Item: SolarWinds IP Address Manager (IPAM)
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Prior to purchasing SolarWinds IP Address Manager, my team primarily relied on manually updated Excel spreadsheets for IP management. Initially, this approach was manageable, but it very quickly become too difficult to maintain. Because of the manual approach, the spreadsheet would become outdated very quickly. With SolarWinds IPAM, the dynamic updates take away the overhead associated with the spreadsheets and allowed us to not worry as much about whether or not the information we're looking at is up to date. Also because the interface is web-based, my team had a much easier time collaborating and access the necessary information.

Pros and Cons

Host discovery
Easy setup
Dynamic IP updates

Web interface can be slow and clunky
Initially is not user friendly
Allow more options for organization of devices

Return on Investment

Saved time to focus on other projects and tasks
Fewer issues with accidentally assigning an already assigned IP
Less research necessary to confirm an IP is not in use.

Alternatives Considered

BlueCat Address Manager and Infoblox IPAM for Microsoft

The biggest factor that made my organization choose SolarWinds IP Address Manager over the others was cost. SolarWinds has very competitive pricing while providing similar functionality to its competitors. During the trial, it was difficult to justify paying nearly triple the price when SolarWinds has a product that did exactly the same thing.

Key Insights

Do you think SolarWinds IP Address Manager (IPAM) delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with SolarWinds IP Address Manager (IPAM)'s feature set?

Yes

Did SolarWinds IP Address Manager (IPAM) live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of SolarWinds IP Address Manager (IPAM) go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy SolarWinds IP Address Manager (IPAM) again?

Yes

Other Software Used

PDQ Deploy, Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches, SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server

Likelihood to Recommend

SolarWinds IP Address Manager is useful to organizations ranging from small to large, but particularly small. The reason for this is due to the fact that a smaller organization will have less manpower to manage a manually updated spreadsheet. SolarWinds IPAM's ability to dynamically discover and update its database removes the overhead typically associated with spreadsheets.

Products Replaced

Yes - Yes. Sort of. We no longer need to use complicated and unorganized Excel spreadsheets to manage our IP addresses now. We do still use Excel for other purposes though. The reason we wanted to get away from the manual process of managing IPs is to minimize on human error and simplify management by lowering overhead.

Key Differentiators

Price
Product Features
Product Usability
Product Reputation

The product features and usability are hands down the main reasons we chose to go with this solution. Price comes in at a close third. SolarWinds IPAM is easy to implement and use. Navigation of the interface is straightforward and finding what we need takes very little effort. Alternative vendors charged much more for the same features.

Support Rating

SolarWindows support can be hit or miss depending on who you get on the phone; however, all of my interactions ranging from basic setup to troubleshooting issues were professional and excellent. Software updates come frequently enough so I know the product is still supported well and has not been forgotten about.

SolarWinds IP Address Manager - A Time Saver

Overall Satisfaction with SolarWinds IP Address Manager (IPAM)