ExtremeCloud IQ vs IBM Tivoli NetCool comparison

Extreme and IBM are both solutions in the Network Management Applications category. Extreme is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.3, while IBM is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.7. Extreme holds a 2.9% mindshare in NMA, compared to IBM’s 2.0% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Extreme users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of IBM users who would recommend it.

ExtremeCloud IQ

Read 76 ExtremeCloud IQ reviews

557 Views
417 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

IBM Tivoli NetCool

Read 13 IBM Tivoli NetCool reviews

647 Views
183 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

ExtremeCloud IQ

IBM Tivoli NetCool

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

IBM Tivoli NetCool and ExtremeCloud IQ are competing in the network management and monitoring category. ExtremeCloud IQ seems to have the upper hand due to its intuitive design and cost-effective cloud solutions.

Features: IBM Tivoli NetCool offers advanced event and fault management, topology discovery, and real-time analytics for large-scale networks. It also includes automation for incident management and robust integration capabilities. ExtremeCloud IQ boasts AI-driven networking, effortless scalability, and comprehensive cloud-based management. It features controller-less access points, and easy deployment due to its intuitive interface.

Room for Improvement: IBM Tivoli NetCool could improve its deployment complexity, modernize its user interface, and expand cloud-native capabilities. ExtremeCloud IQ may enhance its advanced analytics, integrate more third-party plugins, and provide deeper customization for enterprise environments. Both products can work on simplifying integration with newer technologies.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ExtremeCloud IQ is praised for its straightforward deployment and cloud accessibility, reducing implementation time significantly. Its intuitive design and cloud control make it user-friendly. IBM Tivoli NetCool can be complex to deploy owing to its extensive capabilities but provides deep integration with legacy systems. Both products offer solid customer support, tailored to their distinct deployment models.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Tivoli NetCool involves a higher initial cost but can yield significant ROI for enterprises seeking extensive network monitoring. It is typically a valuable investment for large-scale infrastructure. ExtremeCloud IQ provides a lower start-up cost, highlighting ROI through decreased operational expenses and improved network efficiency, appealing to those prioritizing cost-effective cloud solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed ExtremeCloud IQ vs. IBM Tivoli NetCool Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ExtremeCloud IQ vs. IBM Tivoli NetCool

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

ExtremeCloud IQ

Ranking in Network Management Applications

10th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Access Control (NAC) (10th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (18th)

IBM Tivoli NetCool

Ranking in Network Management Applications

16th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of ExtremeCloud IQ is 2.9%, down from 3.1% 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

Sriman L

Senior Network Engineer at Nipun Net Solutions

One of the best cloud-based wireless solutions that helps manage multiple APs from a single dashboard across multiple locations

ExtremeCloud IQ’s user interface needs to be improved, and its current bugs need to be fixed. Sometimes, AP details, like the AP firmware and the AP hostname, are not updating properly because of a few bugs in the current version, which they might fix in the next version. Compared to the central and other cloud solutions, a couple of bugs still running on these portals need to be rectified. For ExtremeCloud IQ's next releases, I expect to get all the users and the events alerts. Also, if any AP goes down, I should be able to do some scheduled reports specific to the site because it is currently in beta. If any AP goes offline, that's an event. If you want to do the filter for a specific site event, we don't have that filter option. I expect specific site-level and category-level events and alert filters to get reports.

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Petar Ganev

Senior Enterprise Monitoring Engineer at Commerzbank

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.

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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 a scalable solution."

"The tech who handles Extreme IQ tells me it's easy to use and learn. He felt like it was pretty intuitive. It comes with solid training materials. He also has talked about the security features that give you as much or as little control as you want."

"The deployment made my life very easy."

"Ability to assign zero trust policies from the user."

"Another valuable feature is the automation of Wi-Fi configurations, which allows the wireless network to auto-reconfigure in case of problems."

"Its configuration and deployment are the most valuable."

"What I like best about ExtremeCloud IQ is its ease of use. Flexibility is another pro of ExtremeCloud IQ. I also find ExtremeCloud IQ feature-rich."

"Integrated Firewall in every AP (with DPI inspection) is a killer feature and it is included already in the price of licence (with others, this feature is an add-on licence)."

More ExtremeCloud IQ pros

"The scalability of monitoring, the breadth of supported network components, the scale of the number of monitoring events, and the flexibility in customization make this a well-rounded product."

"It's very easy to use."

"The tool had many built-in automation 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."

"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."

"NetCool has a huge database that can collect and process about one million alarms a day."

"The tool is much easier to manage than running scripts and figuring out how many endpoints have been exceeded."

More IBM Tivoli NetCool pros

Cons

"For me, the only issue is the potential delay in the tool statistics updating in real time after making changes."

"Integrating the network access control solution can be complex, as it essentially combines two separate products."

"The tool has simplified things, but it also adds a complexity that sometimes stumps some users."

"The Virtual Appliance crashed once while doing an upgrade. The good thing here is, even if the management system fails, all our networks and features still remain 100% stable and working."

"We have had some mediocre to poor experiences with tech support: Conflicting information, condescending attitudes, and reluctance to work to resolve an issue."

"Browser load time for the cloud is long and needs improvement."

"Pricing is a bit expensive."

"The certification costs from suppliers are getting out of control, and it's not just Extreme. We have the same problem with Cisco and Huawei."

More ExtremeCloud IQ cons

"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."

"The installation could be simplified, and technical support could be faster."

"The solution does not have any AI capabilities."

"The solution is not user-friendly."

"Tivoli NetCool's has medium scalability - there are some problems with its replications not being mature."

"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."

"UI is outdated, very old legacy."

More IBM Tivoli NetCool cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is not the cheapest product but I think that the price is reasonable because you get a lot of support of it's needed."

"I did a multi-year license. It was a three-year license. It compares well with others in terms of the price. It is about a hundred dollars per year on a three-year scale."

"ExtremeCloud IQ's pricing is medium, but its support contract costs more."

"For example, if you compare Aruba vs Aerohive, you need to check which licences from Aruba you need to match the functionality of Aerohive (usually you need at least three types of licences and a controller with redundancy). The same goes with Cisco, where you need buy additional licences for central management, firewall, spectral analysis, WIPS, PPSK, etc. Aerohive has a very simple model - one licence for all the functionalities - and you can believe that there are many. One licence makes it easy to maintain, scale, renew and you can plan your costs 10 years in advance."

"The product pricing is reasonable."

"Extreme licensing is based on the number of access points. When you buy the license for the first year, everything is included, such as access to mapping, etc. If you don't renew your software assurance for the second year, the access points will still work, but you can't use the cloud management tools."

"I would advise that you be sure to compare apples with apples. Many customers just look at the price per AP and licences, and compare that against other solutions. But, they do not look at the complete picture such as: TCO - how much the equipment will cost you over, say, seven years? Will the customer need to change complete infrastructure when they want to buy the newest hardware? Does support include a lifetime warranty and RMA?"

"Extreme is twice as cheap compared to Cisco due to the currency exchange. Normally, I think Cisco would be a little bit more expensive, but there wouldn't be that much of a difference."

More ExtremeCloud IQ pricing and cost advice

"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

Computer Software Company

15%

Educational Organization

10%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

32%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?

Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...

See all answers

What do you like most about ExtremeCloud IQ?

The Client 360 feature provides a comprehensive view of your clients and their activities, including the devices they use. Additionally, a feature called Network 360 offers a 360-degree view of the...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ExtremeCloud IQ?

The licensing was a challenge due to budget constraints, and I used ExtremeCloud IQ without a license for a period. The documentation and training courses were also costly, impacting how easily I c...

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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...

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What do you like most about IBM Tivoli NetCool?

The tool had many built-in automation capabilities.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Tivoli NetCool?

The main challenge is its licensing model, which is very complicated.

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs ExtremeCloud IQ

Compared 15% of the time

Ubiquiti Wireless vs ExtremeCloud IQ

Compared 11% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs ExtremeCloud IQ

Compared 11% of the time

Cisco DNA Center vs ExtremeCloud IQ

Compared 10% of the time

Aruba Wireless vs ExtremeCloud IQ

Compared 7% of the time

More ExtremeCloud IQ Competitors

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs IBM Tivoli NetCool

Compared 41% of the time

HPE Intelligent Management Center vs IBM Tivoli NetCool

Compared 22% of the time

OpenText Network Node Manager i vs IBM Tivoli NetCool

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco DNA Center vs IBM Tivoli NetCool

Compared 17% of the time

More IBM Tivoli NetCool Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ExtremeCloud IQ

April 2025

Download ExtremeCloud IQ product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Tivoli NetCool

April 2025

Download IBM Tivoli NetCool product report

Also Known As

Aerohive Networks, Aerohive HiveManager, HiveManager, ExtremeCloud , ExtremeSecurity

Tivoli NetCool

Overview

ExtremeCloud is a resilient and scalable cloud-based network management solution offered by Extreme Networks as a subscription service.

The network is your platform of engagement for clients and staff. We have designed ExtremeCloud to provide superior user experience by empowering you and the applications that drive your business. The combination of Extreme Networks’ smart wired and wireless edges and the elasticity, resilience and scalability provided via state-of-the-art datacenters distributed strategically for worldwide availability allows you to respond to the changing needs of your business, at the speed of cloud, through a simple, multi-site aware user interface.

Extreme

IBM Tivoli Netcool delivers near real-time, consolidated event management across business infrastructure, data centers, complex networks and IT domains. The software provides full management and automation to help you deliver continuous uptime of business services and applications.

IBM

Sample Customers

Henry Ford Health System, Baltimore Ravens, Brandili, Federal University of Alagoas, CEDAE, Caxias do Sul, UNISC Concurrency, CenturyLink Field, Louisiana College, Cricket Tasmania Stadium, Moscow Internet Exchange

Claranet, Consolidated Communications, Telus, €sterreichische Bundesbahnen (€BB), Telekom Srbija, Bendigo Community Telco, Capgemini, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB)

Buyer's Guide

ExtremeCloud IQ vs. IBM Tivoli NetCool

April 2025

Free Report: ExtremeCloud IQ vs. IBM Tivoli NetCool

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