NETSCOUT nGeniusONE vs Riverbed NPM+ comparison

"Valuable features include data threat detection, network analytics, and overall bandwidth monitoring."

"The best feature is when we have it connected permanently via TAPs. That enables us to constantly collect data and then we can go back in time... To be able to rewind, back in time, and see the problem as it happened, is very helpful."

"It is the ability to collect data and analyze it, especially key performance indicators. This is before a customer would call to the service center to complain that they have had bad coverage or a dropped call."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"Deep packet inspection is a very useful tool as it works in real time and uses serial packet-level analysis."

"It catches bigger issues on a weekly basis. That's how often we find something big enough that the only reason we know about it is because of the nGeniusONE. The bigger issues are mostly security-type issues: Odd traffic leaving our network or coming into it, that has found its way past a firewall."

"Packet decode and bandwidth analysis reports are the two most valuable features."

"With the Vprobes, we quickly identified issues on the application servers, which we normally couldn't, where it usually would be a full circle round between our NOC and server people."

"Riverbed NPM+ provides a holistic view of the network and deeper insights into traffic and packet analysis."

"Riverbed NPM+ provides a holistic view of the network and deeper insights into traffic and packet analysis."

"Alluvio Network Performance Management is good for troubleshooting."

"Riverbed NPM+ provides a holistic view of the network and deeper insights into traffic and packet analysis."

"Riverbed NPM+ provides a holistic view of the network and deeper insights into traffic and packet analysis."

"The dependency mapping is good, but I am hopeful that they will build some type of partnership and relationship with ServiceNow. I want to see NETSCOUT partner with ServiceNow so they can leverage Service Now Discovery and Service Mapping to automate the build of the service dependency mappings inside of nGeniusONE."

"The scalability needs some work. From a probe perspective, we are limited to a certain amount of throughput on the devices themselves. Without having actual hooks into the bare metal hardware for the solutions, it's a bit of a "thumb in the air" as to when we hit our capacity or when our high watermark is."

"The current solution is not easy to scale, because it is an appliance-based solution. So, you have to swap everything out."

"While it is good, the single pane of glass view is too high level. It is better for management or someone doing sanity checks. A lot of times, I need to go deeper into the additional screens to get what I want out of it."

"NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is a complex product since it deals in areas like network packet brokers and packet analysis, making the tool complicated for end users."

"Some help screens would be nice, especially if we bring on new operators. It would be great to see if they have more helpful tips available."

"The technical support could improve a bit with quicker responses for early on questions. What I think are simple questions are taking a long time to get answers to."

"We see it overload once in a while. It doesn't have built-in protection. Therefore, once it gets too much data, it tends to crash. Then, we have to recover it."

"Many improvements are needed for Riverbed NPM+, particularly in NetIM, which does not perform as well as SolarWinds' single module NPM solution."

"Many improvements are needed for Riverbed NPM+, particularly in NetIM, which does not perform as well as SolarWinds' single module NPM solution."

"Many improvements are needed for Riverbed NPM+, particularly in NetIM, which does not perform as well as SolarWinds' single module NPM solution."

"Currently, you cannot trace by transaction number alone; knowing the source and destination IP is necessary."

"Alluvio Network Performance Management is good for troubleshooting."

"Cost is probably the biggest drawback. Compared to some of the newer vendors that have popped up in the space, it's definitely more on the expensive side... [But] it's been able to keep its value, even in the face of the cheaper competition."

"The scalability becomes very expensive quickly."

"Make sure you get the low down on your licensing and understand the licensing requirements before making a purchase, especially when it comes to an upgrade. Make sure that it suits your needs before you commit to it. For example, we purchased ATA at version 6.2.1. At that time, the licensing covered everything we need. NETSCOUT comes out with 6.2.2, stating that in order to upgrade, you had to purchase CyberStream licensing. Now that requires some additional funding from both a capital investment and a maintenance cost. That's something that should have been said, "Well, if you want these additional features, you will need to purchase these CyberStreams." Otherwise, we should be allowed to continue on the basic operations as it is now through the newer releases without being stuck."

"The platform is expensive."

"It is very expensive, but it's well worth the money."

"The biggest problem we have with this product is the expense."

"The license becomes cost prohibitive very quickly."

"Their pricing is very competitive with other solutions... But what I like about NETSCOUT's licensing is that it's shared across all their platforms. They don't create a new licensing scheme for every one of their products. So for nGeniusONE, you buy a certain license level, and it works on all of their products."

"The tool's pricing is high and I would rate it one out of ten."