IBM Tivoli NetCool vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager comparison

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

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

"The solution has very good integration capabilities."

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

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

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

"It's very easy to use."

"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's view is very nice, and they have a great customized dashboard."

"The network performance monitoring of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is a vital feature"

"The features we find most valuable is the configuration backup automation, the configuration compliance, the security vulnerability detection and upgrading devices."

"Compared to other vendors, like NetBrain, managing the solution is easy. They made it very user-friendly."

"SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager improves the mean time to repair significantly, bringing measurable benefits to customers."

"The feature that I really enjoy is the ability to script changes across all of your devices."

"It is pretty straightforward to set up."

"The installation is straightforward."

"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 solution is not user-friendly."

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

"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 does not have any AI capabilities."

"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."

"The solution is too expensive."

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

"When it comes to the way of managing the network devices, SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager should provide the simplest way that devices can relate to the server. For example, when we want to get the devices on board, we go by SSH to make the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager create the connectivity with the device. After that, we pull the configuration. It would be helpful if they could combine both so that everything will be done in one step."

"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 solution could have better integration."

"The AI features do not work well."

"When we run the SolarWinds NCM jobs at the cellular line, it runs in the morning. They're just not finishing. We're getting false processing."

"The only thing that requires some experience, and training doesn't fix, is how to set up your custom policy-based reports to check compliance."

"Our experience has shown that most of the problems we've had with SolarWinds NCM are related to software issues."

"Its customer service response could be faster."

"The price of the product is too expensive."

"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 pricing is good."

"We have to pay additionally for its support and maintenance."

"There is a license needed to use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager."

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

"Available at a moderate price"

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

"Pricing is reasonable and competitive."

"In Africa, the cost is a major factor in decision-making for many companies. As a result, some companies may choose cheaper solutions, even if they are open-source, over more expensive ones, such as SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. However, as an engineer, I believe that the functionalities and services offered by SolarWinds justify the cost. Nonetheless, many companies in Africa may still view the prices as unaffordable."