Monitoring network performance has never been more crucial for modern businesses…
How We Selected the Top Network Performance Monitoring Tools
With the NPM software market filled with solutions of varying sophistication and scales, selecting the right fit for an organization’s needs is vital…
Market Landscape and Growth Trends
The network performance monitoring software market is undergoing rapid expansion as more organizations modernize their network infrastructure and embrace digital transformation:
Figure 1: The global NPM software market is projected to grow from $2.5 billion in 2022 to over $4 billion by 2027 based on ResearchAndMarkets data.
Driving this growth is rising demand for uptime and speed as companies adopt more cloud services, IoT devices, high-bandwidth applications, and distributed workforce models with remote access needs. This expands networks and creates complexity that legacy tools struggle to manage.
Modern offerings also gain traction through:
- ML-driven analytics: Applying machine learning algorithms to device logs, topology graphs, and traffic data to automatically detect anomalies and predict capacity bottlenecks.
- APIs and integration: Allowing NPM dashboards, alerts, network maps to integrate seamless into security information and event management (SIEM) platforms, IT service management (ITSM) setups, and application performance monitoring (APM) consoles.
- Hybrid monitoring: Supporting unified visibility across cloud-based networks/infrastructure and on-premise data centers using common interfaces and metrics even as organizations shift to multi-cloud.
These capabilities expand the scope of actionable intelligence NPM solutions provide while simplifying management workflows.
Reviews of The Top 5 Network Performance Monitoring Tools
Here are in-depth reviews of our top picks for network performance management solutions:
1. SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)
Additional context: SolarWinds currently dominates the NPM market with a 24% share based on user reviews and satisfaction across its family of infrastructure management solutions:
Figure 2: SolarWinds maintains market leadership based on G2 community data despite challenges from emerging vendors.
Now diving into the NPM tool details…
Key Features
- Automatic network mapping and device discovery
- Real-time and historical traffic analysis
- Customizable dashboards and reports
- Threshold-based alerting for faults and performance issues
Pros
- Comprehensive monitoring capabilities
- User-friendly web interface
- Customizable templates and alerts
- Large monitoring scale (over 5,000 devices)
Cons
- High learning curve
- Resource heavy
- Expensive licensing model
SolarWinds NPM leads in supporting large, complex environments with advanced features while maintaining exceptional ease of use.
2. ManageEngine OpManager
ManageEngine maintains a strong mid-market presence based on satisfied OpManager customers across SMBs and mid-sized enterprises:
Figure 3: ManageEngine trails the market share leader but ranks highly for its segment based on G2 user satisfaction metrics and market presence ratings.
Key Features
- Multi-vendor support: 1500+ devices
- Customizable dashboards
- Real-time and historical reporting
- Automated network mapping
- Threshold-based alerts
Pros
- Affordable pricing
- Fast and straightforward setup
- Useful predefined reports
- Responsive support team
Cons
- Difficult to customize alerts
- Steep learning curve for some advanced features
OpManager shines for its flexibility in monitoring heterogeneous environments without high licensing fees or complexity.
3. NinjaOne
Though a younger startup, NinjaOne makes up for its smaller install base by maintaining exceptional user loyalty metrics:
Figure 4: NinjaOne lags leaders in depth of features but earns acclaim for responsive support and delivering core monitoring capabilities users value.
Key Features
- Automatic network mapping
- Custom alert thresholds
- Remote desktop access and endpoint management
- Integrated patch management
Pros
- Easy to set up remote monitoring
- Affordable pricing
- Responsive support team
- Feature-rich for combined IT management
Cons
- Less network traffic analysis compared to pure-play NPM tools
- Reporting needs improvement
NinjaOne stands out for unlocking unified visibility and control across networks and endpoints, especially benefiting MSPs.
4. Auvik Networks
Though smaller, Auvik is the dominant pure-play SMB-focused network performance monitoring solution:
Figure 5: Auvik commands the market for streamlined multi-site NPM among small and midsize business buyers.
Key Features
- Automatic network topology mapping
- Custom network performance reports
- Real-time dashboards
- SNMP, NetFlow, and ping monitoring
- Remote site comparison reports
Pros
- Easy multi-site monitoring
- Helps documentation and hand-off between technicians
- Client reporting capabilities
- Responsive support
Cons
- Advanced features need add-ons
- Alert configuration is complex
Auvik Networks simplifies gaining unified visibility across dispersed business locations, providing MSPs with reporting capabilities.
5. AKIPS Network Monitor
Though having a small market footprint, AKIPS earns recognition for specializing in monitoring massive scale network environments:
Figure 6: Independent research firms recognize AKIPS for its large-scale network monitoring prowess though limited broader brand awareness.
Key Features
- Fast polling for large environments
- Customizable threshold-based alerts
- 12+ out-of-the-box reports
- Real-time network traffic analysis
- Automatically discovers network topology
Pros
- Scales to monitor 100,000 interfaces
- Sub-minute polling intervals
- Handles network complexity smoothly
- Friendly tech support
Cons
- Clunky web interface
- Steep learning curve
AKIPS Network Monitor leads in monitoring frequency and scale for massive, complex networks.
Cloud vs. On-Premise Network Performance Monitoring
Organizations face trade-offs choosing between cloud-hosted or on-premise NPM solutions:
Cloud-Based Advantages
- Streamlined deployment without installing infrastructure
- Scales flexibly to monitor traffic spikes
- Accessible across geographic regions
- Lower startup costs compared to appliances
On-Premise Benefits
- Complete data security and sovereignty
- Monitor isolated network segments
- Integrate with internal directory services
- Avoid recurring SaaS expenses
The leading platforms highlighted provide hybrid options – for example, SolarWinds NPM has a cloud-based offering that consolidates insights across cloud networks like AWS VPCs and Azure VNets while retaining an on-premise polling engine. This helps bridge gaps while giving flexibility to adjust monitoring strategies.
Organizations can start with cloud-based tools when initially standardizing NPM then expand to on-premise or hybrid appliances integrated with internal data lakes and SIEM stacks as needs grow.
Applying Machine Learning to Network Performance Monitoring
Forward-looking NPM platforms also increasingly integrate machine learning capabilities for the following uses cases:
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Anomaly Detection: Identify abnormal traffic drops, device CPU spikes, latency fluctuations, errors indicative of underlying issues. Helps separate false positives from actionable alerts.
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Root Cause Analysis: Analyze interdependencies in network topology graphs, configuration changes, and event sequences to speed up diagnosing failure root causes.
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Demand Forecasting: Predict network capacity bottlenecks and overutilization issues before they arise based on projected growth across users, locations. Enables proactive upgrades.
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SLA Monitoring: Continuously verify infrastructure adherence to availability and performance SLAs leveraging ML pattern matching on historical baselines.
For example, Juniper Networks incorporates an AI-driven engine into its platforms that performs signature-based analysis on fault patterns and traffic anomalies. This evolves monitoring intelligence over time.
Integrating such capabilities amplifies the power of NPM tools to uncover advanced insights – especially as network ecosystems grow exponentially complex.
Integrating NPM Software with IT Systems
To maximize value, NPM solutions must integrate bidirectional data flows with adjacent IT systems like:
IT Service Management (ITSM): Pipe high-priority incident alerts into service desks and automatically attach relevant troubleshooting data like configs, interface errors, topology visuals. Helps technicians resolve faster.
SIEM Platforms: Forward suspicious security events, policy violations found by NPM tools to SOC teams for deeper threat investigation powered by broader sec-ops telemetry.
Cloud Monitoring: Consolidate visibility between on-premise and cloud-based networks monitored using different native tools. Provides unified dashboards.
Application Performance Monitoring: Correlate application latency, crashes, client errors with underlying infrastructure metrics to isolate root cause between app code vs network issues.
Configuration Management Databases (CMDB): Sync network components catalogued by NPM appliances into the CMDB as configuration items (CIs). Keeps inventory up to date.
Leaders like SolarWinds NPM, ManageEngine, and NinjaOne offer mature integrations out-of-the-box while being extensible using REST APIs.
The Future of Network Performance Monitoring
Several key developments at the frontier of network technology will shape how NPM solutions evolve:
Soaring Interface Speeds: High-speed 400GbE interfaces going mainstream with support for up to 64Tbps bandwidth in backbone networks demands more granular, frequent polling by NPM tools.
Hybrid Multicloud Adoption: As hybrid environments mix complex on-premise data centers with multi-cloud networking across Azure, AWS, and private cloud platforms, unified monitoring is vital.
Network Virtualization & SDN: Network functions transitioning to software (NFV), software-defined networking (SDN) paradigms will require NPM tools to adapt data collection from virtual network appliances.
Edge Computing Growth: Rapid content delivery network (CDN) expansion will warrant greater focus on distributed monitoring of network edge nodes and caching tiers.
Integrating these at scale while providing actionable insights will be the hallmark of advanced NPM that powers modern network greatness.
Key Takeaways
Maintaining high-performing, resilient networks is more intricate than ever but essential for competitive businesses today…