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Auvik vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Auvik

    Score9.9 out of 10
    N/AAuvik Network Management is a vendor-agnostic cloud-based network monitoring and management solution providing automated network discovery. Auvik requires no service hardware or disruptive maintenance cycles and provides onboarding and training for new and existing users. Auvik delivers visibility and automation to reduce friction for IT teams and allow them to give end users the freedom to work wherever and however they…N/A

    SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)

    Score8.3 out of 10
    N/ASolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is network diagnostics and troubleshooting technology, from Austin-based SolarWinds.N/A
    Pricing
    AuvikSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    AuvikSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional DetailsPricing is calculated per number of switches, routers, firewalls, and controllers. Everything else is monitored for free.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    AuvikSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Considered Both Products
    Auvik Networks Inc.
    Chose Auvik
    Auvik can stand up against any of the big network management and monitoring solutions on the market. I've implemented and used SolarWinds at many organizations for over 15 years. The paradigm that SolarWinds, PRTG, Prime, etc., work under is completely different than Auvik. …
    Incentivized
    Chose Auvik
    Auvik blows most of these out of the water. We have tried Nagios, Solarwinds and PRTG. We are happy with our choice of Auvik over those.
    Incentivized
    Chose Auvik
    I did not have enough time in the 14-day trial to compare.
    Incentivized
    Chose Auvik
    With very little setup time and no ongoing maintenance on my end, Auvik has been the only choice for me. I have not had to give up any features that I needed using them over the other guys
    Incentivized
    SolarWinds
    Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    All of the SolarWinds solutions stack up against their competition. The customer support is excellent, KB articles are details, and the community (Thwack) is the best when it comes to working through complex configurations/monitors. These are the things that make them the right …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    113 Answers
    92%
    Would buy again
    33 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    92 Answers
    88%
    Delivers good value for the price
    30 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    114 Answers
    94%
    Happy with the feature set
    34 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    76 Answers
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    30 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    92 Answers
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    31 Answers
    Features
    AuvikSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Network Performance Monitoring
    Comparison of Network Performance Monitoring features of Auvik and SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Feature
    Auvik
    7.9
    106 Ratings
    4% below category average
    SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    -
    Ratings
    Automated network device discovery9.6105 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network monitoring8.8106 Ratings00 Ratings
    Baseline threshold calculation7.883 Ratings00 Ratings
    Alerts8.6105 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network capacity planning7.683 Ratings00 Ratings
    Packet capture analysis7.065 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network mapping8.4104 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable reports5.678 Ratings00 Ratings
    Wireless infrastructure monitoring7.485 Ratings00 Ratings
    Hardware health monitoring8.296 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    AuvikSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    PingPlotter
    Score9.3 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    Nmap
    Score10 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    AuvikSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.3
    (118 ratings)
    9.4
    (141 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.8
    (2 ratings)
    8.1
    (6 ratings)
    Usability
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    7.1
    (8 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.7
    (4 ratings)
    7.7
    (9 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    AuvikSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Auvik Networks Inc.
    Auvik is well suited for managed service customers and small-scale SMB customers who do not have enough technical resource to manage and monitor their network. Also for customer who has distributed networks spreaded across worldwide or nation wide, Auvik is well suited since it does not need any on-premise setup at each site except for a collector. For customer who has already adopted and used cloud network and hosting services, Auvik is better as Auvik is also fully cloud based offering
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    If your IT team isn't proficient in automation and scripting, Solarwinds NCM can fill that gap (assuming your company's security team signs off on approving SW in your environment given the hack.) Basic device configuration, pushing mass changes reliably and backups are NCM's strong suites. If you have a complex scenario where if/then cases are needed, NCM is a bit lack luster. Auto discovery isn't as easy either as certain parameters need to be met for that feature to work 100% of the time
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Auvik Networks Inc.
    • Auvik is the big pic tool of choice for network diagramming, helps layout of our network infrastructure, and we'll know immediately the status of the devices that are successfully communicating, and those that may have, for example, credentials issues.
    • Auvik's "Traffic Insights" are key accelerators for intuitively isolating and resolving traffic-related issues quickly and easily, and the historical information makes it simpler to deduce what aspects may need replacement, capacity improvement, or possibly even re-architecture.
    • Auvik integration tools are excellent solution enhancers - that are of particular interest to our company, as we make use of MS Teams and Connectwise products; we would like to see some features to integrate to ServiceNow as well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • Integrates with Network Performance Management for Alerting and Reporting.
    • NetPath and detects issues due to Configuration Change.
    • Keeps a record of which user made the change.
    • Which devices are not being backed up, devices where backups are failing, dashboard and alerting available.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Auvik Networks Inc.
    • The map is not easy to quickly zoom in and out of or pan around. Usually requires a lot of filter toggling. Keyboard shortcuts for this would be nice.
    • Better global settings that can be pushed to multiple client organizations
    • Security groups/RBAC for user permissions across multiple clients
    • Ability to change the URL
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • For our use case, it does everything great and some of the features we underutilize but I would like to be able to set a configuration baseline when initially adding a node instead of after the configuration is pulled but it's not a particularly big deal to let it pull the configuration then set it as the baseline.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Auvik Networks Inc.
    Because it's an amazing product.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    Medium complexity to set up in the beginning if using any non-standard devices or configurations, else fairly easy (e.g. Cisco Nexus or IOS-based devices). Reports are fairly straightforward to set up. Updates to the platform are fairly straightforward and don't take a major effort. Easy to add or remove devices.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Auvik Networks Inc.
    The program can be a bit unwieldy at times, however the majority of information is displayed in a readable and friendly way. The maps and popup information box from the bottom can be harder to use on a smaller screen but on a 1080p+ display tends to work fine.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    The user interface is lacking. It is difficult to navigate at times and things can be done multiple ways. Quite often I am confused by how their notification structure works. It is not very intuitive. They do offer a free Academy. They also offer a community of other technical folks. I have enjoyed both.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Auvik Networks Inc.
    We have never had a major outage or impact that was noticeable.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Auvik Networks Inc.
    Pages can be slow to load on larger sites but tends to be fine for most clients.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Auvik Networks Inc.
    Fast response and knowledgeable. If the technician does not know, they will look for the information and get back to you.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    To be fair, I have not had to involve Support in a number of years, but when I did, I was greeted with enthusiastic engineers who wanted to understand and solve the issue. It was a fairly complex scenario and I have discovered in my most recent implementation that engineering included that option as a standard now.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Auvik Networks Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    SolarWinds
    Solarwinds has actually produced new training since I last used it that is available on their site at any time. Their previous training was more than enough to get us started but now there is significantly more content. Since I'm comfortable with the Orion platform and the products we use I haven't checked the new training out yet but we have new staff go through portions of that training and they always come away with an understanding of the platform and ready to use it
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Auvik Networks Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    SolarWinds
    it was a fairly easy implementation and everything was pretty straightforward. only challenge we had was getting all the snmp communities updated on the networking equipment
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Auvik Networks Inc.
    Auvik can stand up against any of the big network management and monitoring solutions on the market. I've implemented and used SolarWinds at many organizations for over 15 years. The paradigm that SolarWinds, PRTG, Prime, etc., work under is completely different than Auvik. It's apparent that Auvik was aiming to solve a different problem and built that solution from the ground up. For any organization responsible for multiple other organizations' infrastructure, Auvik is invaluable in comparison to the other products listed.
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is a great tool and matches much of the functionality of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. Nothing about Ansible will likely be overwhelming to an engineer with a little time to spare, but that spare time combined with SolarWinds already being our monitoring tool made the decision easy. Time is at a premium in small teams and SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is very easy to use right out of the box without all the tweaking required by powerful command line driven tools like Ansible.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Auvik Networks Inc.
    Auvik has worked on sites with 15+ offices connected with VPN's and we have not encountered any issues with the monitoring. On larger sites the map can be a bit cumbersome to read however it can be cleaned up easily with device filters.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Auvik Networks Inc.
    • the ROI for Auvik comes from the time it saves in updating documentation and onboarding, new clients. We no longer have to spend a day investigating a network and documenting it, this is life and up to date so you always have true information for reporting and troubleshooting.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • The time savings from automatic daily backups is significant
    • The compare configuration tool is super helpful at spotting errors when small changes occur that are hard to detect otherwise.
    • The compliance check tool saves countless hours going through configurations for errors.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Auvik Screenshots

    Screenshot of a display of the big network picture used to narrow down possible devices to investigate. Auvik pulls data from sources like CDP, LLDP, and forwarding tables to meticulously model the Layer 1 network diagram. Layers 2 and 3 are built from ARP tables, IP assignments, and VLAN associations to show what’s on the network, where it is, and how it’s connected.Screenshot of Auvik’s automated inventory, which uses network protocols to detect and capture full details for every device on the network including make and model, serial number, IP address, and the physical switchport the device is connected to. If the device is known but not its location, Auvik can find the device and every other device it’s connected to.Screenshot of lifecycle data, pulled from supported devices to show whether they’re on current or expired support contracts, whether there are more up-to-date software versions available, if devices are eligible to receive critical security updates, and if devices are still available for purchase.Screenshot of Auvik's over 50 pre-configured alerts tuned to industry best practices and ranging from informational to emergency. Its pre-configured alerts can be tweaked, added to, and the frequency of how often notifications are sent can be changed.Screenshot of Auvik TrafficInsights, which leverages machine learning and traffic classification to show which applications—like Dropbox, Netflix, or Slack—or protocols are using up the bulk of the network’s bandwidth.Screenshot of Auvik's centralized syslog for all network devices where they can be viewed directly from the device dashboard for more context, to more quickly troubleshoot network issues.

    SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) Screenshots

    Screenshot of Network Automation -  manage rapid change across complex and multi-vendor networks, reduce time needed to complete repetitive tasks, and maintain standards and service levels for uninterrupted ITScreenshot of Config Backup - rest easy knowing you can locate the most current configuration and quickly apply it to a replacement spare, or to roll back a blown configuration.Screenshot of Vulnerability Scanning - Take the hassle out of vulnerability scanning using NCM's integration with the National Vulnerability Database and access to the most current CVE’s to identify vulnerabilities in your Cisco devices.Screenshot of Inventory Management - Be able to know what devices are connected to your network, their hardware and software configurations, and when they approach end-of-service and end-of-life, with NCM device configuration management tool.Screenshot of User Management - Use NCM's integrated console to lock down devices from unauthorized access, delegate who can view device details and make configuration changes, and determine when network changes can occur.Screenshot of Baselines and Diffs - IT professionals can get a more comprehensive view by leveraging baselines across multiple nodes. Diff view in NCM’s network configuration management tool is designed to highlight only those lines that changed.