Cisco Prime LAN Management Solution is discontinued. Current users are encouraged to explore Cisco Catalyst Center as a modern solution.
N/A
SPDocKit
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
SysKit, in Zagreb, offers SPDocKit as the Ultimate SharePoint On-Premises Administration Tool, used to automate routine administrators’ tasks such as document configuration and exploration of SharePoint structure.
Although Cisco Prime [LAN Management Solution] is a nice tool and no other 4rd party tools can match its native monitoring and managing capabilities still i have given less rating and that's because it is only for Cisco vendor Devices. Hence if you have only Cisco infrastructure then go for it or else look for another 4rd party tool in conjunction with Cisco prime.
The product is second to none in providing an accurate and detailed view of a SharePoint farm, its composition, and its configuration. It is an essential tool for discovery purposes, and it should be used anytime business continuity and disaster recover plans/documentations are being prepared. Since SharePoint doesn't include a "farm clone" method, SPDocKit provides the next best thing in attempts to replicate configuration. It can also be used as a Q&A checkpoint through the use of farm snapshots to highlight differences that exist between two or more environments.
Wireless file detection and planning mode has helped us expand into new areas of our buildings.
Alerting is detailed when we have issues with hardwired and wireless devices, and Rogue Access Points are easily identifiable.
Cisco equipment information is much more detailed than other management products' SNMP queries and is an excellent tool for troubleshooting end-device connectivity issues.
Our KPI reporting for senior management and centralized management of our WIPS 'Wireless Intrusion Prevention' setup have both benefited significantly from the detailed reporting capabilities.
Discovery. When trying to learn the ins and outs of an unfamiliar SharePoint farm configuration, SPDocKit creates a complete and accurate picture.
Documentation. Documenting farm configurations manually is a very time and labor intensive process, so I turn to SPDocKit to automate the process for me.
Change Tracking. SPDocKit can take a series of farm snapshots over time, and it can highlight and track differences in configuration and settings from snapshot to snapshot.
Maps. One thing that I miss is the fact that you can't see both wired and wireless equipment in the same topology map. For visualization and troubleshooting purposes, that would help a lot, and I honestly don' t think it's that much harder to implement.
I'd love to see an option to show 'live dashboards,' maps, or other visual tools to publish in a NOC room, or even just to broadcast in a big monitor to allow multiple workmates to check that information. Again, I don't think that would be too hard to implement. I remember a similar feature was available in the first versions of the product, way back in the 90's (yes, I'm that old :-) )
Sometimes, depending on what screen you are, the solution can be a little slow. I'm not saying the whole system is slow, but sometimes that slowness can bother a little.
Talking about areas for improvement, one area I think can be improved is the upgrade process. Even for not so large deployments, it can take a lot of time. Having this time decreased would be the right thing to do.
Cloud Readiness. Unfortunately, SPDocKit cannot run against SharePoint Online (SPO) environments due to its reliance on server APIs that aren't exposed in the cloud.
Variations. SPDocKit exists in a number of forms for licensing purposes, and not all versions are equivalent. It's sometimes difficult to know what version of the product houses the feature that I want to use, as well as whether or not I'm licensed for it.
We are very happy using Cisco Prime LAN Management Solution for the following reason: 1- Ease of use with the GUI. 2- Very well organized dashboard which can view many statistics on your devices. 3- Customized dashboard for different views ( for technical team and executives ) 4- Schedule configuration templates to use whenever we need on whatever device we want.
SysKit support is second to none. On occasions where I've had questions about any aspect of SPDocKit, I've reached out to SysKit through available channels and usually gotten back a detailed and helpful answer within 24 hours of my request submission. They're also very friendly and supply more information that may be related to my inquiry or problem. I never feel like customer support is an afterthought with SysKit.
There are various 3rd party tools available in the market which not only supports monitoring of cisco devices but also supports non-cisco devices, even with these capabilities in these 3rd party tools Cisco Prime has maintained a uniqueness in its products being the native tool from Cisco. The uniqueness is about product supportability for given devices and some of the edge features such as configuration management, detailed heatmaps etc
I am unaware of any other product on the market that does what SysKit SPDocKit does. SPDocKit has certainly been doing it the longest, and it offers a unique value proposition and set of capabilities.
It has helped us with our quarterly wireless security testing by pinpointing the location of non-approved access points vs. hunting for them via signal strength.
Saves time by helping to identify network health issues before they become a definitive problem causing downtime.
With errors detected early, we have noticed our wi-fi network is much more stable thus freeing up our engineer's time elsewhere.
The product cost may appear large, but when you compare the cost and reuse of the product to what it would cost in time and effort to carry out its functions manually, the cost is truly a drop in the bucket.
Since I operate as a consultant, I consider the SysKit SPDocKit tool essential to the work I do. It allows me to go into new environments, generate a farm report, and use that report as something I provide to the client - as well as for my own purposes.
