SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is network diagnostics and troubleshooting technology, from Austin-based SolarWinds.N/A
Pricing
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
Free Trial
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
Entry-level Setup FeeOptional
Additional Details—
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
Considered Both Products
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
LogicMonitor is very basic when it comes to config management, with support for a limited number of devices (though sufficient for us) and minimal frills/features. While we could have used it for the BC/DR portion of our solution, we wanted the better config diffs, compliance …
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
We evaluated PRTG Network Monitor which was similar to SolarWinds but was very resource-intensive and the server kept crashing when we got close to 100 devices whereas on SolarWinds we were able to add several thousand devices. We also evaluated Nagios Core as a free …
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
Solarwinds Network Configuration Manager is extremely powerful in allowing our organization to automate specific tasks. It is extremely simple to use and offers a Graphical User Interface for performing tasks. I am a very curious person, which has led me to use Ansible simply …
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
SolarWinds NCM solution is more flexible and GUI is from my point of view more intuitive, from the other hand Manage Engine solution is [a] cheaper solution which has almost [the] same functionality but suffers of luck of deeper integration with other Manage Engine modules.
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 …
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
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 …
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
NCM is superior to ManageEngine or Spiceworks in its ability to automate the primary tasks of a configuration management tool. Of course, it integrates well with other applications in the SolarWinds Orion suite of applications. The list of vendors supported by NCM is larger as …
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
The product is easy to use, has great support, and is more cost-effective than the other products on the market. I would recommend this to anyone who asked for my opinion.
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
I have not evaluated other products similar in scope to SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM).
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
Deployment is much easier than others like Cisco DNA, also because is a multivendor platform
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
Solarwinds is more user friendly and easier to use.
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
The templates and master configuration features together with the compare feature make SolarWinds NCM a no-brainer.
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
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 …
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
I actually prefer the ManageEngine Network Configuration Management engine product but switched to SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager to standardize to our Orion deployment.
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is more efficient when it comes to setting up recurring tasks and different reports.
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
We had previously used cattools and rancid for configuration management. Cattools is another Solarwinds product but one that we outgrew and doesn't integrate with the Orion platform like SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) does. Rancid it seems a lot of engineers are …
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
If it has been used and it has been functional since it reduces the work time by more than half, making the process faster, safer, and more precise, carrying out not so complex and functional processes referring to configurations of multiple devices at the same time in an agile …
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
The SolarWinds NCM product stacks up well compared to just about any other product on the market. The NCM tool is super easy to use and will complement every Cisco or Aruba product that you may have.
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) automates our Network Configuration task and provides reliable Configuration backup option. Integrates with the SolarWinds Network Performance platform for alerting and reporting. Provides meaningful dashboards to manage network …
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
Needs several updates and better documentation on how to create deployment templates
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
I have not had the opportunity to evaluate any of them, NCM has been the only software that has been used in recent years, and due to its good design, I have not had the need to look for additional software it meets my expectations and those of the manager.
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) was by far the easiest to implement and it just started working right out of the box. Within a few hours were we populating our config backup repository and soon after that, we were writing scripts to audit our configurations. …
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
We are looking at puppet just to keep our options open. This is more my area because I don't have to rely on windows. Sure there's some learning you need to do, but it runs on a solid system. Not much else we are looking at for comparison. Now if NCM moves to another OS, well …
Chose SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
We did not evaluate any other similar products. When the need for a config manager arose, we already had a heavy investment in SolarWinds, so using another SolarWinds module made the most sense for us.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
Small Businesses
Auvik
Auvik
Score 8.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
PingPlotter
PingPlotter
Score 9.4 out of 10
Enterprises

No answers on this topic

All AlternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(141 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.1
(6 ratings)
Usability
7.1
(8 ratings)
Support Rating
7.7
(9 ratings)
Online Training
10.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.1
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
Likelihood to Recommend
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
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Pros
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.
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Cons
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.
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Likelihood to Renew
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.
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Usability
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.
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Support Rating
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.
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Online Training
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
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Implementation Rating
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
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Alternatives Considered
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.
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Return on Investment
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.
Read full review
ScreenShots

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.