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DX Spectrum vs IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus vs OPS/MVS Automation Intelligence comparison

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

DX NetOps
Event Monitoring
Event Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

DickBaker - PeerSpot reviewer
An all-inclusive monitoring solution that adapts to emerging technologies
The product helps to correlate events.  The solution's most valuable features are its integration with Broadcom tools and scalability. DX Spectrum needs better documentation on its complex features.  I have been using the product since 2005.  I rate DX Spectrum's stability an eight point five…
Ahmed Salman - PeerSpot reviewer
Aids in network performance monitoring and management
I am working as a customer, mainly using IntelliQ and another product, IBM NetCool, Watson AI. These products are used for monitoring network performance and management.  The primary use case involves network performance monitoring, and it is compatible only with IBM DB2 IBM Tivoli NetCool…
GP
It automates responses, preventing issues from becoming more severe
I just installed version 12.3, which actually already has a number of new features. It's going to make it easier for some of our new users. I'm old-school, I learned it the old way. I actually want to go back and implement it and start doing things the new way. As I need to train people, it's going to make it easier for them and make the learning curve much shorter. The new release addressed some shortcomings of the product. It was old-school. The learning curve was a little bit long in the beginning, but it's really come a long way.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The monitoring just comes to us: "Oh, there's something wrong with that machine." It tells us. There are some 50,000 machines or so, all doing different things. And if they go down we hear about it."
"Offers a lot of functionality."
"The performance manager is very good."
"The most valuable features have been the interface and the ability to do equipment management."
"Allows us to have a single console/notification point, with the alarms of all the tools that we use for monitoring."
"It is easy to understand and determine when and/or where the network is failing."
"The most valuable features of DX Spectrum are the comprehensive alerts."
"Scalability is a highly rated feature of this solution. It is better than some of the other tools that I've used in terms of scalability. We scaled it to tens of thousands of devices."
"It's good for managed systems. The end query on the user interface is good. You can view lots of charts and graphs."
"The most valuable feature is the event management capability."
"It is an easy-to-use solution."
"The biggest plus points for me are the configurability and scalability of the solution, as well as the multi-tenancy of the platform."
"Offers very good event/alert drill-down and statistical reporting capabilities."
"The monitoring is the solution's most valuable feature."
"Probes are the best feature because they are well written which rarely requires you to write additional rules. These probes monitor activity within your environment."
"OMNIbus is valuable for its compatibility and performance, as I haven't encountered any performance issues."
"Valuable features include: SSM, which provides for orderly startup and shutdown; OPSLOG, which enables filtering by message-id, and/or jobname(s); Rules, as OPS/REXX interface streamlines deployment, interfaces easily with JES2 and z/OS."
"It's very flexible. You can customize what you need to, which is good. For example, you can do your own coding inside the tool, make your own scripting tooling."
"Because we can define complex commands, the training of new operators is quicker. We can also put checks in place, that will prevent user errors."
"Once automatic IPL has been defined, anyone can perform an IPL with very little intervention. We know that all of the components will be started correctly."
"It allows us to respond faster to issues. If there are issues that come out, we're able to capture a message and alert somebody about it."
"OPS/REXX is valuable because it allows us almost unlimited flexibility in automating our system."
"I can and interrupt what's going on, bring a job down if I need to, and bring it back up."
"​The service has been wonderful. I like the people that I have had to deal with. The process is very straightforward. I call or use the website."
 

Cons

"For us, the implementation was quite complex but it's because of the large number of different environments we're dealing with."
"The Spectrum OneClick is a Java-based client, and that's aging. Really, before any new feature integration, I'd love to see a comprehensive rebuild of the UI."
"I would like to see CA move Spectrum, Performance Manager, and some of their other tools moved to a SaaS based model. You see a lot of other manufacturers which are moving toward SaaS based models."
"It's not a great performance management tool. Its reporting capabilities are not very good at all."
"The solution's stability needs improvement."
"Our consultant was four months on-site doing Spectrum setup and working through issues."
"We have had some issues with the spec server and the high availability replication of data. It fails over well, but it does not come back very well. We get duplicated events."
"The GIS map feature needs to be enhanced and synced with topology views of containers and global collections."
"The solution needs to invest in the development of a knowledge base and use of AI services for providing event resolution and intervention directions."
"The cost of the product is quite high. They should work to adjust their pricing models."
"Areas that could be better include the fact that the solution is only on-premises, lacks AI capabilities, and support response times could be quicker."
"Its integration could be better. They should provide an easier integration for all the monitoring stuff, and it will make things easier for us. Currently, there is a complexity in integrating it with a vendor application, and we have to use another tool to integrate it with a vendor application. To integrate some applications with NetCool, I need to install an IBM tool on top of it. It would be good if they can provide an API or any kind of interface that we can leverage while developing a new protocol interface or application. We should be able to use an API or interface with NetCool. Its GUI can also be better. As compared to other tools, it is not user friendly, and it is not easy to do stuff through GUI. Whenever we do anything on the GUI, it takes time. They need to focus on the GUI part, especially the dashboard. They should focus on how users can effectively drill down from one box to another. The visual appeal of the dashboard is as important as the data and functionality."
"I would like for the next release to be more user-friendly and out of date. The next release should focus on the cloud, AI, and ML technologies."
"The solution has limitations in database integration as it cannot integrate with databases other than IBM DB2."
"They could enhance the visibility to give us a unified view of our entire IT infrastructure."
"Its technical support team takes longer to reply."
"​It’s a complex product. The initial installation is easy, but implementing various functions is a constant process.​"
"Because of its age, it's a little bit difficult to modernize some of the integrations and some of the functions."
"Performing a stop/restart of OPS/MVS could be a little smoother. Without special coding, some undesired tasks will be started and some necessary tasks will be stopped if we have to bounce OPS/MVS during the day."
"Some of the command sequences are too long."
"The interfaces to USS, CA UIM could be better. CA Common Services interfaces - namely Zdata Mover, Zmessage Service, Zdatacolletcor - are poorly documented."
"The GUI interface could be improved, but that is coming. They are working on that."
"Scalability is zero. It cannot be scaled because of its age."
"The reason sometimes it is not stable, we do not have the expertise to write the script.​"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It’s a great tool, but an expensive one. Learn how to use it properly."
"The price is good enough to expect an ideal solution. It's expensive."
"The product, support, and maintenance are all expensive, which is another reason that we are switching to another solution."
"The cost of some of these products are a little cost prohibitive, which is unfortunate. We have to find lower cost solutions for some of the things that we have to pull in. For the most part, CA has capabilities in pretty much everything that you would need. You just have to figure out where are you going to spend the most money for what you have to actually get done. You can do all these things but, which ones do you have to do? And that's hard to choose sometimes because you want to do them all."
"It is expensive compared to other tools in the market."
"DX Spectrum's pricing is neither expensive nor cheap."
"The solution's pricing could be better."
"It is very pricey. With the current trend of enterprises moving towards cheaper and more modern looking solutions like ManageEngine, SevOne, ServicePilot, and Paesller."
"It is a costly solution."
"Its license cost is a little bit more than other solutions. Our customers expect a standard market price that is comparative to other products. For each and every NetCool OMNIbus component, we have to purchase a separate license. These components are not free with the product."
"You have to have the right level of budget to afford this solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
26%
Computer Software Company
16%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Insurance Company
6%
Logistics Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Educational Organization
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about DX Spectrum?
The solution's most valuable features are its integration with Broadcom tools and scalability.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for DX Spectrum?
The price of DX Spectrum is not competitive when compared to other solutions, such as SolarWinds. The high price has ...
What needs improvement with DX Spectrum?
I would like to see improvements in making the interface more user-friendly. Many people find it not simple to use. O...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus?
If the various HW elements are from the same vendor, a monitoring solution provided by that vendor or its partners wi...
What needs improvement with IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus?
IBM is working on converting NetCool to NetCool Operations Insight, which runs on Watson AI. There were areas needing...
What is your primary use case for IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus?
OMNIbus is used for alert processing and deduplication of alarms. It is used for performing certain actions on any al...
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Also Known As

CA Spectrum
Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus
CA OPS MVS Event Management and Automation, CA OPS/MVS Event Management and Automation, Unicenter CA-OPS/MVS Event Management and Automation
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

National Informatics Centre India, Banese, Olympus, AlphaServe Technologies, Sicredi
Consolidated Communications, €sterreichische Bundesbahnen (€BB), Capgemini
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