it_user205827 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Consultant
We have never faced any issues but it took a while to understand the product

What is most valuable?

The one-click console.

How has it helped my organization?

We use this as part of our infrastructure monitoring and it's done through a console. With the timely alerts that our MTTR reduced, we could determine the impact of the outage as well as the root cause of the issue.

What needs improvement?

It took a while to understand the product, but once we went hands on, it's great to work with. I have previously used Tivoli Enterprise console which doesn’t need any expertise and is easy to learn.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for two years.

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have never seen an outage of the tool.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

My organization is rapidly growing with servers being added to the data center and we have never faced any issues.

How are customer service and support?

I have never used customer service.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Using the tool comes as part of my job because my company uses CA Spectrum for their infrastructure monitoring. Previously, I have used Tivoli Console.

How was the initial setup?

Setup was very straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

It was done in-house.

What was our ROI?

I have used the product to monitor our company’s infrastructure.

What other advice do I have?

I would strongly recommend it.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user306336 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user306336Spectrum consultant at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Real User

Hi Venkata,

Thanks for sharing your feedback. Would recommend you to look at Spectrum 10.0 features and enhancements since you claim that your organization infra is rapidly growing.

wiki.ca.com

This should serve you better!

Cheers!
Lakshmi.

See all 3 comments
it_user201033 - PeerSpot reviewer
CA Management Consultant at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
Centralized console to manage network and systems. We had minor stability issues which CA fixed.

What is most valuable?

  • IT Infrastructure Monitoring
  • Fault Management
  • Topology Views

How has it helped my organization?

  • Clear picture of all network and server pictures
  • Centralized console to manage network and systems
  • All backup for router configurations

What needs improvement?

  • Network
  • Servers

For how long have I used the solution?

For eight years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Just minor but CA provided support to resolve the issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

10/10.

Technical Support:

10/10.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We didn't use a previous solution.

How was the initial setup?

It's straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We used both an in-house team and a vendor.

What was our ROI?

10/10.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Just day to day operations.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Yes, we also looked at HP OpenView, SolarWinds, and ManageEngine.

What other advice do I have?

This product is for all network and systems monitoring.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are Solution Partners
PeerSpot user
Ravi Suvvari - PeerSpot reviewer
Ravi SuvvariPerformance and Fault-tolerance Architect with 1,001-5,000 employees
Top 5LeaderboardReal User

Thanx Amanullah for sharing valuable inputs about CA APM

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May 2024
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PeerSpot user
Head of Data Science at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Consultant
The valuable features are topology discovery, configuration management, and service management.

What is most valuable?

These features are core requirements for infrastructure management:

  • Topology Discovery
  • Configuration Management
  • Best network root-cause analysis
  • Service management
  • Integration with CA SOI and CA SDM

How has it helped my organization?

  • Reduces system fails
  • Reduces time to resolve issues
  • Gives a clear picture about device usage: Not in terms of performance, but in terms of roles

Sometimes customers use network equipment which does not solve any business tasks and can be simply switched off.

What needs improvement?

It's a mature product for a classic network.

New areas (NFV, SDN, APM) are covered by new technologies. As such, products should have tight integration with modern data science platforms.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the solution for over ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's the most reliable product I have used.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We did not encounter any scalability issues. However, we don't have a large number of devices. We only have 10-15,000 devices for a distributed arch, which is normal.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

4

Technical Support:

The technical support is professional.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I work as a System Integrator and we sell all known NFMs. Spectrum is the best.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

Implementation fully ourself

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't have any specific advice regarding this.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We also evaluated Comarch, EMC, HPE, IBM, WANDL and TEOCO.

What other advice do I have?

Don't freeze your selection. This product is mature and is the best. Start your project and move forward to solve business issues

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are business partners.
PeerSpot user
it_user96264 - PeerSpot reviewer
CA Technical Support Engineer/Fujitsu Regional Service Delivery Manager for PZ Cussons West africa at a tech company with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
Root-cause analysis and modelling pinpoint the exact cause of problems. Technical support is a 6/10.

What is most valuable?

Root-cause analysis and modelling pinpoint the exact cause of problems, which makes life easier.

How has it helped my organization?

It was implemented for a customer and it helped reduce turnaround time.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used it for 3+ years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

It was very easy to deploy and configure.

How is customer service and technical support?

I rate technical support 6/10.

How was the initial setup?

Straightforward installation and setup.

What about the implementation team?

An in-house team implemented it. A complete implementation requires a certain level of hands-on training.

What was our ROI?

CA Spectrum provides value, but it can be very expensive.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I played around with SolarWinds and some others, but CA Spectrum gave me a more detailed analysis for fault identification.

What other advice do I have?

The newer versions are easier to deploy and they have more features.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: My company is a CA Gold partner.
PeerSpot user
Umair (Abu Mohaymin) Akhlaque - PeerSpot reviewer
Umair (Abu Mohaymin) AkhlaqueEnterprise Solutions & Services Head at Duroob Technologies
Top 5LeaderboardReal User

CA solutions are generally it expensive. But it's depends on the size of network organization have for sure it's not smb or mid scale customers. For mid I would say better to go for CA uim

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PeerSpot user
Senior Performance & Capacity Analyst with 10,001+ employees
Vendor
You can find exactly where the bottlenecks lie, but decommissioned servers show up in the availability and outage reports.

What is most valuable?

Availability and outages reporting is valuable.

How has it helped my organization?

It gives an depth report of availability and outages, and by using it you can further analyze and find exactly where the bottlenecks lie.

What needs improvement?

A lot. Decommissioned servers availability and outages keep showing and that is annoying because it's ultimately contributing to the final availability (actual) which it should not.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for two and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

I've never had to use it.

Technical Support:

I've never had to use it.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I didn't use a previous solution.

How was the initial setup?

It's a bit complex.

What was our ROI?

55%-75%.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No other options were evaluated.

What other advice do I have?

It's not the best product for availability and outages reporting.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user306336 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user306336Spectrum consultant at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Real User

Hi Aditya,

Greetings. Thanks for your feedback. Just went though your annoying part and wish to share some words on it.

Actually, Spectrum reporting database is not live data. It pulls the data from statistical database which is DDM-db and there is a live sync when it comes for SRMdb.

We don't flush the model from SRM whenever we delete a device as that counts in reporting , if a device goes missing (deleted from Spectrum) we flush the events data of that particular device. If you have reporting data for that device,when you find it's missing - you can atleast know till when the device existed in your application. In this part, it will be helpful though.

Just a thought :)

Cheers!
Lakshmi.

it_user198879 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network/System Engineer TL at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
It needed an old version of Java for deployment but its a stable product.

What is most valuable?

  • Reliability
  • Stability

These are valuable because of the integration with CA Service Desk and the application of incident and event management in our environment.

How has it helped my organization?

Reports and alerts give us the correct KPIs.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used it for five years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

It has a limitation in that it needed an old version of Java.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

7/10.

Technical Support:

7/10.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Yes and I switched to this product as its visualization is better.

How was the initial setup?

Utilizing all the needed features for our environment made our initial configuration complex.

What about the implementation team?

We used a vendor team who were OK.

What was our ROI?

It is a good percentage.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Yes we also looked at Microsoft SCOM.

What other advice do I have?

Try to utilize it well.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Consultant at a tech consulting company with 501-1,000 employees
Consultant
Very powerful but requires expertise and training to use and customize.

We use it, it is very powerful but requires expertise and training to use and customize.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Ravi Suvvari - PeerSpot reviewer
Ravi SuvvariPerformance and Fault-tolerance Architect with 1,001-5,000 employees
Top 5LeaderboardReal User

Thanx for sharing valuable inputs about CA APM

it_user676368 - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure and Application Surveillance Specialist at a hospitality company with 201-500 employees
Vendor
Some of the valuable features are root cause analysis, fault isolation, and customization.

What is most valuable?

Root cause analysis, fault isolation, customizations, and CA support tech access.

How has it helped my organization?

It decreased our downtime.

What needs improvement?

Interop between server/agent based monitoring (UIM).

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this since the early 90s.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I did not encounter any issues with stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I did not encounter any issues with scalability.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is the best in class.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used many, including HPOW, NetView, and Nagios.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward to install. Then it’s a rather big leap between basic usage and pro-usage. Spectrum is VERY tech advanced in its core, compared with other tools on the market. But that doesn’t show up until you do a more advanced type of monitoring.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Maintain a good relationship with CA.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

My role does include a continuous monitoring of other products on the market, but none are near Spectrum’s root cause engine, which really is what it is all about.

What other advice do I have?

Try to see through other product’s GUIs and focus on backend core features. How does the product isolate faults? Do different modules have to work together to triage root cause?

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free DX Spectrum Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: May 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free DX Spectrum Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.