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ExtremeCloud IQ vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    ExtremeCloud IQ

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AExtremeCloud IQ provides unified management driven by Machine Learning (ML). It features configuration workflows, realtime and historical monitoring, comprehensive troubleshooting, and integrated network applications. Designed to take full advantage of Extreme’s end-to- end networking solutions, it delivers unified, full-stack management of access points, switches, and SD-WAN.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
    ExtremeCloud IQSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    ExtremeCloud IQSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    ExtremeCloud IQSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Considered Both Products
    Extreme Networks
    No answer on this topic
    SolarWinds
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    92%
    Would buy again
    34 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    89%
    Delivers good value for the price
    31 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    35 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    31 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    32 Answers
    Features
    ExtremeCloud IQSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Configuration Management
    Comparison of Configuration Management features of ExtremeCloud IQ and SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Feature
    ExtremeCloud IQ
    7.6
    4 Ratings
    3% above category average
    SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    -
    Ratings
    Infrastructure Automation7.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automated Provisioning8.44 Ratings00 Ratings
    Parallel Execution8.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Node Management7.24 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting & Logging7.64 Ratings00 Ratings
    Version Control7.44 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    ExtremeCloud IQSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    SolarWinds Engineer's Toolset
    Score7.6 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    SolarWinds Engineer's Toolset
    Score7.6 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    ExtremeCloud IQSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.4
    (4 ratings)
    8.0
    (142 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.1
    (6 ratings)
    Usability
    8.3
    (4 ratings)
    7.0
    (9 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.7
    (9 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    ExtremeCloud IQSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Extreme Networks
    ExtremeCloud IQ is definitely best suited for a mid/large-scale business. The tools provided for what you pay for would be mostly unnecessary for a small business - the pricing also would not condone the purchase for a small business. That said, we are more of a mid-sized district, and being able to manage this system with 120 APs deployed across 10 locations has been great. I'm the only person that purchases, configures, deploys and manages everything with ExtremeCloud IQ - and it doesn't take too much time to be able to do so. I'm certainly a fan of the product!
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    Network Configuration Manager is well suited for backing up configurations of all your devices. It also has a great comparison tool for seeing only the differences in config. Another great feature is it's ability to push a script to any number of devices. This is very handy for pushing changes to one, 10 or multiple devices. There are also some great reports that you can run against the devices in inventory
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Extreme Networks
    • GTAC support is excellent; they understand the issue and do not hesitate to help in detail.
    • The layout is very intuitive and easy to use, especially the templating of switch port types. It makes it simple to use context-based names so the purpose of the port can be understood.
    • The auto channel selection now works very well, including the SDR dual 5GHz mode.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Cons
    Extreme Networks
    • XIQ Refreshes could be enhanced for closer to on-prem experience.
    • Client Data polling interval needs to be quicker, 10 minutes.
    • Full feature parity of switch management in XIQ.
    Incentivized
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    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
    Extreme Networks
    No answers on this topic
    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
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    Usability
    Extreme Networks
    Being a web platform, it is very easily accessible. The user interface is very simple, intuitive, and visually well-designed. The learning to use it was very quick and can be done even without specific user manuals. Access to the analytics and troubleshooting tools is also extremely intuitive and very well-crafted.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Support Rating
    Extreme Networks
    No answers on this topic
    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
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    Online Training
    Extreme Networks
    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
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    Implementation Rating
    Extreme Networks
    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
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    Alternatives Considered
    Extreme Networks
    I previously used Aruba APs in the early 2010s - but have no other experience since then
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    At the time SolarWinds was the biggest player in the space and their whole portfolio was very comprehensive. As time progressed and newer technologies came about (i.e. SDWAN) their products couldn't keep up with the consumer demands and changing market. Security became such a big focus that once Solarwinds got hacked we had to remove all their products from our environment
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Extreme Networks
    • It has been referred to as "invisible IT" because the number of support tickets to the IT desk has been reduced to practically none.
    • An IT team no longer desires ongoing WiFi support agreements, as once it is set up well, they do not need to contact us for higher-tier support.
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    • Saves 100s of hours a year in man hours over manual configuration.
    • Saved easily 50k in lost revenue when a switch rebooted with months old unsaved configuration. NCM let us quickly restore a snapshot of the running config from the previous day.
    • Saves us several man hours per week of config auditing by reducing all changes to a summary email.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    ExtremeCloud IQ Screenshots

    Screenshot of the ExtremeCloud IQ Dashboard

    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.