Product Clear choice test logo
Extended Technologies 8.0A
NetMRI Enterprise Network Analysis Appliance 2.0 and NetMRI Operations Center Mercury SiteScope 8.5
Vendor Argent Software Netcordia HP
Price $15,000 for 10 monitored servers. NetMRI appliance starts at $9,500. Operations Center starts at $15,000 for 1,000 devices. $2,000 for 25 monitored servers or devices.
Pros Monitors a wide range of network elements; can tell when Exchange is running but not accepting mail. Excellent expert-system problem analysis; accurate discovery. Comprehensively monitors virtually every kind of network device or server.
Cons No printed documentation.
No printed documentation. Indicated some devices were offline when they were not.
Score 4.2 3.6 2.8
Product Netmon Professional Edition 4.5 Clear choice test logo
OpenView Network Node Manager 7.51, OpenView Operations Manager 7.5 and OpenView Internet Services 6.0
NetVigil Enterprise 4.2 SP1
Vendor Netmon HP Network General
Price $6,800 per appliance. Network Node Manager starts at $6,650 (250 nodes), Operations Manager starts at $18,450 (20 servers) and Internet Services is $12,500. $55,000 for 100 devices.
Pros Good wire-level problem detection. Handles large, diverse networks with ease. Relates business functions to network elements.
Cons No corrective actions; lacks application layer perspective. No printed documentation. Lacks root-cause analysis.
Score 2.7 4.1 3.7
  Price between $2,000 and $30,000 Price between $30,000 and $60,000
The breakdown  Argent Software Netcordia HP Mercury SiteScope Netmon HP OpenView Network Node Manager Network General
Monitoring 20% 5 4 3 3 5 4
Reporting 20% 5 3 3 2 4 4
Ease of use 20% 3 4 2 3 4 3
Notifications 20% 4 3 3 3 4 3
Corrective actions 10% 5 4 3 1 4 3
Installation and documentation 10% 3 4 3 4 3 3
TOTAL SCORE 4.2 3.6 2.8 2.7 4.1 3.7
Scoring Key: 5: Exceptional; 4: Very good; 3: Average; 2: Below average; 1: Subpar or not available