Plixer Scrutinizer Reviews

What is our primary use case?

There are two ways of using Plixer Scrutinizer, and I'm sitting on both ends. First of all, it's used for network capacity management. In other words: "Who is eating my cake?" That means: "All my bandwidth is gone. Who has stolen it?", to be clear: "Who is eating it?" What computer is eating my bandwidth?", so that is one use case, and the other use case is security. Plixer Scrutinizer belongs to a handful of products that are able to drill down quite deeply into the network traffic. For security purposes, it is really a very powerful product.

What is most valuable?

One feature I found most valuable in Plixer Scrutinizer is the very extensive reporting. Reporting is very flexible, though sometimes you need a little bit of support from Plixer Scrutinizer to create custom-made reporting in a very short time. Reporting is a very strong feature of the product. Another valuable feature of Plixer Scrutinizer is more on the side of how you can implement it. It is running on a virtual appliance or a physical appliance if you have a very large network, but competing systems sometimes run on a Windows platform where you have to install a lot of Windows and databases that are appliance-based. As for Plixer Scrutinizer, you just need to install it with the right specs, and you have a working appliance, and this is a plus for the product.

What needs improvement?

In terms of additional features I'd like to see in the next release of Plixer Scrutinizer, I can't think of any because you can do some integration with other monitoring tools that are not strong in NetFlow or don't have NetFlow at all. There are also some integration possibilities in the product, plus there are alerts, too. Plixer Scrutinizer is a pretty complete product. There was a price lift because previously the product was privately owned, and now there is some external capital in the organization, so pricing could be lower, though, for Plixer Scrutinizer, there is almost no competition at this price point.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with Plixer Scrutinizer for more than ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Plixer Scrutinizer is a very stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of scalability, Plixer Scrutinizer is an excellent solution for enterprises. It's not really for SMBs. It scales very well for enterprises.

How are customer service and support?

You don't really need technical support for Plixer Scrutinizer, especially for people who are very skilled already with the product, so those people have initiated this or collected this expertise a long time ago, for example, people just evolved with the product while using it. I suggest and advise you to get training one to two times per year, for example, a two-hour session about the new features of Plixer Scrutinizer because there are a lot of features under the hood that are not being used.

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

My company made the switch to Plixer Scrutinizer because it is scalable, compact, and very competitive in pricing. It is also a small company, and not a large company, so you can ask questions about features and won't have to wait ten years before a feature becomes available. Plixer Scrutinizer has a dedicated NetFlow-only team and organization.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup for Plixer Scrutinizer is pretty straightforward, particularly if you know what you're doing because you need some knowledge about networking and NetFlow. Basic deployment can be completed within one day, so you can see what traffic is coming into your network, then you can also start using the filters and the reporting. You can see basic results within a few days, and good results within a few weeks.

What was our ROI?

The money I'm spending on Plixer Scrutinizer is worth the investment because you can use the product in two ways as a capacity management tool for the network and as a forensic security tool. You can use it in a network operations center or a security operation center. You can do both in just one device.

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

Currently, the license for Plixer Scrutinizer is subscription-based and at a yearly fee. The price would depend on the amount of traffic you pull in. For example, there are several blocks from a 10K flow, a 40K flow, and a 100K flow, and based on the number of devices that you receive the flows from, that's the license, and it is not a per-interface pricing model, so that is a very strong, very competitive pricing feature of Plixer Scrutinizer. Licensing for the product is also not based on the number of storage, compared to some competing products that are priced based on the amount of storage you need, particularly based on the retention and the amount of data. Plixer Scrutinizer licensing is based on the device, and it's more in the direction of $10,000 because, with just  $1,000, you don't have anything.

What other advice do I have?

I'm not an end-user of Plixer Scrutinizer. I'm a partner of Plixer and I can only say what I know about the product. I've used it with technical people because I'm into a high-level perspective of the product. I'm a reseller or a partner, but my partners are larger organizations, so the total number of users on the appliance itself would be around one hundred. My advice in terms of using Plixer Scrutinizer is that if you are looking for NetFlow and you really need more than just a simple NetFlow because there are, of course, solutions on the market that cost considerably less, based on if you have one or two interfaces, or if you have multiple devices, but you have a lot of traffic or ISPs, then the product is a must in terms of pricing. If you have only a few devices, core routers, and you have a lot of traffic, then Plixer Scrutinizer is a very competitive product compared to the other products. It's a very stable solution and all the features you ask for are there. My rating for Plixer Scrutinizer is nine out of ten. I never give a ten when rating a product because I always leave some room even in better products, but this product is close to a ten. Nine is the max for me, in terms of rating. I'm a partner/reseller of Plixer Scrutinizer and my role supports customers with questions about the product and helps customers with issues, particularly little support issues. Generally,  I ask customers what it is they need and make sure they don't buy the wrong product. I hold a consulting role that ensures customers buy the right product and the right size: not too big and not too small. I'm a value-added distributor with a consulting role.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

What is our primary use case?

What is most valuable?

What needs improvement?

For how long have I used the solution?

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

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

What other advice do I have?

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

What is our primary use case?

What is most valuable?

What needs improvement?

For how long have I used the solution?

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

How are customer service and technical support?

How was the initial setup?

What other advice do I have?

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?