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IBM Tivoli NetCool vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager comparison

The compared IBM and SolarWinds solutions aren't in the same category. IBM is ranked #14 in NMA , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 3.0% mindshare in the category. SolarWinds is ranked #15 in CM , with an average rating of 7.7, and holds a 2.4% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.
IBM Tivoli NetCool
Read 13 IBM Tivoli NetCool reviews
  • 1,231 Views
  • 997 Comparison Views
83% willing to recommend
SolarWinds Network Configur...
Read 27 SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager reviews
  • 2,504 Views
  • 776 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between IBM Tivoli NetCool and SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Network Management Applications solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

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To learn more, read our detailed IBM Tivoli NetCool vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Report (Updated: April 2023).
Buyer's Guide
IBM Tivoli NetCool vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager
April 2023
Download the complete report
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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

IBM Tivoli NetCool
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (14th)
SolarWinds Network Configur...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (15th), Network Automation (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Management solutions, they serve different purposes. IBM Tivoli NetCool is designed for Network Management Applications and holds a mindshare of 3.0%, up 1.9% compared to last year.
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager, on the other hand, focuses on Configuration Management, holds 2.4% mindshare, up 1.3% since last year.
Network Management Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Tivoli NetCool3.0%
Cisco DNA Center12.3%
Cisco Catalyst Center6.8%
Other77.9%
Network Management Applications
Configuration Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager2.4%
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform11.9%
Microsoft Configuration Manager8.8%
Other76.9%
Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

Petar Ganev - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Read full review
AB
Alastair Brand
MD at Thembanet
Flexibility and reliability enable effective network monitoring with integrations and compliance reporting
The flexibility and reliability of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager are particularly valuable. It allows for a significant amount of integrations, including with collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams and Telegram, as well as ServiceNow and Microsoft BI. The solution facilitates compliance reporting through an NCM module, effectively generating out-of-the-box reports on software vulnerabilities and outdated software versions. Additionally, the real-time change detection feature significantly reduces the time to resolve issues by allowing alerts to be tracked through to resolution. The use of templates helps in deploying configuration standards, preventing configuration errors.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The Netcool solution is great, and it's very easy to use."
"NetCool has a huge database that can collect and process about one million alarms a day."
"Tivoli NetCool allows us to grasp a lot of data that can be applied toward predictive analytics and auto-remediation."
"Anything is possible with Tivoli. It's quite a robust system."
"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 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."
"The solution has very good integration capabilities."
More IBM Tivoli NetCool pros
"This solution has helped our organization by allowing us to store all the device configurations for the various network devices in NCM and making it easy for us to retrieve and look them over."
"Compared to other vendors, like NetBrain, managing the solution is easy; they made it very user-friendly."
"Configuration pushing, upgrade capabilities, job backup, configuration backup, and real-time configuration change monitoring are highly beneficial features of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager."
"We push all our configurations to the servers with ease and the logs capture almost all the transactions needed for an internal audit."
"The most valuable features the solution offers are compliance, reliability, and information about reliability."
"It is a stable solution."
"NCM has provided for the following benefits - Mainly to to with audit readiness on 3 fronts - regular configuration backups, configuration hardening and Vulnerability management."
"Its main functionality is highly beneficial as it centralizes the management of configuration items across the network."
More SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager pros
 

Cons

"IBM's technical support takes a long time to do root cause analysis, and we have to go through several levels of help before getting a solution."
"The solution is too expensive."
"The installation could be simplified, and technical support could be faster."
"From a customer perspective, it is quite an expensive solution to initially implement and then support."
"The product is pretty costly. It's definitely not the least expensive option."
"This is another one of those suites glued together from a myriad of acquisitions and it shows once you get under the hood."
"The solution does not have any AI capabilities."
"It was a bit expensive to purchase but the benefits outweigh all the cons by far."
More IBM Tivoli NetCool cons
"It would be great if they include a network service manager, network performance manager, or a privileged assessment in the next release."
"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 interface of solar winds could be improved."
"Its look and feel can be improved. They can also put in more effort into building the THWACK community and use the information about various customer issues and requests to build the new releases."
"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."
"There is room for improvement in automation."
"Improvements are needed in the automatic network mapping function."
"I will email them and I won't see the response for another two or three hours. I have to give them a call and it's a pain, it's a nightmare."
More SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"Customers are required to pay a licensing fee."
"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."
"We have to pay additionally for its support and maintenance."
"There is a license needed to use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager."
"Pricing is reasonable and competitive."
"Additional costs beyond the standard licensing fee are inevitable."
"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."
"Available at a moderate price"
"There is a license for the use of this solution and it is priced well, there is a lot of value for the money."
"I have a yearly subscription."
More SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise8
 

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...
See all answers
What needs improvement with IBM Tivoli NetCool?
The main challenge is its licensing model, which is very complicated.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for IBM Tivoli NetCool?
NetCool is the manager of managers in the stack. It basically combines the devices of the whole network. We are the mobile network operator, so we use it to assist us in cross-domain correlations a...
See all answers
What do you like most about SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?
The configuration compliance aspect of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager allows for easy comparison of configuration settings across branches, ensuring adherence to security guidelines and b...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?
The licensing costs of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager are expensive, but considering its reliability, feature enhancements, and support, it is worthwhile.
See all answers
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?
NCM could benefit from enhanced automation capabilities — for instance, enabling workflow-based configuration automation tasks. While regex and command-line scripting are available, they require sp...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

OpenText Network Node Manager vs IBM Tivoli NetCool Logo
OpenText Network Node Manager vs IBM Tivoli NetCool
Compared 14% of the time
DataMiner vs IBM Tivoli NetCool Logo
DataMiner vs IBM Tivoli NetCool
Compared 14% of the time
HPE Intelligent Management Center vs IBM Tivoli NetCool Logo
HPE Intelligent Management Center vs IBM Tivoli NetCool
Compared 10% of the time
DX Spectrum vs IBM Tivoli NetCool Logo
DX Spectrum vs IBM Tivoli NetCool
Compared 9% of the time
Fortinet FortiManager vs IBM Tivoli NetCool Logo
Fortinet FortiManager vs IBM Tivoli NetCool
Compared 8% of the time
More IBM Tivoli NetCool Competitors
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Logo
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager
Compared 9% of the time
Cisco DNA Center vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Logo
Cisco DNA Center vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager
Compared 9% of the time
HashiCorp Terraform vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Logo
HashiCorp Terraform vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager
Compared 5% of the time
ManageEngine Network Configuration Management vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Logo
ManageEngine Network Configuration Management vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager
Compared 4% of the time
NetBrain vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Logo
NetBrain vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager
Compared 3% of the time
More SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
IBM Tivoli NetCool
March 2026
IBM Tivoli NetCool reportDownload IBM Tivoli NetCool product report
Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager
March 2026
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager reportDownload SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager product report
 

Also Known As

Tivoli NetCool
SolarWinds NCM
 

Overview

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
Before you monitor your network, configure it! A reliable and secure network starts with carefully planned, executed, and monitored network configuration and change management. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) saves time and improves network reliability and security by managing configurations, changes, and compliance for routers, switches, and other network devices from Cisco, Juniper, HP, Dell, Brocade, Aruba, Rukus, and more.
SolarWinds
 

Sample Customers

Claranet, Consolidated Communications, Telus, €sterreichische Bundesbahnen (€BB), Telekom Srbija, Bendigo Community Telco, Capgemini, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB)
United Lincolnshire Hospitals, Air Rarotonga, NetSuite, Thai AirAsia, REA Group, 335th Signal Command, Agilisys, Marine Expeditionary Force
Buyer's Guide
IBM Tivoli NetCool vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager
April 2023
Free Report: IBM Tivoli NetCool vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Tivoli NetCool vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager and other solutions. Updated: April 2023.
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See our IBM Tivoli NetCool vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager report.

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