Alluvio Aternity vs Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance comparison

Alluvio Aternity vs. Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Alluvio Aternity

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

28th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Mobile APM (4th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (6th)

Cisco Provider Connectivity...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

39th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (45th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of Alluvio Aternity is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance is 0.9%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Alluvio Aternity	0.7%
Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance	0.9%
Other	98.4%

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Akhilesh Mishra

Technical Lead Pre-Sales at M.TECH Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.

Monitoring end-user activity has improved visibility into device and application performance

In my opinion, Riverbed can make Alluvio Aternity better by having the same Aternity agent help in security, such as antivirus or EDR, which would be useful, allowing customers to avoid having multiple agents installed on their endpoint machines. Deploying multiple agents can use the processor and utilize memory, so it's better to go with one agent. If one agent can do end-user activity monitoring and act as an EDR, then it would be better for the end-user, allowing easy avoidance of installing multiple agents on their machines.

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Pifu Lin

Senior System Engineer at DYNASAFE TECHNOLOGIES PTE. LTD.

Addresses connectivity issues with real-time monitoring while offering good local support

I had prepared for COC and the client. I work as a vendor for a client using Flow Mount for network performance monitoring. I focus on resolving client-side issues related to Packy Performance and quality use. This involves addressing network device issues, specifically Cisco network devices One…

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Aternity's Digital Experience Management Quadrant (DEM-Q) has been a game changer for us. While knowing your own metrics is nice, if you don't know how you compare to others or what the numbers should be, then it doesn't tell you much. This solution puts that into context (if we are doing better than others or worse), which helps us prioritize where we want to focus and do improvements versus that's just how slow it's supposed to be. It's also great in communicating what we are doing and why we're doing it to our IT leadership teams, by saying, while we're pretty far behind others in certain categories, the time and changes for our prioritizations are justified."

"Overall, I would rate Aternity a 10 out of 10."

"We have absolutely seen ROI; we were completely disconnected from what was really going on in our fleet, and this has really given us that visibility to understand problems and impact, scope them in our environment, and understand how the configuration changes we are making are affecting performance."

"The introspection into the desktops, there's nothing else that we have that will do that."

"It's all about being proactive and solving problems before they're big."

"With Aternity you can gather that perspective quickly, it's gathered automatically, so that slow response time or issues with the application, hung workstations or network issues, you get that perspective right away."

"The dashboards and the analysis tools, especially the navigator, are great features and are very valuable."

"If you had to choose one tool, if your organization said, "We're going to stop spending money on IT tools altogether, and you're only allowed to have one thing," I would take Aternity every time, because you can do so much with it."

More Alluvio Aternity pros

"I like this product because it is easy to use and it allows us to have a realistic vision of what is going on at the heart of our network."

"Thanks to Skylight we have a tool for this kind of investigation and it has reduced our mean time to respond by at least 50 percent."

"The performance of Accedian Skylight is better than other vendors."

"For us, the most valuable feature is something called TWAMP that allows for real-time traffic in a way that is 10 times lighter than things like SolarWinds. It's in the sub-milliseconds of accuracy, and you can divide tasks so that you can literally see things like the tagging for Quality of Service. That had been incorrect with the carrier, but there was no way on this planet you'd be able to tell a carrier that they're wrong. I have dozens of scenarios where we found "No, that's not right," and got it resolved instantly."

"It is about finding operational problems. When sites go down, we try to determine who is at fault. While there is not much finger-pointing, the solution is just trying to analyse when there is an outage and where do we start looking to fix it. The very nature of why organization chooses to use the solution is to accelerate the meantime to resolution and find where problems lie to get them rectified as quickly as possible."

"The response times, with the performance, are really interesting too, where you can see the packet loss."

"Skylight is not used on a daily basis, but when it's used it usually helps to fix a problem pretty fast."

"What I like most about Accedian Skylight is that it's a UI application, so using it is easy. I also like that the support for Accedian Skylight is helpful."

More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance pros

Cons

"The licensing model doesn't suit the market we are in and has room for improvement."

"I would like to get more granular detail. In regards to defining the applications and activities upfront, that can be challenging. Simplifying that would be a big win. One of the things that I know they are already working on is a verbose mode."

"When they moved from Version 8 to Version 9, the customers lost so much control of what they could do with the product."

"Aternity does provide performance numbers, the data. However, it doesn't tell you what you can do about it."

"Being able to add custom monitoring to dashboards would be nice. Right now, if you want to monitor the value of a registry key on your systems, to get that added into the dashboard you have to reach out to Aternity so they can start looking for that value. It would be interesting if that were more of a self-serve function."

"When it comes to what is called creating signatures, it's not easy for a non-coding person for desktop applications. You need to run the recording and you need to have some exposure and knowledge. That is an area where they can improve. For web applications, they have the Web Activity Creator and that's an awesome and easy tool. Anybody can use it and capture the signatures. With the desktop applications it's a little more cumbersome and difficult."

"I’d like to be able to build monitors easier. That has to be an easier process, and they need to make the program less complicated."

"We are not satisfied with their technical support. If there is a problem, you have to wait for several days to get a response."

More Alluvio Aternity cons

"We have encountered problems with the license that is connected to the hypervisor on which the virtual appliance is deployed."

"If you want a new version, you go to the website. The hardest part is finding the link, where is that .bin file? Sometimes it's pretty hidden in a document... it's hidden in the release notes or in another file somewhere. And it's usually not on the first page either."

"For the PVX, they are in the process of getting the results to export to cloud and SaaS for analytics. They told me that this will happen later this year. Right now, for the most part, I create that data myself."

"I would like to see some improvements in parts of their synthetic transactions, which includes all the latency, jitter, and throughput. I would like to see some Layer 7 analytics in there. I want to be able to do a DNS request, HTTP GET request, or even SIP call point-to-point or via registration."

"A lower price and more flexible versions will help the product."

"Human resource costs can be high when dealing with connection issues."

"The Accedian Skylight user interface still has room for improvement."

"There should be an option to update and upgrade the solution to the new version without having to re-buy it. I have clients switching to other solutions. The old solution is great, but if you change your license to a new one, you have to almost re-buy it completely."

More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is reasonable for the value that it gives because it does allow you to measure the cost ramifications of direct productivity loss for spends in both your infrastructure and on endpoints."

"I thought the price for Alluvio Aternity was reasonable, but we had difficulty selling it in our market due to the minimum number of agents required for deployment, which I believe was around 500."

"The pricing for the users and agents is reasonable compared to other solutions and vendors."

"Our management squeezed Aternity pretty hard on the pricing, in my opinion a little too much. I advise negotiating for sure, but I do think it left kind of a sour taste in Aternity’s mouth that we were being so pushy despite the fact that we were only purchasing a small number of licenses."

"In my opinion they are asking a lot for their SaaS solution, but I also know that that's the direction they're going... The current, on-prem solution is probably a fair price."

"The pricing is fair."

"It is definitely a premium solution; it is not an inexpensive product. We have to ensure that we are getting the most out of it in order to justify the cost. However, it is not cheap, especially when you want to install it on all your endpoints."

"Its licensing cost is very low. That's one of the reasons why we have kept it for so long. We get more than a 70% discount on the maintenance licenses. Its cost is very low for us, but if you buy it new, it would be much more expensive at the retail price."

More Alluvio Aternity pricing and cost advice

"The price is competitive overall, depending on the type of customer."

"It provides value and the cost is not huge."

"We understand there's a significant cost difference, but have yet to investigate fully."

"Pricing is a little bit expensive."

"If you look into Riverbed, it's a licensing nightmare. You need to pay for every type of analysis... If you don't look into licensing, Riverbed and SolarWinds are pretty comparable. But if you look into licensing it would not be smart to go for either of them. On the pure, bare-metal basis, it's the same. But when you get the bare metal and a few basic licenses, then you need all those other licenses just to be sure that there's no issue... One of the great things about Skylight is you have them all, and you actually need them all."

"The pricing of Accedian Skylight is really good. The sensors are low cost. Their model to analytics for sensors is by license, endpoint, or session. With the probes for their analytics, if they get deployed virtually, they are free. The licensing is only based on flows. So, you can effectively deploy probes everywhere in your network. Then, if you want to look at a specific type of traffic, you can enter into it with a very low cost license. You can just use things like spam ports, mirrors, TAPs, and aggregators to optimize what sort of traffic you send to these analysis tools. Then, if you want to start looking at more, you can up your licensed as you go. You are not getting forced into expensive appliances or subscription models."

"The pricing is cheaper than other competing products, which is better for our budgets."

"It's not for free, clearly. But on the other hand, it offers very interesting functionality. We pay around €100,000."

More Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance pricing and cost advice

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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability solutions are best for your needs.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

Manufacturing Company

10%

Construction Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	1
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	32

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	9

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aternity?

Riverbed is costly in the Indian market; I would rate the pricing for Alluvio Aternity as a higher price.

What needs improvement with Aternity?

What is your primary use case for Aternity?

The main use case for Alluvio Aternity is end-user activity monitoring, which is the process I'm mainly using currently.

What needs improvement with Accedian Skylight?

Human resource costs can be high when dealing with connection issues. I require more tools to file and resolve these issues efficiently.

What is your primary use case for Accedian Skylight?

What advice do you have for others considering Accedian Skylight?

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

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Product Reports

Alluvio Aternity

Download Alluvio Aternity product report

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance

Download Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance product report

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance report

Also Known As

Aternity, Workforce APM, Aternity Frontline, Riverbed SteelCenter Aternity

Accedian Skylight, Accedian SkyLIGHT PVX, SkyLIGHT PVX, SecurActive, Performance Vision

Overview

Alluvio Aternity offers detailed insights into user experience, device health, and application response times. It provides real-time data and visibility for enhanced performance and incident management with customizable monitoring and flexible integration.

Alluvio Aternity is a robust monitoring tool designed for detailed environmental insights, dashboards, and trend analysis that help optimize application performance and incident management. Users benefit from its real-time data, which aids proactive troubleshooting by providing visibility into end-user devices. Custom dashboards, benchmarks, and flexible Tableau integration facilitate easy data manipulation, ensuring comprehensive monitoring of standard and custom applications. While the interface complexity and desire for simpler monitor building pose challenges, Aternity remains a valuable resource for digital experience monitoring and performance assessment, particularly for platforms like Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Office 365.

What are the key features of Alluvio Aternity?

Real-Time Data: Provides immediate visibility into end-user devices for proactive troubleshooting.
Custom Dashboards: Allows creation of tailored dashboards for performance evaluation.
Trend Analysis: Offers insight into application performance trends to help optimize operations.
Flexible Integration: Seamlessly integrates with Tableau for versatile data manipulation.
Comprehensive Monitoring: Covers both standard and custom applications for wide-ranging insights.

What benefits should users look for when evaluating Alluvio Aternity?

Enhanced Performance: Real-time data aids in improving application and device performance.
Proactive Troubleshooting: Immediate insights enable quicker response to issues.
Custom Monitoring: Tailored dashboards and monitoring cater to unique operational needs.
Flexible Data Use: Integration with tools like Tableau allows for effective data use and analysis.

Enterprises across industries leverage Alluvio Aternity for end-user activity monitoring and application performance assessment. They use its insights for digital experience monitoring and problem isolation, particularly in environments including remote sites and retail branches, measuring key metrics like CPU and memory usage.

Riverbed

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance is known for its user-friendly approach to network analysis and performance monitoring. It excels in real-time diagnostics, helping organizations quickly resolve network issues and optimize performance effortlessly.

Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance focuses on comprehensive network troubleshooting and performance monitoring, assisting in identifying bottlenecks and analyzing applications. Real-time data collection and evaluation ensure IT infrastructure efficiency. With active monitoring of latency, jitter, and throughput, users maintain smooth operations across multiple sites and applications. While highly effective, improvements in data handling, protocol support, and dashboard aesthetics are suggested to enhance user experience.

What are the key features of Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance?

Flow Matrices: Advanced analysis of network paths and traffic distribution.
SQL and DNS Analysis: In-depth insights into database and domain queries for troubleshooting.
Bandwidth Assessment: Evaluation of network capacity and utilization for performance optimization.
Real-time TWAMP Monitoring: Tracks network performance using Two-Way Active Measurement Protocol.
Application Performance Modules: Monitors the performance of various applications and services.
Customizable Dashboards: Personalized views for tracking critical network metrics and trends.
PCAP Capturing: Detailed packet analysis using tools like Wireshark for deeper insights.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Ease of Use: Intuitive design allowing users to swiftly diagnose network issues.
Comprehensive Monitoring: Enhanced visibility of network activity for better control.
Performance Efficiency: Optimization of throughput, reducing downtimes and improving service delivery.
Cost-Effectiveness: Balances features and functionality with competitive pricing for better ROI.

In industries such as telecommunications and finance, where network reliability is crucial, Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance offers critical network performance insights. It supports high-demand environments by providing data-driven decisions, ensuring infrastructures handle increased loads efficiently.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Maersk, SwissRe, Travis Perkins, Michelin, National Instruments, Simmons & Simmons, Lighthouse Guild

T-Systems, Thomson Reuters, Bordeaux Metropole, CGI, Citadelle Regional Hospital Center, Lorraine Institute of Oncology, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Groupe BPCE, Group S, Splitpoint, Horus-Net, Audatex, Indexis, Province de Liège, EASI, Spie Batignolles, Faymonville

Alluvio Aternity vs. Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance