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IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) vs VMware vCenter comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.4
IBM SevOne enhances network monitoring and issue resolution, ensuring cost efficiency and improved operational performance for businesses.
Sentiment score
4.8
VMware vCenter provides cost savings and efficiency by centralizing management, reducing labor and energy costs, and enhancing scalability.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.0
IBM SevOne NPM customer service is praised for responsiveness, expertise, friendly communication, fast response, and handling complex cases effectively.
Sentiment score
7.6
VMware vCenter support varies, with mixed responsiveness and expertise, praised resources, and cost concerns for non-premium users.
The technical support from IBM for SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) is very good.
VMware vCenter manages high availability effectively.
The technical support is good.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
IBM SevOne NPM offers scalable, flexible network monitoring, easily integrating devices and expanding for diverse business sizes and needs.
Sentiment score
8.5
VMware vCenter excels in scalability, suitable for all business sizes, with high ratings and efficient automated management capabilities.
It is suitable for small, medium, and enterprise-level companies.
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate its scalability as ten.
The scalability is good in vCenter.
The solution is completely scalable as we can increase any host with great simplicity.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
IBM SevOne NPM is stable and reliable, with most issues arising from non-SevOne components or specific scenarios.
Sentiment score
5.1
VMware vCenter is praised for stability, reliability, and ecosystem support, with minor issues quickly resolved by effective support.
The stability of IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) is excellent.
We have not faced any issues after upgrading VMware vCenter, whether on the vCenter or any host.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM SevOne struggles with upgrade complexity, reporting detail, integration, visualization, and seeks enhanced analytics and cloud monitoring improvements.
VMware vCenter struggles with high costs, complex licensing, limited features, and demands for better scalability, automation, and integration.
It would be beneficial to have out-of-the-box integration with third-party vendors and improvements in correlation features.
The licensing model has shifted, leading to higher costs, particularly for smaller organizations.
The license cost has increased significantly, which is the primary negative aspect of VMware vCenter.
Better redundancy options can be achieved by using multiple vCenter machines.
 

Setup Cost

IBM SevOne NPM provides scalable, flexible licensing, though upfront costs can be high; negotiation is advised for cost management.
VMware vCenter's high costs and complex licensing may increase with Broadcom's subscription model, impacting smaller businesses significantly.
The licensing model now requires purchasing 96-core solutions, even if fewer cores are needed, adding to the cost burden.
 

Valuable Features

IBM SevOne NPM offers scalable, real-time monitoring with integration, alerting, and reporting for proactive network management and optimization.
VMware vCenter provides centralized management, high availability, seamless migration, and efficient virtualization for improved infrastructure management and reduced costs.
The most valuable features of IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) are its stability, usability, visibility, and user-friendly interface.
High availability is employed so if an ESXi server is down, the VM is supported on another ESXi on other servers.
The high availability feature is particularly valuable when a host goes down or experiences high usage, as it automatically migrates VMs to other hosts to balance performance.
VMware vCenter is excellent for managing and monitoring hypervisors, specifically with features like live migration, storage vMotion, and host vMotion.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM SevOne Network Performa...
Ranking in Server Monitoring
19th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
54
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (45th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (43rd), Log Management (42nd), Cloud Monitoring Software (30th)
VMware vCenter
Ranking in Server Monitoring
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Server Monitoring category, the mindshare of IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) is 1.4%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware vCenter is 1.0%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Monitoring Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
VMware vCenter1.0%
IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM)1.4%
Other97.6%
Server Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Grzegorz Nowak - PeerSpot reviewer
Improves infrastructure planning by helping us analyze network traffic
We use SevOne to collect and report on network flows SevOne improves infrastructure planning by helping us analyze network traffic. We can look at bandwidth for specific endpoints on the customer's network and analyze traffic to identify issues. For example, maybe some connectors are unavailable.…
Hoang Long Nguyen - PeerSpot reviewer
Automation and technical support impress with seamless migration and high availability management
We are in the process of implementing Zerto, which is currently in the purchase order phase. While we haven't fully implemented it yet, we have completed the POC. We use VMware vCenter and ESXi. The solution manages high availability effectively, with excellent automation for migration and patch management. The support is good, though the recent license change after the Broadcom acquisition has significantly increased costs. Patch management is controllable and can be managed individually, with automatic downloads available. We use it primarily for managing hosts and updates, without any integration. The performance is excellent, running very smoothly. I rate VMware vCenter a 9 out of 10.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Legal Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise45
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise18
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with SevOne Network Data Platform?
There is room for improvement in the integration with different vendors and the reporting capabilities. It would be beneficial to have out-of-the-box integration with third-party vendors and improv...
What is your primary use case for SevOne Network Data Platform?
The primary use case of IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) ( /products/ibm-sevone-network-performance-management-npm-reviews ) is network monitoring. It helps to maintain the infrastru...
What advice do you have for others considering SevOne Network Data Platform?
To compete with custom-built tools, IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) should accommodate the desired features and be timely in the delivery of feature updates. I would rate the overal...
What do you like most about VMware vCenter?
The filtering capabilities also enhance scalability by optimizing resource allocation.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware vCenter?
The initial package for VMware vCenter is not less than $10,000, which can be prohibitive for smaller organizations. The licensing model now requires purchasing 96-core solutions, even if fewer cor...
What needs improvement with VMware vCenter?
The main concern is the license change following the sale to Broadcom. The license cost has increased significantly, which is the primary negative aspect of VMware vCenter. While technical support ...
 

Also Known As

SevOne
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ATOS, Devereux, Spark New Zealand, Access4, Rogers Communication, Lumen (formerly known as CenturyLink)
1. Amazon 2. Apple 3. ATT 4. Bank of America 5. Cisco Systems 6. CocaCola 7. Dell 8. ebay 9. Facebook 10. Google 11. HP 12. IBM 13. Intel 14. JPMorgan Chase 15. LinkedIn 16. Microsoft 17. Netflix 18. Oracle 19. PayPal 20. SAP 21. Siemens 22. Tesla 23. Toyota 24. Twitter 25. Visa 26. Walmart 27. WeWork 28. World Bank
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) vs. VMware vCenter and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.