Item: SolarWinds IP Address Manager (IPAM)
Rating: 8
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SolarWinds IPAM is currently being used across several IT departments to manage the IP address/subnet allocation process across the enterprise. It is mainly used to allocate subnets and track subnet usage in our WAN location and datacenters. We have also added a few custom search capabilities that leverage the API and SQL database behind the product (search by subnet address, description, audit changes by username, etc.).

Pros and Cons

Highly customizable by making use of the API and SolarWinds' capability to add custom HTML code to views.
Presents a very efficient and user-friendly interface for viewing and managing subnets/IP Addresses
Integrates with NTA (starting w/ v2020.2).
IP Address allocation requests are easy to use.

Search capabilities (by subnet address, description, custom fields, etc.).
Better integration with other Orion platform modules.
Improved reporting capabilities.
Subnet allocation process (searching for free space in a set of subnets/supernets).

Return on Investment

It has aggregated multiple sources of IP address data that previously existed.
Subnet allocation process is more user-friendly and efficient.
Unified IP address management with existing Orion products.
Importing/exporting data is now more easily performed.

Alternatives Considered

We migrated to SolarWinds IPAM from a legacy solution called IPPlan that was previously used. There was not really any evaluation process because we had already planned to migrate a few years prior and had already purchased the license. The previous solution ran on Linux and used a PSQL database (which made importing/exporting data much more challenging). SolarWinds IPAM greatly simplifies most administrative tasks and the underlying SQL DB offers improved performance and makes data operations much more accessible.

Support Rating

The product has proved very resilient so far since we have not had any support cases opened for it in approximately 4 years. Therefore the decision to migrate has been a very successful one from this aspect.
Regarding SolarWinds support in general, I can say that the quality of the solutions provided and SLAs are very high. Experienced support technicians are always available and will assist you with whatever issues that you might encounter.

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?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

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

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor, SolarWinds Network Automation Manager (NAM), Cisco Webex Meetings

Likelihood to Recommend

Suitable:

Managing DNS/DHCP reservations (integrates with major vendors of DNS/DHCP solutions).
Allocation of subnets/IPs.
IP address data visualization (Manage Subnets view, summary views).
Importing subnet data from a spreadsheet while maintaining structure (very useful when migrating from a different solution).

Less suitable:

Customized reporting.
Customized searching (currently only search by IP address and partial IP address are possible).

Highly Customizable and Resilient IP Address Management Solution

Overall Satisfaction with SolarWinds IP Address Manager (IPAM)