We compared Meraki Dashboard and SolarWinds NPM across several parameters based on our users' reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:
Features: Meraki Dashboard users like its centralized console, cable testing, firmware updates, and group policy features. The solution is also praised as user-friendly, stable, and scalable. SolarWinds NPM is commended for its adaptability and extensive network surveillance functionalities.
Room for Improvement: Users say Meraki Dashboard could improve its client VPN, hardware discovery, and integration with external solutions, Some users mentioned a need for more comprehensive documentation and granular control. SolarWinds NPM needs improvement in edge computing capabilities and data reporting. Users also said the performance could be better and that they would like to see expanded IPAM functionality.
Service and Support: Meraki Dashboard's customer service receives mixed feedback. Some users spoke fondly of the technical support they received, while others expressed frustration over long wait times and had a hard time finding the right person to help them. While some customers described SolarWinds support as helpful and responsive, others reported delayed responses.
Ease of Deployment: Users said Meraki Dashboard was effortless and intuitive to set up, noting that features like templates and configuration cloning saved time during deployment. Some users said SolarWinds NPM was straightforward to set up, while others perceived it as complex.
Pricing: Opinions on Meraki Dashboard's pricing varied, with some users finding it pricey and others deeming it fair. The cost of SolarWinds NPM varies depending on the customer’s size and requirements. Some users find it costly.
ROI: Meraki Dashboard simplifies IT operations, and some users expect returns within a few years. Some users reported immediate benefits from using SolarWinds NPM in terms of security and business outcomes, while others have not.
Comparison Results: Meraki Dashboard is a scalable, user-friendly solution with a smooth, painless setup made easy by built-in templates and features like configuration cloning. However, some users complained that the solution is too expensive and needs better integration with non-Cisco platforms. SolarWinds NPM is a customizable solution that’s easy to deploy and features comprehensive network monitoring capabilities. However, some users consider it costly and voiced concerns about technical support and user experience.
"The single dashboard is a valuable feature."
"We can manage the entire system across the network and troubleshoot the pain points."
"The most valuable feature is the single pane of glass that gives you multisite visibility."
"It is very stable and we have been using it for five years."
"Everything is in a single pane and you can look at your network in one centralized place."
"The feature I find most valuable is the single pane of glass where you can configure a monitor view, all from one dashboard. For example, on the wireless side, you can configure it under the configuration panel, and then view statistics like location analytics, user analytics, etc."
"We have found the client dashboard to be very simple to use, especially in our Meraki environment."
"Easy to configure with great troubleshooting feature."
"It's a scalable solution."
"It's really user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature is the graphical user interface."
"With just three modules, I can monitor server performance (whether it’s a VM, in the cloud, or an on-premises server."
"SolarWinds is reasonably priced."
"The other valuable system is the DSS (decision support system). If there's a fault in the network, SolarWinds is basically capable of rectifying and resolving that problem on its own without any intervention from an IP assistant or administrator."
"All the features are very good. The monitoring of the equipment, the configuration manager, and the IP address monitoring are great."
"The most important feature is reporting. The reports that are generated are useful and they save a lot of time with respect to monitoring."
"Provides a good level of tools and covers essential components."
"You can monitor performance counters effortlessly."
"The Wi-Fi side needs improvement."
"The technical support needs improvement."
"Third-party switches do not necessarily integrate easily with the system and this could be improved to allow for better adaptation."
"The initial setup is complex and can be made more straightforward."
"The MDM, however, is bad. We're using another MDM now because Meraki was so bad."
"Price could be reduced."
"I’d like the product to allow for other solutions to be integrated with the dashboard as well."
"It's a very complex system. Customers have told me that sometimes there are lots of advanced features that are available and that you can change in the dashboard, but sometimes it's very hard to know what they are."
"Meraki Dashboard could improve integration with non-Cisco platforms."
"The product is missing a VPN and it is a major issue when it comes to deployment."
"One of the challenges with SolarWinds is that in order to pull the data, we have to have a lot of false positives."
"SolarWinds NPM needs to increase its elements. One polling engine can only support 10,000 elements then it becomes slow. There are limitations even if you have the full SLX version license."
"They need to work on their automation and automatically discover devices. They are not very good at automatically discovering devices."
"My team has had a lot of issues with support."
"The console could be more user-friendly. It would be better if SolarWinds updated the user interface."
"I would like to see integration with antivirus or other security endpoint solutions."
"The solution's network discovery and node addition processes need more work."
"Consolidation of platforms would provide a smoother experience."
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Meraki Dashboard is ranked 9th in Network Monitoring Software with 51 reviews while SolarWinds NPM is ranked 4th in Network Monitoring Software with 147 reviews. Meraki Dashboard is rated 8.6, while SolarWinds NPM is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Meraki Dashboard writes "Incredibly easy to use, great troubleshooting and prevention of malicious events". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SolarWinds NPM writes "High-level, comprehensive, and proactive monitoring in a user-friendly interface". Meraki Dashboard is most compared with Cisco DNA Center, ThousandEyes, Mist AI and Cloud, Zabbix and Cisco Secure Network Analytics, whereas SolarWinds NPM is most compared with Zabbix, PRTG Network Monitor, ManageEngine OpManager, ThousandEyes and Wireshark. See our Meraki Dashboard vs. SolarWinds NPM report.
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