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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft System Center

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft System Center is an enterprise-grade IT Operations Management (ITOM) suite designed for the centralized administration of data center infrastructure, virtualized environments, and hybrid cloud workloads. The platform provides unified management across heterogeneous environments, including support for Windows Server, Linux, and Azure Stack HCI. System Center is Microsoft's ITOM stack for organizations that maintain a significant on-premise footprint, vs the company's Azure-based…

    $1,323

    per month

    SolarWinds Kiwi CatTools

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/ASolarWinds® Kiwi CatTools® is network automation tool designed to manage configurations on network devices such as routers, switches, and firewalls. It helps users work more efficiently by scheduling automatic backup activities and rolling out configuration changes to multiple devices at the same time. With native support for devices from dozens of manufacturers, Kiwi CatTools is designed to simplify network administration, configuration change alerting, and backup management.

    $852

    Per Instance

    Pricing
    Microsoft System CenterSolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
    Editions & Modules
    Standard Edition
    $1323
    Datacenter Edition
    $3607
    One Time Price
    $852
    Per Instance
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft System CenterSolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft System CenterSolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    SolarWinds
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    91%
    Would buy again
    31 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    33 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    91%
    Happy with the feature set
    31 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    95%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    21 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    28 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Microsoft System CenterSolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
    Configuration Management
    Comparison of Configuration Management features of Microsoft System Center and SolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
    Feature
    Microsoft System Center
    -
    Ratings
    SolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
    7.2
    1 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Infrastructure Automation00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
    Automated Provisioning00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Parallel Execution00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
    Node Management00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Reporting & Logging00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Version Control00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft System CenterSolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    SolarWinds Engineer's Toolset
    Score7.6 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    SolarWinds Engineer's Toolset
    Score7.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft System CenterSolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.3
    (58 ratings)
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.4
    (5 ratings)
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (14 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft System CenterSolarWinds Kiwi CatTools
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    Large-Scale Networks with Thousands of Devices that permit our enterprise with thousands of devices across multiple locations need a highly scalable solution, and A security-focused organization requires real-time monitoring of device configurations to detect and alert on unauthorized changes. and CatTools is lightweight and easy to set up, making it ideal for managing and resetting device configurations in a lab setting.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • Network device backups.
    • Identify configuration changes from prior backup.
    • Automated email notifications.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • The product could improve in the area of having better mechanisms in place with how the SCEP client is deployed/installed from the server on the management side. We have run into this firsthand with the client not installing on an endpoint, and then having to take the time to investigate why it was not installing.
    • A second improvement that can be made is to keep trying to improve the products detection rate for finding malware/viruses. The case can be made that there are some products out there that do a better job at this and have a higher detection rate.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • Enhanced Reporting Capabilities.
    • More Intuitive User Interface.
    • Scalability for Large Networks.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    Microsoft System Center Operations Manager is tightly integrated to Microsoft Windows servers os monitoring with great product support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    CatTools is simple to set up and administer. Anyone who can install a Windows application can quickly set up an automated backup of one or more devices. It does what it was designed to do.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    There is a fair amount of documentation out there to help you when you have questions or run into issues with this product as well as tutorials on some of the more common tasks. Between the documentation and the overall ease of use we haven't had to deal with direct Microsoft support for this product.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    The software is easy enough to set up and configure that even after using the product for years, we never had to contact support. We used some open source products before utilizing CatTools and could have used a speed dial to try and figure out the intricacies of the products.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    Easy to install with intuitive interactive interface during the installation process a and integration to MS SQL was smooth
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    Strengths:Cost-Effectiveness: CatTools is significantly more affordable than enterprise-grade tools like SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) or Infoblox NetMRI. It is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses with tight budgets. Ease of Deployment: Kiwi CatTools is lightweight and easier to set up, while enterprise solutions often require substantial infrastructure and longer deployment times. Focus on Essentials: CatTools excels in its core functions, such as automated configuration backups, scheduled tasks, and essential compliance checks.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • It has allowed the enterprise to standardize on a single platform for monitoring.
    • Easier troubleshooting of issues with Microsoft platforms.
    • Greater visibility of issues across platforms when applications are hosted in a mixed environment.
    • Additional costs for monitoring systems that are not directly supported with additional packs (iSeries, Linux on Power).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • Compliance and Risk Reduction.
    • Reduced Downtime.
    • Ease of Deployment and Low Licensing Costs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    SolarWinds Kiwi CatTools Screenshots

    Screenshot of Schedule automated backups of network device configuration from routers, switches, firewalls, etc.Screenshot of Simultaneously perform or schedule configuration changes across multiple network devices with great ease.Screenshot of Receive real-time alerts when unauthorized configuration changes occur on network devices.Screenshot of Maintain a complete configuration history, and facilitate rollbacks to the last good configuration.Screenshot of Generate configuration and device information reports related to port, MAC, ARP, version details, and more.Screenshot of Get out-of-the-box support for both IPv4 and IPv6 devices from vendors, such as Cisco, HP, Huawei, 3Com and more.