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.
"We can manage the entire system across the network and troubleshoot the pain points."
"The most valuable feature of Meraki Dashboard is we can manage our switches and access point in one place."
"We have found the client dashboard to be very simple to use, especially in our Meraki environment."
"The ability to view the entire project stack, including the camera, features, and routers, which I believe are the most important or relevant components."
"What I love most about the Meraki Dashboard are its user-friendly features."
"The most valuable feature is its simplicity in navigating through the dashboard. It's well set out, and the layout is nice and user friendly. A lot of clients enjoy seeing layer 7 visibility. They get a good indication and insight into what is happening in their network and what applications are being used the most. They can then customize and give preference to business-critical applications."
"We like how Meraki Dashboard lets you manage all the devices in a single pane of glass. The dashboard is intuitive and easy to use. They are constantly updating the functionality. Switches from other vendors have the same features for the life of the device, but Meraki is always improving."
"The hardware of Meraki is very good quality."
"It's really user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds NPM is the performance monitoring to see the memory, and CPU utilization."
"The ability to quickly identify downtime is the most valuable."
"Monitoring capabilities are at a high level and it is easy to see utilization, access ports, and CPU memory in real time or through a lens for long-term visualization."
"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."
"I found a lot of valuable features in SolarWinds NPM, such as the customized application monitoring that allows you to customize any monitoring and script customization, and you also have the option to deploy and upgrade SolarWinds NPM online, which is very useful for my organization."
"There are a lot of options for customization of the dashboard, alerts, and reports."
"It's easy to understand, even if you are not too technical."
"SolarWinds NPM has a colorful UI and many easy-to-use features. It does not need to be configured as much and is also easy to install."
"The Wi-Fi side needs improvement."
"The wait time to speak with a Meraki support engineer is always long, but they get the job done."
"The initial setup is complex and can be made more straightforward."
"For my purposes, I don't need to see any other features added to the Meraki Dashboard. I have no criticisms and I do like the tool. If I had a criticism for it, it would be about the pricing because it could be a little less, but again, for the service that you get, I won't complain about that too much."
"The pricing for this solution needs to be improved."
"I would like to see an alert event feature to monitor what users are downloading and how to block some applications."
"We would like to be able to test the health of WAN connections."
"Price could be reduced."
"I would like to receive decent notification alerts regarding the license's expiry. Or any help on correcting or optimizing licenses, because in certain circumstances you can add a license but it's the wrong licensing. However, the Dashboard adds the license in some way, and you do not utilize it. You can simply extend the license's expiration date."
"My team has had a lot of issues with support."
"The product is scalable, but at a cost. Extra modules have to be purchased for each extra server. The initial set up isn't complex, but will require someone who is experienced with the network monitoring system"
"GUI needs improvement with a more graphical dashboard."
"The solution needs to integrate with additional SDN technologies that are part of the hyper market."
"It has covered everything, so no improvement is required at their end. The only thing is the price."
"The dashboard of the solution is an area with certain shortcomings that need improvement."
"The tool can only monitor up to 1000 instances in a single SolarWinds console. Customers may have over 1000 instances. Hence, it needs to support a minimum of 1500 instances. It should also improve support."
"Each model has different features, so clients need to purchase a separate model for SQL monitoring, database monitoring, network traffic analyzer, HTTP traffic, etc. So each feature they need is in a different model, but customers would prefer an all-in-one solution."
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 ThousandEyes, Mist AI and Cloud, Cisco DNA Center, Zabbix and Auvik Network Management (ANM), whereas SolarWinds NPM is most compared with Zabbix, PRTG Network Monitor, ManageEngine OpManager, ThousandEyes and OpsRamp. See our Meraki Dashboard vs. SolarWinds NPM report.
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