DX Spectrum vs. Microsoft System Center

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
DX Spectrum
Score 6.5 out of 10
N/A
DX Spectrum (formerly CA Spectrum) is network fault management software, from Broadcom company CA Technologies.N/A
Microsoft System Center
Score 7.6 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft System Center Suite is a family of IT management software for network monitoring, updating and patching, endpoint protection with anti-malware, data protection and backup, ITIL- structured IT service management, remote administration and more. It is available in two editions: standard and datacenter. Datacenter provides unlimited virtualization for high density private clouds, while standard is for lightly or non-virtualized private cloud workloads.
$1,323
per month
Pricing
DX SpectrumMicrosoft System Center
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Standard Edition
$1323
Datacenter Edition
$3607
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
DX SpectrumMicrosoft System Center
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
DX SpectrumMicrosoft System Center
Best Alternatives
DX SpectrumMicrosoft System Center
Small Businesses
Sentry
Sentry
Score 8.8 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
ManageEngine ADAudit Plus
ManageEngine ADAudit Plus
Score 9.5 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Enterprises
ManageEngine ADAudit Plus
ManageEngine ADAudit Plus
Score 9.5 out of 10

No answers on this topic

All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
DX SpectrumMicrosoft System Center
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(2 ratings)
9.0
(21 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
DX SpectrumMicrosoft System Center
Likelihood to Recommend
Broadcom
As I said before, not only for Spectrum, but for any monitoring tool, you need to know what is critical in your environment and think about how exactly you should monitor and treat it. If you have done that, everything will work just fine.
  • Well Suited - Networking Monitoring
  • Less Appropriate - When you need to customize some monitoring and to update the version
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Microsoft
For companies with more than 10 Windows devices and needing to standardize the OS, AV, access, share resources, and install software. SCCM is the way to go. This software is unnecessary if the business is all remote users and not in an office-type setting. There are cloud offerings or none to accomplish what a business needs.
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Pros
Broadcom
  • Polling and traps can be configured to take heartbeats at specified intervals and notify on an event in real-time, respectively.
  • Topology of devices gives a high-level overview of network architecture.
  • Discovery of devices is simple and secure with the use of community strings.
  • Details can be added per device or alarm type for actions to be taken to make troubleshooting easier.
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Microsoft
  • Allows the grouping of devices by user.
  • Allows controlling updates being deployed to user devices.
  • Allows for the repurposing of machines by being able to load new or updated software on machines that already are in the system.
  • Allows us the ability to wipe a machine clean and restore it back to the configuration that was assigned the machine.
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Cons
Broadcom
  • NOC
  • Data Center/Telecom
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Microsoft
  • Needs web based storefront for requesting new software
  • Needs ability to manage the packaging work flow better
  • Sometimes is slow to download and there is no indication the entire catalog is being loaded, resulting in confused users not being able to find common software in the available list.
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Usability
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
It is not user-friendly for the most part. With IT infrastructure, sometimes it cannot handle excess requests. Every few months, you will need an upgrade in terms of server resources to keep up with incoming alerts and requests. This does not happen all of the time, but it does happen when there are too many requests.
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Support Rating
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
If I had to dislike something about the system it would be how much it changes once you upgrade. This could be more of a problem of mine since I get used to one way and don't like it when it changes so much. I am enjoying the newest update, but it is a mess when you are actually going through the upgrades.
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Alternatives Considered
Broadcom
Other tools I have used are more server/application-centric. CA Spectrum seems to work effectively and efficiently for network devices. Notification delays can be set to grant grace periods in case of network blips or false positives, which occur ALL the time. Other monitoring tools send event notifications immediately and would clear instantly, which while on-call can wake a technician for no reason.
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Microsoft
We previously used a mix of FOG and Clonezilla to image machines. The biggest issues with these products is that changing one piece of the image required you to rebuild the entire image itself. These pieces of software also did not allow you to manage applications and Windows Updates, causing IT to have to constantly touch machines after they were imaged and update or manage them with a much more hands on approach.
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Return on Investment
Broadcom
  • Proactive monitoring for networking
  • To many times to plan an update
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Microsoft
  • We have been able to automate our patch management, firmware and other security concerns.
  • We have a standardized "image" ensuring our setup is consistent across the enterprise. This alone has saved us in time to support and time to understand how to use our desktops.
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ScreenShots