monitoring and security space. ExtraHop Reveal(x) has an edge with its intuitive features and pricing, while Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance appeals to those who prioritize comprehensive functionality.

Features: ExtraHop Reveal(x) offers real-time analytics, streamlined data insights, and anomaly detection capabilities. Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance ensures network service quality through constant connectivity checks, failure reporting, and has a distinctive focus on network verification.

Room for Improvement: ExtraHop Reveal(x) could benefit from enhanced integration capabilities, expanded customization options, and more comprehensive reporting tools. Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance might improve by simplifying its user interface, reducing setup complexity, and offering more competitive pricing models.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ExtraHop Reveal(x) is recognized for its quick deployment and responsive customer service. Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance, although involving a more complex setup process, benefits from Cisco's extensive support infrastructure and a proven track record in customer service.

Pricing and ROI: ExtraHop Reveal(x) offers competitive pricing with a favorable return on investment due to lower setup costs and rapid time-to-value. Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance incurs a higher initial investment but justifies this with long-term benefits from sophisticated functionalities. The financial commitment difference influences tech buyers based on immediate budget constraints or long-term value.

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To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance vs. ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations Report (Updated: April 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance vs. ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations
April 2025
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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

Cisco Provider Connectivity...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
40th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (46th)
ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT O...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
72nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Network Diagnostics (12th), IT Operations Analytics (15th), Network Packet Capture (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance is 0.9%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations is 0.5%, down from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Sylvain Germe - PeerSpot reviewer
Highly scalable, responsive support, but lacking new features
This solution is geared towards on-premise setups, and would not be useful if the company plans to move to the cloud within the next two years, such as Google Cloud for example. If the goal is to monitor bandwidth at remote sites and identify performance issues because the network is under the control, this solution is useful. However, if a company primarily uses cloud-based servers and does not manage the internet connection of its remote sites, the solution becomes less useful. I rate Accedian Skylight a seven out of ten. I have a positive opinion of the tool, but it can be challenging to set up. It is also limited in its applicability to certain use cases. I am familiar with the engineers behind the solution and have a good impression of them. However, I am not pleased with the fact that the company removed many features and raised prices after it was acquired by Accedian.
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Out West - PeerSpot reviewer
Great for identifying application interdependencies with helpful support but needs better visualizations
We're just trying to identify the application interdependencies, which normally reside on different servers, including web servers, database servers, enterprise service bus, et cetera, up to your presentation layer before we start moving stuff around. Normally, the reason why we use these tools is to understand what assets we have, where they're deployed, and how they enter and operate before we decide to go move something from point A to point B. The solution is going to allow me to establish a wave or migration plan where you have different waves of migration and then you actually have move groups to try and get your application moved from A to B seamlessly. A to B could be on-premise to on-premise. It could be on-premise to cloud. Et cetera. The solution can tell me what components can I deploy, for example, into a cloud space, without having to refactor my applications since that can be quite time-consuming and costly.
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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One valuable feature we have is real-time monitoring for connection issues."
"I always have the Skylight dashboard on one of my screens... Now you can create your own dashboard, specific to an application, specific to a server, or to something else."
"The ability to measure performance end-to-end across the cloud data center allows us to take corrective action to keep our channels online."
"The performance of Accedian Skylight is better than other vendors."
"The solution’s UI and single pane of glass is good. The new dashboard is modern with its new design. The look of it is not pretty, but it is efficient, which is good. It is user-friendly; you can find what you need on the interface quickly."
"This solution has helped to improve the interaction between our network, datacenter, and application teams. I have used other tools, but this tool can pinpoint the root cause of my application or network issue in the majority of the cases. So, it helps different divisions or groups in the IT department to troubleshoot together and get an issue resolved. This tool helps a lot in our day-to-day networking application and IT operations."
"Capturing traffic [is very interesting]. Currently, with our configuration, we don't capture the payload of the packets, just the header. But when we want the body, the payload of the packets, we can do a PCAP, and then analyze it within Wireshark."
"The feature I used to like the most was its ability to decode layer seven protocols, although this is becoming less useful now that encryption is so widespread."
More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance pros
"Wire data analytics."
"This solution is more applications reference architecture focused. Its benefit is that it specializes in that space."
"There are many valuable features in this product, but probably the biggest is the customization capability it has."
"Not only can you look at the protocol import level. It also has a live PCAP analysis."
"The most valuable feature is the way it handles data, from Layer 2 up to Layer 7. We can see everything that happens in the network."
"The most valuable features are security detections, perimeter detection, dashboards, and alerts."
 

Cons

"It's a bit slow. When I execute a query, something general with a short timeframe that covers one month, for instance, and I do not specify the IP source or IP destination, it can take ages because it has to query the whole database."
"Human resource costs can be high when dealing with connection issues."
"For the PVX, they are in the process of getting the results to export to cloud and SaaS for analytics. They told me that this will happen later this year. Right now, for the most part, I create that data myself."
"The Accedian Skylight user interface still has room for improvement."
"There should be an option to update and upgrade the solution to the new version without having to re-buy it. I have clients switching to other solutions. The old solution is great, but if you change your license to a new one, you have to almost re-buy it completely."
"The UI interface of Accedian Skylight could improve."
"I would like to see some improvements in parts of their synthetic transactions, which includes all the latency, jitter, and throughput. I would like to see some Layer 7 analytics in there. I want to be able to do a DNS request, HTTP GET request, or even SIP call point-to-point or via registration."
"If you want a new version, you go to the website. The hardest part is finding the link, where is that .bin file? Sometimes it's pretty hidden in a document... it's hidden in the release notes or in another file somewhere. And it's usually not on the first page either."
More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance cons
"They have a new solution, ExtraHop Reveal(x), and I think it needs improvement."
"This solution would be improved if it had the ability to retain data longer."
"We'd like to see a local presence within the region in order to have seamless service whether it's the support, the implementation, or professional services."
"They either have to go broad or decide what their bread and butter is and get really good at that."
"I would improve the Rule-Based Access Control (RBAC) by providing granular access control to the data."
"Network visibility is something that needs to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is cheaper than other competing products, which is better for our budgets."
"It provides value and the cost is not huge."
"The pricing of Accedian Skylight is really good. The sensors are low cost. Their model to analytics for sensors is by license, endpoint, or session. With the probes for their analytics, if they get deployed virtually, they are free. The licensing is only based on flows. So, you can effectively deploy probes everywhere in your network. Then, if you want to look at a specific type of traffic, you can enter into it with a very low cost license. You can just use things like spam ports, mirrors, TAPs, and aggregators to optimize what sort of traffic you send to these analysis tools. Then, if you want to start looking at more, you can up your licensed as you go. You are not getting forced into expensive appliances or subscription models."
"The solution was previously well-regarded, but after being acquired by Accedian, the prices have significantly increased. This has made it challenging to sell the product due to its high cost. It is an expensive solution."
"The price is competitive overall, depending on the type of customer."
"We understand there's a significant cost difference, but have yet to investigate fully."
"It's not for free, clearly. But on the other hand, it offers very interesting functionality. We pay around €100,000."
"If you look into Riverbed, it's a licensing nightmare. You need to pay for every type of analysis... If you don't look into licensing, Riverbed and SolarWinds are pretty comparable. But if you look into licensing it would not be smart to go for either of them. On the pure, bare-metal basis, it's the same. But when you get the bare metal and a few basic licenses, then you need all those other licenses just to be sure that there's no issue... One of the great things about Skylight is you have them all, and you actually need them all."
More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance pricing and cost advice
"The price of this solution for our environment is about £650,000 ($855,000 USD) for three years."
"The pricing is higher than other solutions, but with such good features, I think it's worth it."
"The pricing is fair considering the value provided."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
39%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
51%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
8%
Healthcare Company
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Accedian Skylight?
Human resource costs can be high when dealing with connection issues. I require more tools to file and resolve these issues efficiently.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Accedian Skylight?
I had prepared for COC and the client. I work as a vendor for a client using Flow Mount for network performance monitoring. I focus on resolving client-side issues related to Packy Performance and ...
See all answers
What advice do you have for others considering Accedian Skylight?
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
See all answers
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Comparisons

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Compared 43% of the time
SolarWinds NPM vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance Logo
SolarWinds NPM vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance
Compared 15% of the time
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance Logo
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance
Compared 11% of the time
Dynatrace vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance Logo
Dynatrace vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance
Compared 10% of the time
Zabbix vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance Logo
Zabbix vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance
Compared 5% of the time
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ThousandEyes vs ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations Logo
ThousandEyes vs ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations
Compared 24% of the time
SolarWinds NPM vs ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations Logo
SolarWinds NPM vs ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations
Compared 17% of the time
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE vs ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations Logo
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE vs ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations
Compared 17% of the time
Devo vs ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations Logo
Devo vs ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations
Compared 14% of the time
Splunk Enterprise Security vs ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations Logo
Splunk Enterprise Security vs ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations
Compared 13% of the time
More ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance
May 2025
Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance reportDownload Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance product report
Buyer's Guide
ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations
May 2025
ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations reportDownload ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations product report
 

Also Known As

Accedian Skylight, Accedian SkyLIGHT PVX, SkyLIGHT PVX, SecurActive, Performance Vision
No data available
 

Overview

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance offers real-time application and network performance monitoring, VPN management, and network diagnostics across multiple sites.

Organizations use Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance for active and passive monitoring, stress testing, and troubleshooting performance issues. Deployed both on-premise and in the cloud, it supports IT infrastructure, security, and analytics with end-to-end performance measurement across cloud data centers. The modern, intuitive interface features TWAMP for real-time traffic accuracy and standardized reports, along with insightful dashboards for circuit performance, latency, jitter, and throughput monitoring.

What are the most important features?
  • TWAMP: Provides real-time traffic accuracy and standardized reporting.
  • Insightful Dashboards: Monitor circuit performance, latency, jitter, and throughput.
  • Security Integration: Compatible with tools like Splunk for enhanced security.
  • Application Support: Facilitates comprehensive network performance analysis.
What benefits or ROI should users look for in reviews?
  • Quick Corrective Actions: Immediate response capabilities for performance issues.
  • Easy Navigation: User-friendly layouts simplify monitoring and troubleshooting.
  • Comprehensive Analytics: Advanced tools for in-depth network performance insights.
  • Cloud and On-Premise Options: Flexible deployment to meet different needs.

In industries like finance and healthcare, Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance ensures robust performance monitoring and quick diagnostics for VPNs and internet lines. It aids in maintaining the integrity and security of data transference, facilitating active and passive monitoring, stress testing, and performance troubleshooting across geographically dispersed locations, ensuring seamless operation and compliance with industry standards.

Cisco

The ExtraHop Application Performance Management Solution Delivers Unified Visibility Across the IT Environment w/ Proactive Alerts & Accelerated Troubleshooting

ExtraHop Networks
 

Sample Customers

T-Systems, Thomson Reuters, Bordeaux Metropole, CGI, Citadelle Regional Hospital Center, Lorraine Institute of Oncology, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Groupe BPCE, Group S, Splitpoint, Horus-Net, Audatex, Indexis, Province de Liège, EASI, Spie Batignolles, Faymonville
Alaska Airlines, bet365, Concur, McKesson, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Practice Fusion, Seattle Children's Hospital, Steward Health Care System
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance vs. ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations
April 2025
Free Report: Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance vs. ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations
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