What is really cool about HelpSystems InterMapper is that because of its SNMP base, you can integrate all different makes and models on the same map. You, of course, can have more than one map, but you have an option to have visibility into the entire network from one centralized system. You can monitor IPs, routers, radios, DC power plants, and UPS. You can do it all from one network management and monitoring solution. That's what really makes HelpSystems Intermapper great.

Another great thing about HelpSystems InterMapper is that you can really bundle different probes under one device. You can have a bundled device. You can monitor the physical status of a host based on the IP availability. You can also monitor services and actually see if anything happens. You can quickly determine whether it is the application layer, host layer, or network layer.

HelpSystems Intermapper gives such a unique representation of a network. Ever since we started using HelpSystems InterMapper, we don't have to document everything in a detailed format and store it somewhere. Right now, it is really a combination of network topology, network monitoring, and network analyzing. So, in my opinion, it is awesome.

When you have your SNMP topology defined, you don't require a dedicated NMS engineer to manage your system, which is another great thing about HelpSystems InterMapper. I see how our operators get so excited by having the ability to map a device or interface and connect interfaces together.

HelpSystems InterMapper is also very operator friendly; not just user friendly, but also operator friendly. This is a unique feature, and it works really great.

The most valuable features are its

• log history
• real-time monitoring capabilities
• accuracy -  the number of false positives is very low
• mapping features.

The graphical alerting with the ability to obtain a quick overview of a monitored device is my favorite feature. Information (gathered via Simple Network Management Protocol - SNMP), such as recent outages, basic information about the device (OS, serial number, etc.), its IP address, and any recent packet loss is a few simple clicks away. When a monitored device starts alerting, I can quickly get a feel for what is going on and obtain its IP address or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) quickly if I need it to investigate further via CLI.

It is also nice that it is relatively simple to add monitored objects, or whatever graphics we chose.

The solution has a couple of features which are really interesting. It's not a fancy or expensive solution but we wanted to have a cost effective one and it's doing its job pretty well. We wanted to have the whole network connectivity diagram. It shows the color coding, where the connectivity is green, for example. If there's a problem it changes color from amber to red and we get notifications via email and SMS, so we're immediately aware if something is going wrong. 

There is a mobile app which we want because today most of our field engineers are not always in the office. It's all today portal-based which is a good feature for us.