NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability Reviews

• Network
• Monitoring
• Troubleshooting

This solution provides us with increased visibility when conducting IT deployments, e.g., all of our WAN upgrades.

We are using it to increase our bandwidth, so we can improve customer service.

The most valuable feature is utilization.

The single pane of glass view is click intuitive.

I would like it to be more scalable with less spend.

It is very stable.

The scalability has some limitations and quirks to it. I would like to be able to upgrade rather than replace the whole thing.

We have had a lot of good success with technical support.

We had a brand new technology, and there was no solution in existence.

The initial setup was straightforward. I didn't have to worry much about it. My engineer, sales engineer, and RSE did most of it.

We worked directly with NETSCOUT for the deployment.

We have seen a lot of return on investment: 

• We have been able to recover radios in the field. 
• We know exactly what is going on. 
• We cut down fines from the service commission. 

We have seen a measurable decrease in mean time to know.

We cut troubleshooting down by days, as we can now see the issues.

We evaluated NETSCOUT and CISCO.

Talk to other users.

Currently, we use it for our LTE roaming solution. We monitor the traffic between partner LTE providers and the business analytics.

When we have mobile operators who are signal partners, where one is the roaming host and another is the roamer, we are able to see their traffic. Their packets are able to detect if any faults to develop, and at what point they fail.

For our roaming clients and LTE providers, we are able to see their traffic, see the trends, and are able to isolate their faults and failures.

It helps us to get to root cause quickly.

We use the solution for unified communication application performance and SIP monitoring. It helps us with uptime and end user performance. We are able to view the dashboards in near real-time. We can follow a trend, whether its traffic is increasing or decreasing, and isolate a time of fault.

Being able to use the Universal Monitor along with data mining has really helped us.

It is the ability to see the traffic end-to-end in almost real-time.

I like the single pane of glass view.

The dependency mapping is very good.

Users seem to be able to grasp the concept of it and learn it very quickly.

The monitoring and reporting tool needs improvement. Users want more information, such as the level of detail when doing a packet analysis. They want more detail to be able to isolate down to a specific point.

Right now, the solution is very stable. Rarely do we see a fault in the application or in the infrastructure that supports it.

I like the scalability.

My onsite engineer has been very valuable. He is very knowledgeable and has able to help us work through some problems.

Before we used NETSCOUT for IPX and LTE monitoring, we would have to spend hours tracing through calls using other tools and other protocol analyzers, like Wireshark.

For diameter monitoring, our previous solution was very rudimentary. We found that NETSCOUT provides more detail.

We knew that we needed a new solution because of the industry trend, which was IPX connectivity going towards LTE and 5G roaming.

Deploying the equipment and applications was straightforward. It is very simple to deploy, not complex.

We just recently replaced our mediation system, and it was fairly straightforward.

We went directly through NETSCOUT for the deployment.

We have seen ROI.

We are attracting customers in good sized numbers as we advertise and market this solution. We are expanding our customer base and are working towards integrating it into other product lines that we have developed.

Have a good detailed plan of how you want to deploy it. Once it's deployed, it will probably be very difficult to rearrange it in a short amount of time.

We analyze all the data which comes in and out of the bank with InfiniStreams.

We can effectively troubleshoot any situation which goes on, due to the visibility provided by the InfiniStreams. Our team does a lot of the packet analysis, which is really key for us. We are able to solve whatever the problem might be for customers.

This solution provides us with increased visibility while conducting IT deployments.

Most of the time, it helps us get to root cause quickly.

We use the solution for unified communication application performance in our CSAN environment. It helps us with uptime and user experience. From the visibility standpoint, whatever device that we're monitoring, it gives us all the info that we need from uptime to issues on the whole analytical piece of the product. 

The most valuable feature is having visibility.

The single pane of glass view gives us simplicity.

The dependency mapping is good.

The technology goes end-of-life on us every year, which is why I am looking forward to vSTREAM. I don't like when devices go end-of-life on us so quickly. If we can get more of an advanced notice of when an end-of-life is brought up, because our certification process within the organization takes a while. It takes us six months to certify a new one, or longer.

Knock on wood. I have never had an InfiniStream go down. 

The product is stable. I have never had any issue where we have lost an InfiniStream, or visibility from that particular InfiniStream, throughout the bank. Kudos to Netscout for putting out a good product.

We have scaled up from the InfiniStream 4000 to the InfiniStream 9000 model, which has worked fine. I haven't had any issues.

I am impressed with vSTREAM. We haven't used it yet. I am looking forward to scaling from the hardware instrumentation to the virtual instrumentation with vSTREAM. Hopefully, that will work well for us.

I have onsite technical support. They are rock stars. The support is phenomenal.

The initial setup was straightforward.

We have NETSCOUT sale engineers who are assigned to us. Those guys assist us with all of our deployment needs.

It has cut our group's troubleshooting time down significantly, e.g., depending on the issue, what would normally take maybe a couple of hours will now take minutes.

The solution has helped to increase our application/network uptime.

Talk to their SEs. Make sure you get your bang for your buck with the proper instrumentation, like with a vSTREAM.

I am pretty pleased with the product. Once you know how to use the product, it's easy and simple. It doesn't break. Ours don't. We haven't had any issues, and that means a lot.

The primary use case is for packet collection and analysis.

From a troubleshooting perspective, it allows us to quickly search all data TAP points in the network.

It helps our network engineers get to root cause quickly.

The most valuable features are speed and cost.

It give us visibility in the network where we wouldn't have it. We can use TAP to see the data and areas that we need to.

I love the single pane of glass view. I love the ability to look at all of our devices in one area, not having to jump around.

There is a timeout feature that we have been asking for awhile.

The overall cost of the solution needs improvement.

Overall, the stability is really good. It continues to get better with each upgrade.

Scalability is good. It seems to be very scalable for what we use it for.

The technical support has been very good for all the cases that we have had.

We didn't have a previous solution.

This solution has cut our overall troubleshooting time.

The price is a little high.

Ask for demos. Come to a NETSCOUT Engage conference. Try the product out.

We minimally use it for unified communication application performance.

Our primary use case for NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is to monitor what is coming in and out, then distinguish where we have problems in our network.

With the Vprobes, we quickly identified issues on the application servers, which we normally couldn't, where it usually would be a full circle round between our NOC and server people.

This solution provides us with increased visibility while conducting IT deployments.

We have seen a small decrease (10 to 20 percent) in our overall troubleshooting time.

The sessions, where everything is graphically displayed out, which allow people in our NOC to quickly figure things out.

The single pane of glass view makes life simpler.

The dependency mapping provides quicker analysis and quicker resolution. We are able to pinpoint problems quicker online.

I would like more in-depth convergence between all the applications, especially when I look for information through a data mine.

It has a lot of what I like to use, but some features are not there yet. It is sometimes even going down to older protocols still getting used in the world right now.

They need to improve using voice other SIP.

The stability is good, so far. We are probably five nines up.

It is definitely scalable, as long as we do things right.

The technical support has been superb, so far. We have a sales engineer who works directly with us. He has been awesome.

The biggest reason for the switch that we're going through right now is that it is a Solaris box running old C++ code. That definitely needs to be replaced, as that technology is dead. This is more of solidifying a two-vendor solution to make life easier for people working on troubleshooting.

The initial setup was straightforward. 

We have definitely seen ROI.

The primary use case is network monitoring for telecoms.

Everybody is using the same tool set. Therefore, we are speaking the same language.

Network faults are easily and quickly identified through dashboards and drill down.

It has versatility to correlate different traffic types and performance management statistics.

The single pane of glass view is very simple and good. For my users, having all the applications in one place is the aim.

We would like more encryption of customer data, because we have a very security conscious company. We have a lot of regulation coming in which requires us to make customer data private.

There is a lot more integration work that needs to be finalized for simpler tool set. The integration of many products into a much simpler single pane of glass is where we want to be.

The stability is good. We haven't had a major failure for years. Apart from the hardware's age, the software is pretty robust.

The current solution is not easy to scale, because it is an appliance-based solution. So, you have to swap everything out.

The technical support is OK. While it is not outstanding, we don't have any complaints.

We did not have another solution previously.

The initial setup is relatively straightforward, as any network integration can be. The complexity comes when you are trying to tune it.

We used a reseller for the deployment. They were very good. We have a good working relationship with them.

We have seen some ROI with the root cause analysis. It is quicker to root cause analysis. We are seeing increased network uptime, because if we're spotting, and if we're getting root cause analysis quicker, then we know what comes up quicker.

From my user community, I am getting the impression that something which use to take days has now gone to hours for troubleshooting.

To isolate whether we are getting the data from customers.

It helps us to assist our customers to isolate problems. If it is us who is having the problem, then we can use it to streamline the process.

It helps us to get to root cause more quickly. It is easier than setting different traps or captures on firewalls.

To know that packets are reaching our platform. If they are not reaching our platform, then we push it back to the customer. My job is bringing people to our platform. So, if they can't connect to it, then I haven't done my job.

The single pane of glass view seems healthy, and I can work with it.

It does help us with uptime and end use experience.

It's not able to communicate with our probes.

Sometimes, we can't access it.

It appears to be very scalable.

We need a new solution because of the visibility. As a telecom company, we needed to know that there is quality and access.

I think it was direct with NETSCOUT for the connectivity.

As far as my function, this solution helps a lot. It's a definitive answer if we're seeing those packets at all. We send the packet capture that we're seeing to the customer, then they have to say, "Oh, it's our problem." Then, I don't have to mess with it.

This solution has saved us hours (three to four) per problem when troubleshooting.

I would recommend getting the product. It is super easy to use for what I need, and it provides me visibility.

The primary use case is network management.

We have an older product. We are just now installing the newer product. The older product was primarily used for troubleshooting, which is all I can discuss.

The product hasn't helped the way our organization functions.

Going forward, we will be using this solution for unified communication application performance: voice, video and data.

The most valuable feature is visibility.

In the past, the product has helped us get to root cause quickly.

We would like better end-to-end data flows. This is something that my users always complain about, as they don't know what the data flows are on the network. We have things, like Cisco NetFlow, but all you have is the two endpoints that you have captured from a probe. We would like to know every point along the line.

The stability is very good. We have had no issues.

The scalability is very good. We have had no issues. It has been very scalable.

We have two network operations centers. We support 34 nodes, and those nodes are being remotely monitored.

We have had very good support from the NETSCOUT team.

We deployed in-house.

It is very expensive, but it's well worth the money.

We probably won't use the single pane of glass view.

The primary use case is for network monitoring, event management, packet tracing, and forensics.

We have cut back on our troubleshooting, by isolating certain trouble areas. It has brought visibility to what requires replacement in the future.

We had a situation where a client said the network was the problem, because their reports weren't running from an automated server report. After multiple support groups tried to isolate and troubleshoot the situation, the incident came to us. We were able to isolate it with five minute clicks and determine that it was an access issue.

The visual and graphical interfaces in the display that it provides for us to show our senior leadership. We can show them what is actually happening, instead of a spreadsheet.

I like the single pane of glass view. A single pane of glass view of the network will help us address important needs more quickly based on our alarming.

The dependency mapping is very helpful and resourceful.

I would like to see nGeniusPULSE and AED (Arbor Edge Defense) integrated with the solution.

Some help screens would be nice, especially if we bring on new operators. It would be great to see if they have more helpful tips available.

Between the host analysis and session analysis, there is a limitation of one hour. This can hinder us if a situation occurred ten hours ago. Sometimes, you can't open up that window.

It is reliable.

Scalability is great. I am looking forward to seeing more.

The technical support has been very attentive and responsive to our needs when I have called.

The solution was deployed in-house.

We are starting to see ROI.

We have seen a measurable decrease in mean time to know (MTTK) and mean time to repair (MTTR).

This solution has cut our overall troubleshooting time.

The solution has helped us increase our application/network uptime.

Do a proof of concept. Get to know your account manager.

We use it for troubleshooting application performance issues and monitoring applications.

A lot of the application owners don't know how their applications work, start to end. You can map application flow and tell application developers exactly where the problem is, then have them develop better code or scale it.

This solution provides us with increased visibility while conducting IT deployments. If we are trying to monitor an application to see its sources (the destination IP addresses), we can get all this from the tool. We can track the packet latency and see in-between different sites.

This solution helps us get to root cause quickly. nGeniusPULSE will alert us, letting us where the problem exists. Then, we can go in and fix that particular problem, instead of sniffing through thousands of packets to see if we can find something.

• Ease of use
• Customization
• Support

The training classes are great, but they go too fast. You can only get so much out of them. If you have experience with the tool, you can get a little out of the classes. However, if you have no experience, then the classes might be tough. They need to improve the training of the tool.

The stability depends on who is using the tool, because you only can get as much out of the tool as you put into it. There are a lot of patches for this particular environment, so you have to keep on them. If you lose track of them, then the product is not useful anymore.

The scalability is good, but it comes at a cost. E.g., if you need 100 InfiniStream because you are sending gigs or terabytes of data to one InfiniStream, then you will have to purchase another InfiniStream, which are not cheap.

The technical support is really good. They will go above and beyond, if you are running into a problem. You can go to a sales engineer, who will engage technical support to help you out. 

Previously, if we had huge war room type issues, they would bring in network, server, and database all into one group. Now, with this tool, we can pinpoint and show exactly where the issue is.

The initial setup was pretty straightforward. 

I deployed it myself.

We have seen ROI and will continue to see ROI from this product, as we engage more people on it.

Because we are doing proactive monitoring instead of reactive, the end users don't even see that there is something wrong. We have fixed it before they even know about it.

Since the solution is showing us a holistic picture instead of just looking at packet data, then we can trigger in and see where the actual problem lies. E.g., if we have slow response in an application, it will help us see where the actual issue is happening, on the end user side or is it more server side? Just telling us that it's not network will save a lot of time for another person.

This has helped our application/network uptime, because we are doing proactive versus reactive monitoring. We are fixing stuff before anybody knows about it.

I have looked at other solutions, but I have been with NETSCOUT for so long. I agree with their vision and like where the company is going.

This tool will help you be more proactive.

We use this solution for proactive monitoring of SaaS applications and remote sites. E.g., when the radio is not functioning, nGeniusPULSE will tell us that radio is not functioning. It allows us to go in and address an issue before a user even gets into the office.

The dependency mapping is great because it looks at the passive packet flow. You can pick and map it out through the NG1 server.

The single pane of glass view is good. There are so many different facets or layers to this stuff with a lot of prerequisites before you can get a single pane of glass view.

We do use the solution for unified communication application performance, but I don't have much experience with it.