Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance vs ObserverLIVE comparison

Cisco and Viavi Solutions are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #44 with an average rating of 8.0, while Viavi Solutions is ranked #110. Cisco holds a 0.7% mindshare in NMS, compared to Viavi Solutions’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution.

Cisco Provider Connectivity...

Read 24 Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance reviews

4,349 Views
2,566 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

ObserverLIVE

Read 1 ObserverLIVE review

680 Views
666 Comparison Views

0% willing to recommend

Cisco Provider Connectivity...

ObserverLIVE

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance and ObserverLIVE based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Zabbix, Auvik, SolarWinds and others in Network Monitoring Software.

To learn more, read our detailed Network Monitoring Software Report (Updated: April 2026).

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Network Monitoring Software

April 2026

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Helped 893,438 peers since 2012

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

44th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (39th)

ObserverLIVE

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

110th

Average Rating

0.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance is 0.7%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ObserverLIVE is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance	0.7%
ObserverLIVE	0.3%
Other	99.0%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Pifu Lin

Senior System Engineer at DYNASAFE TECHNOLOGIES PTE. LTD.

Addresses connectivity issues with real-time monitoring while offering good local support

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 quality use. This involves addressing network device issues, specifically Cisco network devices One…

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MOHAMEDABDELAZIM

IT manager at Mannai

Seamless packet analysis, deep visibility, and end-to-end network monitoring

We have experience with the VIAVI solutions, specifically the ObserverLIVE platform, which we use for network performance monitoring VIAVI helps by providing deep visibility on packet analysis end-to-end, which assists in identifying issues quickly and efficiently. VIAVI is very strong when it…

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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

"It is not that expensive of a solution and produces tremendous value."

"It is about finding operational problems. When sites go down, we try to determine who is at fault. While there is not much finger-pointing, the solution is just trying to analyse when there is an outage and where do we start looking to fix it. The very nature of why organization chooses to use the solution is to accelerate the meantime to resolution and find where problems lie to get them rectified as quickly as possible."

"One valuable feature we have is real-time monitoring for connection issues."

"Ease of use; can literally diagnose an issue in about four clicks."

"It is very stable, has reduced downtime and migration time, and with Skylight we never forget anything."

"The performance of Accedian Skylight is better than other vendors."

"We heavily use the "network analysis" section to dissect and analyze flows."

"Customer Service: Very good. Technical Support: Excellent and responsive."

More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance pros

"VIAVI is very strong when it comes to packet analysis, especially with SDN, ACI, and Cx."

Cons

"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."

"Some of the Skylight applications are a little newer, and they're still moving through initial revs. There are certain bugs, but nothing is insurmountable... It will just take a little bit of time for their user interface to get a little bit better."

"Increase the drive’s capacity to store more data, and maybe switch to a database system similar to 3Big-Data."

"Embed a warning system to a mailbox when it exceeds the threshold for use of bandwidth over a given period of time."

"For the PVX, they are in the process of getting the results to export to cloud and SaaS for analytics. Right now, for the most part, I create that data myself."

"Pricing is a little bit expensive."

"The Accedian Skylight user interface still has room for improvement."

"This solution is expensive compared to some others."

More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance cons

"VIAVI needs to include a Simple Network Monitoring Protocol (SNMP) for end-to-end monitoring solutions."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"It provides value and the cost is not huge."

"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."

"Pricing is a little bit expensive."

"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."

"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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	9

No data available

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?

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

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ObserverLIVE?

The price is reasonable. I would rate it nine out of ten for cost-effectiveness.

See all answers

What needs improvement with ObserverLIVE?

VIAVI needs to include a Simple Network Monitoring Protocol (SNMP) for end-to-end monitoring solutions. Currently, it lacks the ability to measure the health and status of devices such as switches ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for ObserverLIVE?

We have experience with the VIAVI solutions, specifically the ObserverLIVE platform, which we use for network performance monitoring.

See all answers

Comparisons

Dynatrace vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Compared 5% of the time

ThousandEyes vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Compared 5% of the time

LiveNX vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Compared 4% of the time

Splunk AppDynamics vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Compared 4% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance Competitors

NetMon vs ObserverLIVE

Compared 27% of the time

Zabbix vs ObserverLIVE

Compared 14% of the time

InfoVista VistaInsight vs ObserverLIVE

Compared 13% of the time

Opsview vs ObserverLIVE

Compared 13% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs ObserverLIVE

Compared 11% of the time

More ObserverLIVE Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

May 2026

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance report

Download Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance product report

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

April 2026

Download ObserverLIVE product report

Also Known As

Accedian Skylight, Accedian SkyLIGHT PVX, SkyLIGHT PVX, SecurActive, Performance Vision

No data available

Overview

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance is known for its user-friendly approach to network analysis and performance monitoring. It excels in real-time diagnostics, helping organizations quickly resolve network issues and optimize performance effortlessly.

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance focuses on comprehensive network troubleshooting and performance monitoring, assisting in identifying bottlenecks and analyzing applications. Real-time data collection and evaluation ensure IT infrastructure efficiency. With active monitoring of latency, jitter, and throughput, users maintain smooth operations across multiple sites and applications. While highly effective, improvements in data handling, protocol support, and dashboard aesthetics are suggested to enhance user experience.

What are the key features of Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance?

Flow Matrices: Advanced analysis of network paths and traffic distribution.
SQL and DNS Analysis: In-depth insights into database and domain queries for troubleshooting.
Bandwidth Assessment: Evaluation of network capacity and utilization for performance optimization.
Real-time TWAMP Monitoring: Tracks network performance using Two-Way Active Measurement Protocol.
Application Performance Modules: Monitors the performance of various applications and services.
Customizable Dashboards: Personalized views for tracking critical network metrics and trends.
PCAP Capturing: Detailed packet analysis using tools like Wireshark for deeper insights.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Ease of Use: Intuitive design allowing users to swiftly diagnose network issues.
Comprehensive Monitoring: Enhanced visibility of network activity for better control.
Performance Efficiency: Optimization of throughput, reducing downtimes and improving service delivery.
Cost-Effectiveness: Balances features and functionality with competitive pricing for better ROI.

In industries such as telecommunications and finance, where network reliability is crucial, Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance offers critical network performance insights. It supports high-demand environments by providing data-driven decisions, ensuring infrastructures handle increased loads efficiently.

Cisco

ObserverLIVE is a technology solution designed to enhance performance monitoring. It is tailored for users seeking advanced analytics and real-time insights to optimize their operations effectively.

ObserverLIVE offers comprehensive functionalities to address complex monitoring needs. It provides users with access to in-depth analytics that deliver actionable insights in real-time, helping organizations improve responsiveness and resource allocation. By utilizing cutting-edge monitoring capabilities, ObserverLIVE empowers teams to make informed decisions, leading to better operational performance and efficiency.

What are the key features of ObserverLIVE?

Real-Time Analytics: Provides immediate insights and data analysis for proactive management.
Customizable Dashboards: Allows users to personalize their view to better focus on critical metrics.
Scalability: Easily adapts to different user requirements, accommodating growth and changing needs.
Data Visualization: Offers vivid graphic presentations of data for easier interpretation and decision-making.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Improved Decision-Making: Facilitates informed choices with accurate, up-to-date information.
Operational Efficiency: Enhances overall processes, potentially reducing costs and improving resource use.
Greater Flexibility: Provides adaptable monitoring to meet specific workload demands.
Enhanced Resource Allocation: Streamlines asset management, supporting optimal deployment.

ObserverLIVE is implemented across various industries, providing tailored solutions that cater specifically to their monitoring needs. In manufacturing, it aids in optimizing production processes, while in healthcare, it ensures streamlined patient data monitoring. In financial services, ObserverLIVE offers rigorous data oversight, essential for compliance and risk management. Its versatile application across these fields demonstrates its adaptability and effectiveness in enhancing operational insights and driving efficiency improvements.

Viavi Solutions

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

Exmark Manufacturing, Foskor, US Deptartment of Veteran Affairs

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April 2026

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