How customer voice
drives business

Though both from Cisco, Catalyst and Nexus network switches support different use cases. Cisco Catalyst is an extensive product line of managed, smart, rack-mountable or compact, campus LAN or Industrial Ethernet switches for enterprises. They aim to bring wired and wireless connections under unified control, with integrated security. Cisco Nexus switches are data center switches that support high application performance and virtualization and boast efficient power consumption and cooling relative to their performance. Both types of switches can be deployed together in the same network and managed centrally through Cisco DNA Center; Cisco’s network controller and management software available on a per device license. In data centers, Cisco Nexus devices can also be managed with Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM), a network management and DCIM product for Cisco NX-OS enabled devices; and in turn, Cisco Nexus switches provide the backbone for Cisco ACI in creating a software-defined data center. Both Catalyst and Nexus switches tend to be deployed in enterprise environments, and to a lesser degree across mid-size companies. Features Cisco Nexus switches are recognized for their performance, high density and fast packet forwarding, their high availability and redundancy, and for the overall flexibility of the product line. There […]

BMC Helix ITSM (formerly Remedy) and ServiceNow IT Service Management (ITSM) are cloud-based ITSM platforms designed to help IT departments manage service requests, resources, and configuration items. BMC Helix ITSM is generally simpler to use and set up, while ServiceNow ITSM has more customization options and configuration management database (CMDB) features.  On TrustRadius, both platforms are used primarily by enterprise-level organizations, whose IT needs and budgets are substantial enough to warrant complex, comprehensive ITSM solutions. Features Although both BMC Helix ITSM and ServiceNow ITSM are highly flexible and configurable to meet a business’s needs, they each have a few unique advantages. BMC Helix ITSM is designed with ease of use in mind. Tickets are easy to modify and view at all stages of the submission process, and the incident search function is quick and accurate. The platform includes multiple options for workflow triggers and automation, such as automatically recording a ticket’s solution to a knowledge base visible to both users and IT employees. BMC Helix ITSM’s report templates help make reporting simple and fast, especially if users need to generate similar reports regularly. ServiceNow ITSM offers an extremely detailed platform, with a high level of flexibility and customization. It excels […]

Pega Platform is a business process management platform that offers a suite of best-in-class process automation and case management solutions. It also provides users with marketing and sales CRM capabilities. Salesforce offers a popular cloud-based CRM platform that aims to streamline lead and opportunity management by bringing relationship management, automation, and reporting functions under one umbrella. Pega Platform excels at case management and offers users a no-code visual app development experience. Pega can also function as a CRM and has built-in AI capabilities to assist in decision making. Salesforce is the dominant CRM platform in the market today and offers integrations with thousands of applications so users can get the most out of the system. On TrustRadius, Pega Platform is most popular with enterprise software users while Salesforce is preferred by reviewers from midsize companies.  Features Pega Platforms’ main advantage is that it offers excellent case management and lifecycle management tools. These provide users with a visual representation of business cases and the ability to group related tasks into stages. It also allows them to easily monitor how and when the tasks are completed. It is a no-code platform that allows users to make changes through a graphical user interface […]

Fortinet FortiGate and WatchGuard Network Security are firewall and web security solutions designed to keep businesses safe from unauthorized access, viruses, zero-day exploits, and other network-based dangers. Both products aim to provide their customers with protection that evolves as the network security landscape changes. FortiGate is available as an on-site integrated product in a physical box or a VM and sees more use by mid-sized companies. WatchGuard Network Security is available in both on-premise and cloud-based form factors, and is used more heavily by small businesses, likely due to its cloud-based option.  Features Both FortiGate and WatchGuard Network Security help keep business networks and users safe, but they each have their own benefits. If you’d prefer more control over your security system infrastructure, FortiGate’s on-site deployment might be appealing compared to a cloud-based product. Its licensing options are granular, offering buyers plenty of control over their software and hardware features. FortiGate’s logging is detailed, and administrators generally find the product’s management options helpful. For users who might be new to network security, its graphical user interface (GUI) is easy to navigate and can help them find their footing. WatchGuard Network Security has a wealth of configuration options and protection features […]

Microsoft Power BI and TIBCO Spotfire are both business intelligence and data analytics platforms that help provide organizations with data-backed insights to improve decision making and forecasting.  Microsoft Power BI is more focused on the ad-hoc querying of datasets and has powerful data slicing and dicing tools. TIBCO Spotfire, on the other hand, primarily focuses on serving companies that need to analyze extremely large datasets with the aid of AI and machine learning technology. On TrustRadius, both Microsoft Power BI and TIBCO Spotfire are popular among midsize businesses and enterprise organizations.  Features Microsoft Power BI and TIBCO Spotfire are similar in many ways, but each has a few standout features.  Since Power BI is part of the Microsoft ecosystem of products and services, users who are comfortable with other Microsoft products (especially Microsoft Office) will likely have little trouble adjusting to Power BI. Another major plus of Power BI is that it is available for free for individual users. This allows users without business accounts to learn and practice with the software on their own time, with their own projects. Another feature offered by Microsoft Power BI is the ability to use custom data visualizations downloaded from Microsoft Marketplace, further […]

Cisco Umbrella and Zscaler Internet Access are broad-spectrum internet security solutions. Zscaler Internet Access unifies multiple security functions, such as web filters, firewalls, and file sandboxing into a single cloud-based product. Cisco Umbrella used to be limited to DNS-level inspection but has recently expanded its feature set to be similar to Zscaler.  On TrustRadius, both products are used heavily by enterprise-level organizations, likely due to the attractiveness of single-product security solutions for large businesses with complex security needs.  Features Although both Cisco Umbrella and Zscaler Internet Access provide similar levels of protection, they each have a few standout benefits. Administrators using Zscaler Internet Access appreciate that the platform is relatively simple to implement and keep updated. Its cloud-based abstraction also allows users to do away with complicated local security configurations. End-users generally report minimal delays to web access. The product’s SSO capability helps keep users safe without having to log in to the service repeatedly. Cisco Umbrella’s users appreciate that the service is lightweight, easy to implement, and comes with useful policy configurations out-of-the-box. It provides detailed statistics to help administrators understand user behavior and threat patterns, and adjust their policy appropriately. Cisco Umbrella’s DNS-level filtering is fast and responsive; […]

Microsoft Power BI and SAP Analytics Cloud are business intelligence and analytics platforms that allow users to query and visualize data. This analysis helps provide businesses with insights to improve their decision-making capabilities.  Microsoft Power BI is more focused on ad-hoc querying of datasets with powerful data slicing and dicing tools. On the other hand, SAP Analytics Cloud is targeted at businesses that already use SAP database and data warehouse platforms and want to use their data to build dashboards and reporting structures. On TrustRadius, Microsoft Power BI is popular among midsize businesses and enterprises while SAP Analytics Cloud is preferred by enterprise organizations.  Features Since Power BI is part of the Microsoft ecosystem of products and services, users who are comfortable with other Microsoft products will likely have little trouble adjusting to Power BI. Another major plus of Power BI is that it is available for free for individual users. This allows users without business accounts to learn and practice with the software on their own time with their own projects. Another feature offered by Microsoft Power BI is the ability to use custom data visualizations downloaded from Microsoft Marketplace, further expanding the capabilities of the tool.  SAP Analytics […]

Auth0 and Firebase are competing application development platforms. Auth0 is an IAM solution enabling developers to add MFA, SSO, and passwordless login to their apps. Acquired in March 2021, Auth0 is now an Okta product. Firebase, from Google, is a mobile app oriented suite supporting customer authentication using passwords, phone, or social (federated) login. As competing solutions for adding customer login and authentication to apps, Firebase and Auth0 both tend to be deployed by cost conscious smaller companies that offer mobile applications to end users outside an organization. Features Depending on the developer’s intended use for an application, there are reasons to use either Firebase or Auth0. For a simple customer authentication solution, Firebase Authentication presents a compelling solution. It supports authentication with a phone number, password, and federated identity providers like Google. When developers are building an app with a Firebase backend, it’s hard to beat a free, integrated solution with a low price that scales predictably with growth. Users of Firebase state that authentication is one of Firebase’s strongest components, and describe it as one of the very easiest solutions to implement long as developers don’t need more advanced user or identity management capabilities. For apps facing greater […]

Apache Cassandra and Redis are popular open-source databases; Apache Cassandra is NoSQL and boasts high availability, while Redis is a multi-modal in-memory database known for performance and speed. Cassandra is available free under the Apache License 2.0, and Redis is also free, under a BSD license. Redis Labs also offers Redis Enterprise Cloud, a fully managed DBaaS version of the Redis database, available on Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud. Redis and Cassandra are direct competitors for use cases that involve managing large amounts of data. They are deployed at companies of all sizes, though more at larger companies and enterprises given their focus on helping users manage large volumes of possibly unstructured data across multiple data centres, likely of no concern to small entities and solo devs. Features There are a number of reasons to introduce Redis or Apache’s Cassandra into a tech stack or project. Redis is well regarded for caching and messaging and is high-speed with low latency, easy to setup and deploy vs other in-memory databases, and users point out it is a widely supported option for these use cases and easily integratable. For backups and failover capabilities, users also recommend an upgrade to Redis Enterprise Cloud […]

Amazon Cognito and Microsoft Active Directory are both cloud-based identity and access management software that help users login securely and assist businesses in protecting their applications. These two systems are similar in many ways and the key differentiator will likely be which cloud platform your business uses, whether that be Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure. Both software can be used by small organizations due to their generous free offerings, but both can also scale to meet the needs of enterprise-level clients. Features TrustRadius users report that Amazon Cognito has a less cluttered interface than its competition and has a more focused set of options which can make it slightly easier to set up. Cognito can also be integrated into application frameworks so users can blend logos and branding touches into their applications’ user interface. Another main feature of Cognito is that you only pay for what you use. If a user does not sign-in or take any actions during a month then they do not count towards the user limit for that pricing tier. Microsoft Active Directory has the advantage of being one of the first software in this category and offers a greater number of pre-integrated SaaS applications […]

Firebase and Heroku Platform are platforms for applications development and continuous delivery. Firebase offers a more abstracted backend setup, requiring less server-side expertise from developers. Heroku Platform gives more control and insight into backend processes, but requires developer effort and knowledge to do so. Both products are used most heavily by small businesses, likely because their pricing allows new users to start for free and scale up as-needed, which makes them attractive options for hobbyists, freelancers, and start-ups. Features Both Heroku Platform and Firebase help developers create, deliver, and maintain web-based applications, but they each have their own strengths. Firebase gives developers a lot of in-service tools to use in their applications. Developers especially appreciate the built-in authentication tools, which handle the entire user authentication process end-to-end. The Firebase Console is a much-appreciated feature that allows developers to deliver app updates, send or schedule push notifications, and monitor their app from a centralized interface. A/B testing tools help teams adjust and optimize the user experience. Solid documentation and strong support from the Firebase community help developers get started and solve problems as they occur. Heroku Platform makes it quick and easy to test and deliver new applications. Users appreciate the […]

BrowserStack and Saucelabs are web and mobile testing platforms that allow developers to test their applications on virtual and real-world devices before release.  BrowserStack is a testing offering that uses exclusively real-world hardware via web connection without the need for virtual machines (VMs). Saucelabs is a fully integrated testing service which offers a larger number of browsers and devices to test applications on. BrowserStack is capable of supporting enterprise-scale businesses but may appeal more to smaller ones or individual creators due to its lower cost. Saucelabs is more likely to be used by medium to large-sized businesses due to its higher cost and greater number of features which may not be fully utilized by smaller creators.  Features BrowserStack is unique in that it only offers real-world machine testing which means that if you are running a program it must be running on physical (non-virtual) hardware. BrowserStack also offers a greater number of integrations than some of its competitors, such as Cypresss, Jenkins, and Selenium. It also offers a lower starting price and even the lowest pricing tiers allow unlimited testing minutes with no overage charges.  Saucelabs is a more comprehensive testing solution and offers a large variety of machines and […]

Databricks and Snowflake are solutions for processing big data workloads and tend to be deployed at larger enterprises. Databricks handles data ingestion, data pipeline engineering, and ML/data science with its collaborative workbook for writing in R, Python, etc. Snowflake is a cloud-based SQL data warehouse that emphasizes analysis acceleration, data access, & BI collaboration through its Snowflake Data Exchange that allows data to flow across departments, and the Snowflake Data Marketplace data-as-a-service (DaaS) which provides data from third-parties or vendor partners, and allows users to monetize their own data. Through a strategic partnership, a connection between the solutions enables one to use Databricks’ storage layer to ingest and prepare data for storage in Snowflake; and use a Databricks notebook to act on data stored in Snowflake (e.g. train an ML model). Documentation on how to implement the connection is published by Snowflake, Databricks, and Azure support. Features For entities processing large quantities of data, Snowflake and Databricks both provide unique advantages over competitors. Users appreciate Snowflake for its power, and the ease-of-use of its SQL query engine, and the speed of its data warehouse when querying data. Snowflake is flexible, and sits on Azure, S3, or Google Cloud. It is […]

Nutanix AOS and VMware ESXi are both products for IT virtualization, but they differ substantially. VMware ESXi is a bare-metal hypervisor intended as the foundation of a virtualized server system. By contrast, Nutanix AOS is a comprehensive hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) solution that combines a hypervisor with software-defined storage and networking. Mid-size and enterprise-level organizations make up the bulk of customers for both products, probably because smaller businesses are less likely to need or have the budget for IT virtualization products. Features Although both VMware ESXi and Nutanix AOS provide virtualized hardware benefits such as minimal physical footprints and reliable server uptime, they differ heavily in their scope and feature set. Most customers find VMware ESXi to be a rock-solid hypervisor. Users report that it’s reliable and stable, with some users enjoying years of consistent server uptime in spite of hardware failures. It’s also efficient in its use of hardware resources, taking up a very small footprint on its host machine. VMware ESXi makes it fast and easy to deploy new servers, whether you use an existing configuration file or configure the server from scratch. VMware also provides detailed hardware compatibility guidelines to help choose the right hardware when it’s time […]

RabbitMQ and Redis have some similarities, but are fundamentally different products. RabbitMQ is a dedicated message broker system, designed to give applications a common platform for communication. Redis is an in-memory data structure store with multiple data-storage applications, including message brokering. Redis is used mostly by mid-size companies, probably due to growing data structuring and access needs as the company scales up. RabbitMQ is used among businesses of all sizes, likely due to its free price tag and lightweight footprint. Features Redis and RabbitMQ both deal with large volumes of data requests, but they’re definitely not interchangeable. As a general-use data store system, Redis can be used in many ways, including as a database, cache, or message broker. Most developers find it easy to get up and running with Redis, with simple setup and plenty of documentation. It’s fast and reliable, providing solid uptime. It can be configured to automatically back-up to remote storage, giving businesses data security in case of an outage. Redis is widely supported, with plenty of tools, libraries, and services built upon its open-source framework. RabbitMQ is also open-source, but its capabilities are limited to message brokering. It supports clustering to provide redundancy and is capable […]

Nutanix AOS and VMware vSAN are hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) products. VMware vSAN is a software-defined storage system designed to be used with other VMware products, such as vSphere and vCenter, to form a complete HCI system. Nutanix AOS, on the other hand,  is sold as a single-pane-of-glass HCI solution. Both products are used primarily (and nearly equally) by mid-size and enterprise-level organizations, probably because smaller businesses are less likely to be able to afford or gain significant benefits from software-defined IT solutions. Features Both Nutanix AOS and VMware vSAN offer data availability and speed benefits as compared to traditional data storage, but they have important differences. First and foremost, Nutanix AOS is a fully-integrated HCI solution offering software-defined storage, compute, and networking capabilities. Users appreciate Nutanix AOS’s one-click upgrade system, which makes it simple to keep the platform up-to-date. The product’s single-pane-of-glass management UI is popular with administrators, and the system is backed up with a solid, responsive support team. Rather than being a complete solution on its own, VMware vSAN is the storage component of a HCI platform. It’s designed to integrate with vSphere, vCenter, and the rest of the VMware ecosystem, making it a natural choice for IT […]

NETGEAR and D-Link offer a wide variety of networking equipment for businesses and home use, including Ethernet switches.  D-Link presents a variety of managed or unmanaged switches, smart managed switches, cloud switches, and ruggedized industrial switches or metro area switches.  NETGEAR offers the SOHO unmanaged simplicity oriented switch, the easy to place ProSAFE and the bog basic (and aptly named) Essentials series, as well as a more high end series of fully managed or smart switches for larger businesses. While thriving in the home office and small business market, both NETGEAR and D-Link contend in the middle market and enterprise space with products like Juniper’s EX series, Aruba switches, as well as Cisco switches, and Cisco’s Meraki brand. Features Both NETGEAR and D-Link boast certain features that might land them a spot in your network. NETGEAR presents a solution that is low footprint, low cost, and easy to deploy in a short amount of time. Praise for NETGEAR switches often begins with “We were on a budget…” and despite being low budget items they frequently exceed expectations in terms of performance and stability. Generally NETGEAR switches are considered quite reliable for standard use cases, and especially when posed with a […]

SonarQube, from SonarSource, and Micro Focus Fortify on Demand are application security tools. SonarQube provides a free and open source community edition and focuses on static code analysis. Micro Focus Fortify on Demand is commercially available and provides the functionality of multiple Micro Focus security tools delivered as service: Fortify Static Code Analyzer, Fortify WebInspect, and Fortify Application Defender. Together the service encompasses DAST, SAST, RAST, IAST, static code analysis (SCA), and real-time security assist that provides guidance while developers are working in their preferred IDE. Its Software Composition Analysis is powered by Micro Focus’s partnership with SCA specialist Sonatype. SonarQube is not as extensive an option, rather it is focused on code quality and SAST. Both products are commonly deployed at larger enterprises, while SonarQube also appears among cost-conscious smaller companies, who enjoy free and open source tools like SonarQube. While the options present overlapping features, there is nothing to prevent developers from deploying Fortify on Demand and SonarQube together, which may present an attractive best-of-both-worlds (e.g. code quality + security) solution for some projects. Features Developers turn to Micro Focus and SonarQube for a variety of reasons. SonarQube excels as an SAST tool. It allows users to set […]

Amazon CloudFront and Cloudflare are both content delivery networks. Cloudflare is a comprehensive product that includes DDoS protection and web firewall along with a CDN. CloudFront is the CDN portion of Amazon Web Services, and works as an add-on for those who already use AWS. As a single product with many features, Cloudflare is most popular with smaller businesses looking for a single solution for all their website security and performance needs, while Amazon CloudFront is favored by large businesses that need multiple, fully-featured products that work together.  Features Though Amazon CloudFront and Cloudflare have similar offerings, there are some significant differences between them.  CloudFront is an umbrella product that, depending on your pricing tier, includes DDoS attack mitigation, web firewall, mobile optimization, cache analysis and more, in addition to its CDN which is a standard feature at every tier. Each pricing tier includes guaranteed support via chat or email, and the free tier is robust enough that many small businesses never have to move to a paid plan. The DNS manager makes it fast and simple to move websites to different nameservers. Amazon CloudFront is the CDN portion of Amazon Web Services. Businesses who already use other parts of […]

Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge NXT offers a replacement solution for the earlier Raisers’ Edge 7 which is no longer offered by Blackbaud as a standalone product. The main advantages of the new system are that it is cloud-based which allows users to access their information from anywhere and that it is more user friendly due to a more streamlined user interface. Raiser’s Edge NXT can be used by fundraising organizations of all sizes, but mid-size to large organizations or nonprofits with lofty fundraising goals and large budgets will be most interested in this product.  Features Raiser’s Edge NXT offers a number of advantages over its older counterpart. These include easier usability due to a refreshed user interface, unlimited user capacity, greater data security measures, and improved customer support through live chat. Raiser’s Edge NXT also offers users greater dashboard building capabilities than Raiser’s Edge.     Limitations Raiser’s Edge NXT is a leap forward in fundraising technology compared to its older versions, but there are a few areas where users would like to see improvement. With a more open and inviting interface, some users wish for more field controls that the older versions had due to its more strict database view. Raiser’s Edge […]