Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance vs Packetbeat comparison

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance vs. Packetbeat

Download the complete report

Helped 910,005 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

47th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (41st)

Packetbeat

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

61st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

2.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance is 0.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Packetbeat 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%
Packetbeat	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…

Read full review

Mohammed-Abdelalim

Assistant Vice President at QualityKiosk Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Network analytics have delivered lightweight, integrated visibility for search, observability, and security

Packetbeat analyzes specific protocols and is not suitable for full capture of all network traffic and network flows. I recall that Packetbeat can cover a limited number of protocols including ICMP, but not as deeply as other solutions. It covers NetFlows and these types of flows, but not at the level of a deep packet capture that you can find in the market where it taps every single packet in the network. Packetbeat is more about bringing statistics about the packets, but it doesn't capture these packets. The development intention of Packetbeat appears to be to provide a window for application monitoring and performance analytics, and for that purpose, it is doing sufficiently well. However, if the vendor has another goal to build a similar network monitoring solution that exists in the market, which is outside of Elastic's business nature, Packetbeat is a sensor that needs to be improved to the level of deep packet capture where it loses no packets in the network. That improvement would take Elastic to another level.

Read full review

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."

"The ability to measure performance end-to-end across the cloud data center allows us to take corrective action to keep our channels online."

"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."

"What I like most about Accedian Skylight is that it's a UI application, so using it is easy. I also like that the support for Accedian Skylight is helpful."

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

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

"When a remote contact complains about a slow application, we can immediately pinpoint the cause of concern."

"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

"Elastic's scalability, in terms of cluster robustness, is definitely the most valuable feature."

"The beauty of Packetbeat is that it is easy, free, and lightweight, while other solutions are expensive and will accumulate a huge amount of data."

Cons

"This solution is expensive compared to some others."

"Pricing is a little bit expensive."

"A lower price and more flexible versions will help the product."

"Because of the policies in Vietnam, we cannot connect the system to the Accedian cloud. It would be good if Accedian could provide a local cloud. In the next release, I would like them to focus on improving and adding more reporting features. This will help the operations teams."

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

"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."

"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."

"The UI interface of Accedian Skylight could improve."

More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance cons

"Packetbeat analyzes specific protocols and is not suitable for full capture of all network traffic and network flows."

"The scalability of the agent itself could be improved."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We understand there's a significant cost difference, but have yet to investigate fully."

"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."

"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's not for free, clearly. But on the other hand, it offers very interesting functionality. We pay around €100,000."

"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 pricing is cheaper than other competing products, which is better for our budgets."

"The price is competitive overall, depending on the type of customer."

"Pricing is a little bit expensive."

More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance pricing and cost advice

Information not available

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Monitoring Software solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

910,005 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

13%

Outsourcing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing 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.

What is your primary use case for Accedian Skylight?

What advice do you have for others considering Accedian Skylight?

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Packetbeat?

Elastic is pretty cheap for large enterprises but unaffordable for small ones.

What needs improvement with Packetbeat?

What is your primary use case for Packetbeat?

I have dealt with all of them: Elasticsearch, Kibana, Logstash, Beats, Elastic Agent, and Fleet, because I need to use all of them to achieve a solution for customers. These solutions are typically...

Dynatrace vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Comparisons

Compared 6% of the time

DX SaaS vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Compared 5% of the time

ThousandEyes vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Compared 4% of the time

Splunk AppDynamics vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Compared 4% of the time

New Relic vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance Competitors

ManageEngine IT360 vs Packetbeat

Compared 31% of the time

Ixia Network Taps vs Packetbeat

Compared 26% of the time

Ixia Hawkeye vs Packetbeat

Compared 9% of the time

NIKSUN NetVCR vs Packetbeat

Compared 8% of the time

InfoVista VistaInsight vs Packetbeat

Compared 7% of the time

More Packetbeat Competitors

Product Reports

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Download Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance product report

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance report

Network Monitoring Software

Download Packetbeat 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

Packetbeat is an open-source real-time application monitoring tool designed to capture network packets and provide insights into application performance and network congestion.

Packetbeat allows IT professionals to monitor network traffic efficiently by collecting and analyzing packets. It provides valuable insights into network latency and helps identify performance issues. It is part of the Elastic Stack, making it easy to integrate with Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana for sophisticated data analysis and visualization. Its open-source nature adds flexibility for customization, catering to specific monitoring needs.

What are the crucial features of Packetbeat?

Real-time packet capture: Enables immediate analysis and monitoring of network packets.
Protocol analysis: Supports analysis of various protocols like HTTP, DNS, and MySQL.
Seamless integration: Works efficiently with other Elastic Stack components.
Open-source: Offers customization and adaptability for IT requirements.

What benefits or ROI should be expected?

Cost efficiency: Leveraging open-source software reduces license costs.
Enhanced visibility: Provides detailed insights into network operations.
Scalability: Can be scaled to monitor expansive networks as needs grow.

In industries like finance and healthcare, where network uptime and data integrity are crucial, Packetbeat is implemented to monitor network performance and troubleshoot issues promptly. Its ability to analyze traffic in real-time ensures that potential bottlenecks are addressed swiftly, maintaining operational efficiency.

Elastic

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

Information Not Available

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance vs. Packetbeat