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SolarWinds NPM pros and cons

Vendor: SolarWinds
4.1 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

Buyer's Guide

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

SolarWinds NPM offers highly flexible customization options, allowing it to adapt to various organizational needs.
Its ease of setup and use, from installation to device discovery, is highly appreciated by users.
The platform's monitoring capabilities cover a wide range of network components, servers, and virtual environments.
Users find the alerting and reporting features to be valuable for proactive network management.
SolarWinds NPM is regarded as stable, reliable, and scalable, effectively managing a large number of users.

CONS

SolarWinds NPM requires better license management and integration capabilities.
There is a need for enhanced real-time analytics and better API capabilities.
Documentation is weak, leading to challenges in implementation and platform selection.
Scalability poses issues, requiring additional gateways and complex modular licensing.
Technical support is often slow, with frequent issues and inadequate international availability.
 

SolarWinds NPM Pros review quotes

it_user216372 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
May 9, 2017
From web interfaces to custom monitors and alarms, this product has a high level of flexibility that can be molded to suit your business needs, regardless of the size of your organization.
AD
Senior Systems Administrator at Privia Health
Aug 19, 2017
I believe the ease of setup and use, including everything, from the initial installation to the discovery of devices is the most valuable.
it_user575310 - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer, Infrastructure Applications at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jun 1, 2017
The SolarWinds NPM framework, upon which most of their flagship products are built, empowers a wide variety of admins and users to quickly find value in their installed products.
Learn what your peers think about SolarWinds NPM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user577329 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Management at a media company with 10,001+ employees
May 31, 2017
It combines and presents information from many different sources, giving a corporate-wide vision on a single pane of glass.
it_user575286 - PeerSpot reviewer
Lead Network Engineer/Business Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Jun 8, 2017
I love the GUI. Almost everything is accessible through the web interface. It is very user-friendly. It is easy to drag and drop resources wherever you want them.
it_user651858 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Systems Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Apr 24, 2017
With just three modules, I can monitor server performance (whether it’s a VM, in the cloud, or an on-premises server.
technica379896 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Head at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Jul 5, 2018
It gives us a map of the network setup and one console to see the entire network.
AA
CISO with 201-500 employees
Nov 18, 2018
One of the best features is the reports feature.
it_user952677 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Network Administrator at a recruiting/HR firm with 10,001+ employees
Nov 25, 2018
You can monitor performance counters effortlessly.
MA
Network Administrator at Libyana Mobile Phone
Mar 12, 2019
The set up was very easy. We didn't have any problems with the setup. The deployment took less than an hour.
 

SolarWinds NPM Cons review quotes

it_user216372 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
May 9, 2017
Better offline license management. I’ve had to get in touch with customer support several times simply to remove an expired license from our NPM servers.
AD
Senior Systems Administrator at Privia Health
Aug 19, 2017
The SolarWinds notification and alerting configuration could be simplified as it would be easier to find if it was within the NPM web application instead of in a separate client application.
it_user575310 - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer, Infrastructure Applications at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jun 1, 2017
Real-time analytics is the major weakness of the SolarWinds NPM platform today. They've done a fantastic job enabling the collection of data. Users are now demanding the ability to generate their own graphs, views, and so on; all of this must be done by an admin today.
Learn what your peers think about SolarWinds NPM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user577329 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Management at a media company with 10,001+ employees
May 31, 2017
Time: A worldwide deployment can be confusing for dispersed users with non-local times. Each node should have a local time (with summer offset if appropriate) & each user should view & report in their local time.
it_user575286 - PeerSpot reviewer
Lead Network Engineer/Business Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Jun 8, 2017
The reporting is good, but I want it to be a little easier when creating custom reports. The reports are all on the website now, but it takes some know how to get some to display the way you would like.
it_user651858 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Systems Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Apr 24, 2017
If they’re going for a “cover everything” approach, then they need to do so and enable a bit more of the "cover everything approach" within every one of the tools.
technica379896 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Head at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Jul 5, 2018
A feature I would ask for is for them to have this solution available for Linux systems instead of Windows.
AA
CISO with 201-500 employees
Nov 18, 2018
Consolidation of platforms would provide a smoother experience.
it_user952677 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Network Administrator at a recruiting/HR firm with 10,001+ employees
Nov 25, 2018
It would be nice if SolarWinds could have a polling engine on the site that would collect the reporting and then manage everything itself.
MA
Network Administrator at Libyana Mobile Phone
Mar 12, 2019
The aesthetic widgets should be dynamic widgets, so the customization can be even more customizable.