SolarWinds Updates Product Line for Hybrid Cloud Trend

It’s a documented trend that enterprises are morphing their legacy on-premises IT systems to hybrid models that include cloud services. So it behooved performance management software specialist SolarWinds to look ahead and be prepared for this if it wanted to remain relevant.

As a result, the company on May 24 launched a series of updates to its network management portfolio in an effort to attract some of those potential customers–which include as many of its current installed base as possible–who are going hybrid.

SolarWinds claimed the updated portfolio makes it easier for IT professionals to consolidate monitoring solutions enterprise-wise to a single and provides greater flexibility to scale up and support larger data center networks as workloads get bulkier. 

The Austin-based company has freshened up the key products in its catalog, including its Network Performance Monitor, Network Configuration Manager, IP Address Manager, NetFlow Traffic Analyzer and VoIP & Network Quality Manager.

Specifically, the new features of the NetMan portfolio include:

• Network Performance Monitor (NPM) 12.3:  Along with Network Insight for Cisco Nexus, including detailed visibility into virtual Port Channels (vPCs), the latest version of NPM provides superior network monitoring capabilities and detailed visibility for multi-vendor environments.
• Network Configuration Monitor (NCM) 7.8:  The updated version brings stronger automation and control of network functions and, like NPM, adds Network Insight for Cisco Nexus switches. It provides configuration snippets and the ability to filter, search, and view access control lists (ACLs), including object groups, and Virtual Device Context (VDC) support.
• IP Address Manager (IPAM) 4.7: A tool that automates management of IP addresses, the latest version now automates IP requests and monitors hybrid environments with Amazon Route53 and Azure DNS support.
• NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA) 4.4:  With a new Flow Storage SQL database at its foundation and less-demanding CPU and IOPS requirements, the new version offers IT professionals improved speed and performance in identifying network traffic issues and removing bottlenecks, while providing better security.
• VoIP and Network Quality Manager (VNQM) 4.5: The latest version of VNQM adds support for monitoring of SIP trunks, enabling users to manage voice quality and performance across networks using the latest VoIP technologies.

According to the SolarWinds 2018 IT Trends Report, which SolarWinds released last month, hybrid is top of mind with 94 percent of the 142 IT practitioners, managers and directors in North America surveyed naming hybrid IT and/or cloud as one of the top five most important technologies in their IT organization’s current technology strategy, with 51 percent listing it as number one.

Looking ahead, the report found hybrid IT and cloud are also viewed as the most important technologies over the next three to five years in digital transformation and as the technologies with the greatest potential to enable productivity, efficiency and ROI.

Pricing and Availability

The updated SolarWinds network management portfolio, including Network Insight for Cisco Nexus, will be available starting May 30. SolarWinds NPM pricing starts at $2,955; NCM pricing starts at $2,895; IPAM pricing starts at $1,995; NTA pricing starts at $1,915; and VNQM pricing starts at $1,615.

For more information, go here.