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N-able N-central vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

N-able N-central
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (3rd)
SolarWinds Network Configur...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (14th), Network Automation (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Systems Management solutions, they serve different purposes. N-able N-central is designed for Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) and holds a mindshare of 8.6%, down 12.5% compared to last year.
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager, on the other hand, focuses on Configuration Management, holds 1.5% mindshare, up 1.3% since last year.
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
N-able N-central8.6%
Kaseya VSA17.9%
NinjaOne13.2%
Other60.3%
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)
Configuration Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager1.5%
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform15.2%
Microsoft Configuration Manager11.0%
Other72.3%
Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

Dimitri V G - PeerSpot reviewer
Maximizing operational efficiency with comprehensive monitoring and automation capabilities
There are areas in N-able N-central that could be improved. We always started it from the basic purpose of monitoring hardware, where vendors such as HP and Dell try to sell their own services which monitor and provide a dashboard, which is their logic. They want to make their own recurring revenue on that. We notice that SNMP has had a good run and still sometimes is used, but it's becoming an issue to maintain the same capabilities because HP makes it unreliable or even removes certain features that we used to be able to validate redundant array of independent disks. Our service that has been running for 15-20 years suddenly is not working anymore because HP decided in generation 10 plus and above, or generation 10 hardware in servers, storage controllers particularly, they just didn't put the SNMP OIDs anymore. We are now following that market change or business change in hardware monitoring and the future is Redfish, REST API, IPMI type of monitoring with the REST API and Redfish being most common. We have to do the effort ourselves because Enable is not really strategically going there because I assume there's not much money to make to improve that or to convince customers to start with their product. That issue could be better if they would be more prepared for that change and give us customers more tools, preconfigured, pre-available custom services for Redfish, REST API, where we just have to put a few items username, password and address and some dots and commas, but that we don't have to reinvent the wheel, which we are doing at the moment. We are using HP iLO commandlets and REST APIs for Aruba. Dell is making it very hard to monitor their hardware. If it has an iDRAC, I can manage it and monitor it, but if it's something that's less common or due to the portfolio, they have done a good job at not exposing information about health. We would just want to have a red or a green dot that indicates if this device is healthy or not healthy. Since nobody's investing in SNMP because it's a liability in security, they should invest in making a REST API and preferably also do the work on making it easy to pull or push information. That's something that the industry in general and Enable in particular could do a significant job to help us monitor.
Yashokanth Partkunan - PeerSpot reviewer
Configuration changes become more manageable with potential for enhanced automation
I work with SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager as a significant part of our operations. Our primary use case involves handling configuration changes, especially within Cisco-related products Configuration pushing, upgrade capabilities, job backup, configuration backup, and real-time…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"N-able N-central is an easy tool to implement with customers."
"N-able N-central has numerous good features. The asset tracking capability is powerful, allowing you to track hardware and software on devices connected to your network. The remote control is smooth, securely enabling remote access to servers and routers. It can be integrated with ticketing systems and other tools like CrowdStrike and N-able EDR for comprehensive network monitoring and security. The automation feature is handy, allowing you to schedule tasks, respond to system triggers, and automate problem resolution, such as handling disk space issues automatically."
"The transition to N-able N-central was very smooth; we were confident that our migration would not affect any operations, and it was easy to migrate our clients into the new solutions."
"It's a very robust product. They're continuing to invest and put new enhancements into the product. They're very open about what their roadmap is, which is very good for us because then as a business, we can plan."
"The most helpful features of N-able N-central include providing a single pane of glass for many insights in an environment regarding their patching, their assets, their devices in general, and the active issues that they show."
"The most valuable feature of N-able N-central is the many options it has."
"The support is at a good level. So normally, we can always get to a solution when we are stuck with some monitoring problems that we encounter."
"The most valuable features of N-central are its ease of deployment and ease of use."
"SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager improves the mean time to repair significantly, bringing measurable benefits to customers."
"Compared to other vendors, like NetBrain, managing the solution is easy. They made it very user-friendly."
"The scanning features have proven to be highly valuable, particularly due to the comprehensive information they provide."
"The most valuable Real-time fault detection is beneficial as it enables the identification of changes made to a device's configuration through the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. This makes it easy to pinpoint which configurations were added or removed, potentially causing network issues. Such changes are saved in logs for future reference."
"It's perfect for network configuration management. It's easy to use."
"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."
"It is pretty straightforward to set up."
"Configuration refers to the specific settings and options that determine how a device or system behaves. It can include things, such as network settings, security settings, and other options that are specific to the device or system in question. One of the most valuable features of the solution was its ability to track and monitor changes to the configuration of devices on a network. This can be useful for troubleshooting and identifying potential issues. By keeping track of who made changes to the configuration and when it can be easier to determine the cause of any problems that may arise."
 

Cons

"We have to do the effort ourselves because Enable is not really strategically going there because I assume there's not much money to make to improve that or to convince customers to start with their product."
"The support from our direct team is very good, but the support from their day-to-day ongoing help desk isn't that good. They have still got some work to do on that, but they have been focusing on that a lot over the last number of years. So, it has gotten a lot better than it was."
"There is room for improvement in the development of custom monitoring services."
"N-central has limited mobile device management (MDM) support, specifically for Android devices. This limitation affected a deal with a client who had numerous Android devices to manage. It would be beneficial if N-central could expand its MDM support to include Android devices."
"It was previously expensive and tedious to manage different licenses."
"The integration with other applications could be better."
"The industry has moved towards Redfish for out-of-band and in-band monitoring, yet N-able N-central still relies on older protocols like SNMP."
"At this moment, we encounter stability issues with N-able N-central from time to time."
"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."
"The network flow is a problem for this solution."
"The third-party plugins available in the solution could improve. I have received some issues with the templates."
"Releasing a product compatible with operating systems other than Windows would be advantageous."
"Improvements are needed in the automatic network mapping function."
"It would be great if they include a network service manager, network performance manager, or a privileged assessment in the next release."
"The Network Configuration Manager needs to improve the access control list compliance."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"N-able N-central is not an expensive solution."
"The pricing and licensing are average, almost six out of ten."
"The pricing is good."
"You have a base license for 50 devices, and then you can add more licenses as you go."
"Available at a moderate price"
"The price of the solution is high compared to other solutions."
"There is a license needed to use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager."
"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."
"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."
"Additional costs beyond the standard licensing fee are inevitable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Performing Arts
6%
Government
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with N-able N-central?
The MSP part of N-able N-central has evolved over the years. They have been trying to move from professional or network server and desktop licensing to make it more comprehensive. With professional...
What is your primary use case for N-able N-central?
We have been dealing with Enable EDR and N-able N-central, which is a management center. It's the NOC solution that we are currently running our asset management on. We are managing tasks in that e...
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...
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.
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...
 

Also Known As

SolarWinds N-central, SolarWinds MSP N-central
SolarWinds NCM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Premier Technology Solutions
United Lincolnshire Hospitals, Air Rarotonga, NetSuite, Thai AirAsia, REA Group, 335th Signal Command, Agilisys, Marine Expeditionary Force
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