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IBM Tivoli NetCool vs NetScaler comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

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

IBM Tivoli NetCool
Ranking in Network Management Applications
14th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetScaler
Ranking in Network Management Applications
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (1st), Web Application Firewall (WAF) (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of IBM Tivoli NetCool is 2.0%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetScaler is 1.6%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Petar Ganev - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
DEMİRHAN ÇAVUŞOĞLU - PeerSpot reviewer
A tool for centralized management including inventory and sales tracking
Citrix ADM has the ability to implement policies to tighten security. For instance, you can restrict access to your network from outsiders or lack necessary security measures such as antivirus programs. Additionally, there's the Delivery Controller, which allows for comprehensive monitoring and management tasks such as remote restarts, maintenance, and registration. Another essential component is the Director, which provides detailed insights into sessions, including identifying session failures, connection issues, user lockouts, etc. It presents a list of problems to address, enabling you to click on them and resolve them efficiently.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool had many built-in automation capabilities."
"Anything is possible with Tivoli. It's quite a robust system."
"It's very easy to use."
"The tool is much easier to manage than running scripts and figuring out how many endpoints have been exceeded."
"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."
"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 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 is a very stable solution."
"Helped us a lot with load balancing."
"It is a stable solution. It crashed only once, four years ago...There is a return on investment using the solution."
"For desktop application management, I recommend the NetScaler edition. This product is like a Swiss army knife. Citrix NetScaler ADC supports the education front-end."
"The most valuable features are for the ADMs and the overall monitoring environment."
"The most valuable feature is load balancing."
"We have good customer support."
"We like the periodic upgrades and backups, also made via ADMs, and it makes our environment much more robust and reliable."
 

Cons

"Tivoli NetCool's has medium scalability - there are some problems with its replications not being mature."
"The solution does not have any AI capabilities."
"The installation could be simplified, and technical support could be faster."
"The installation could be simplified, and technical support could be faster."
"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."
"Customization and integration that you need to do to make the product fit your needs is very complex. It is not a product that somebody could easily pick up without any prior training or experience."
"UI is outdated, very old legacy."
"We face challenges with the solution's firmware upgrades frequently."
"The solution can improve their support and send tickets directly to a Citrix ADC engineer in order to avoid having to escalate each support call."
"They need to make the solution a little more familiar with easy study guides, learning videos, etc."
"The technical support could be better. Whenever I contacted support, I rarely got the solution that we needed. And most of the time, I finished fixing the problem by looking on the internet or by finding documents about the problem on Google."
"I would like to see the virtual and desktop license included in the pricing."
"The solution should be able to scale more effectively than it does."
"Development team's response time could be better."
"We would like to see some fairly large scale improvement in the configuration process for this solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the product is too expensive."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"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."
"For the specific use case that my customers primarily engage with, I would give the pricing a rating of seven out of ten."
"We have been evaluating F5, Citrix, and other ADC products. Citrix is the most expense of all of them."
"Citrix ADM costs us approximately $5000 per month."
"It is very pricey, but we get it. If you need the best, money shouldn't be a problem."
"Its price is comparable to others and affordable."
"I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."
"Citrix NetScaler VPX is not the cheapest solution out there, but you get what you pay for."
"You get the value for your money. There aren't any hidden fees."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
32%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
9%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What do you like most about IBM Tivoli NetCool?
The tool had many built-in automation capabilities.
What needs improvement with IBM Tivoli NetCool?
The main challenge is its licensing model, which is very complicated.
What do you like most about Citrix ADC?
The most valuable feature for us is the application firewalling in Citrix NetScaler, ensuring only valid traffic enters our environment.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix ADC?
After deployment, Citrix Netscaler shifted to a subscription-based license scheme for support, which is slightly more expensive.
What needs improvement with Citrix ADC?
Citrix NetScaler is a robust product, but mastering it requires significant learning and training due to its complexity. While it could be easier to manage, it is like transitioning from driving a ...
 

Also Known As

Tivoli NetCool
Citrix ADC, Citrix NetScaler VPX, NetScaler Console, NetScaler Web Application Firewall
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Claranet, Consolidated Communications, Telus, €sterreichische Bundesbahnen (€BB), Telekom Srbija, Bendigo Community Telco, Capgemini, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB)
ABB Schweiz, Aer Lingus, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Amnet Technology Solutions, Aramex International, Ascenty, Atos, Autodesk
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Tivoli NetCool vs. NetScaler and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
857,585 professionals have used our research since 2012.