IBM Tivoli NetCool vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager comparison

"The solution has very good integration 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."

"Anything is possible with Tivoli. It's quite a robust system."

"Tivoli NetCool allows us to grasp a lot of data that can be applied toward predictive analytics and auto-remediation."

"The tool had many built-in automation capabilities."

"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."

"It's very easy to use."

"NCM also helps with vulnerability assessment and remediation."

"What's nice with NCM is you can set up policies that you can then check against the configs to ensure that your device configs adhere to a baseline or standard that you've set in place."

"The installation is straightforward."

"It is pretty straightforward to set up."

"We push all our configurations to the servers with ease and the logs capture almost all the transactions needed for an internal audit."

"Configuration pushing, upgrade capabilities, job backup, configuration backup, and real-time configuration change monitoring are highly beneficial features of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager."

"It's perfect for network configuration management. It's easy to use."

"SolarWinds NCM provides updates on the status of your network infrastructure. If any issues arise, such as a link failure or a device going offline, you will receive notifications and alerts. Additionally, if someone unplugs a cable, SolarWinds NCM will detect it. It also features a Topology Mapper that displays the connectivity of your network devices, giving you a visual representation of the network's structure. With SolarWinds NCM, you have a clear understanding of what's happening within your network and can generate comprehensive reports."

"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 solution is too expensive."

"UI is outdated, very old legacy."

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

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

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

"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."

"The third-party plugins available in the solution could improve. I have received some issues with the templates."

"For each device, when you open the network performance monitor, it will give you all of the information about the device, but many of the natural configuration management features are not on that page."

"The Network Configuration Manager needs to improve the access control list compliance."

"The network logs could be improved. When the error logs come across with those false positive alarms in the error logs."

"I'd like to see additional features like support for devices that don't use CLI for configuration backups, expanded inventory support for other vendors beyond Cisco, and compatibility with newer SD WAN devices. These enhancements would further improve the product's versatility and utility for users. we hope for future enhancements, especially in supporting security devices that lack CLI backup options."

"The solution could have better integration."

"It would be great if they include a network service manager, network performance manager, or a privileged assessment in the next release."

"I would like to see more integration tools. Something like dialysis, for example."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"Customers are required to pay a licensing fee."

"It costs around 100k for every ten servers, which is lower than similar products from other vendors."

"The price of the product is too expensive."

"Pricing is reasonable and competitive."

"There is a license for the use of this solution and it is priced well, there is a lot of value for the money."

"The price of the solution is high compared to other solutions."

"The pricing is good."

"Additional costs beyond the standard licensing fee are inevitable."

"You have a base license for 50 devices, and then you can add more licenses as you go."

"Available at a moderate price"

"With a minimal bundle, we pay about $3000 a year in licensing costs. If you have multiple devices in your network, you must buy the bundle, which is 100% identical for your infrastructure. If you have 15 devices, you need 15 licenses, for example. That's one bundle. You don't pay for anything over and above that."