We previously utilized the MicroTech Elite. However, the new versions operate atop the router, which deviates from our company's cybersecurity standard. Therefore, to align with our cybersecurity protocols, we opted for SolarWinds. Comparing the two platforms, they appear quite similar. In the previous tool, we didn't perform scans like we do now; instead, we assigned things by IP. Additionally, our ability to create custom maps seemed better in the previous tool compared to SolarWinds, mainly due to the need to manually connect links between objects in SolarWinds.

Prior to NCM, we hadn't worked with a similar product, and we don't see any significant weaknesses in NCM.

Previously, I have used Nagios and Cacti.

I'm not sure why we chose this solution. 

It was not my decision. The stakeholders and my sales team took that decision. They just purchased it and asked me to deploy it. If it was in my hand, I would go for another tool also to explore options. I'm not sure what the other tools are, however, I would have explored a bit more before choosing. 

I have used other products and switched to SolarWinds NCM because of the ease of use. The design system is better with fewer bugs.

One of my clients used Cisco Prime but this solution is only for Cisco, and we have different vendors so we needed a network monitoring system to monitor all of our devices with different vendors.

We also use NPM and NetBrain as well.