Question 1

What is the difference between SolarWinds NCM and ConnectMyAssets?

Accepted Answer

SolarWinds NCM is a network configuration management module that runs on top of the SolarWinds Orion platform, requiring Windows Server, SQL Server, and the full Orion stack. ConnectMyAssets is a purpose-built on-premises appliance that covers network configuration backup, compliance, CMDB, IPAM, SSH bastion, CVE tracking, and automation in a single deployment on VMware, Hyper-V, or Proxmox. The core NCM workflow (backup, diff, rollback, change alerting) is available in both. ConnectMyAssets goes further with native NIS2/DORA compliance for European organizations, full offline operation, OT/ICS device support, and Zero-Touch Provisioning. SolarWinds goes further with US federal compliance templates (DISA STIG, NIST FISMA) and integration with the broader Orion monitoring ecosystem.

Question 2

What happened with SolarWinds NCM pricing in 2025?

Accepted Answer

In 2025, SolarWinds announced that all customers on perpetual licenses would be migrated to mandatory 3-year subscription bundles. Individual Orion modules (NCM, NPM, etc.) are no longer sold separately, they are now packaged into tiered bundles. Renewal price increases of up to 300% have been reported by customers. This created a wave of organizations actively evaluating SolarWinds alternatives. ConnectMyAssets uses per-device pricing with no forced multi-year bundles, giving organizations predictable costs and the flexibility to scale up or down.

Question 3

Does the SUNBURST attack affect SolarWinds NCM?

Accepted Answer

SolarWinds NCM runs on the SolarWinds Orion platform. In December 2020, the Orion platform was confirmed as the delivery vehicle for the SUNBURST supply chain attack, a backdoor inserted into Orion software updates. The attack compromised approximately 18,000 organizations globally, including multiple US federal agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and security firms. SolarWinds has since implemented extensive security improvements. However, security teams at regulated organizations, critical infrastructure operators, and government entities continue to evaluate supply chain risk carefully when selecting network management tooling. ConnectMyAssets has no such incident in its history.

Question 4

Can ConnectMyAssets fully replace SolarWinds NCM?

Accepted Answer

For most organizations, yes. ConnectMyAssets covers the complete NCM workflow: automated configuration backup, versioned history, SHA256 integrity checks, line-by-line diff, one-click rollback, real-time change alerting, and multi-vendor support for 100+ vendors. ConnectMyAssets also adds capabilities SolarWinds NCM does not have: NIS2/DORA compliance reporting, Zero-Touch Provisioning, SSH bastion with session recording, IPAM, and OT/ICS device support. The one area where SolarWinds NCM has an advantage is its DISA STIG and NIST FISMA compliance templates, which are relevant primarily for US federal and defense organizations. For European enterprises, critical infrastructure, MSPs, or industrial environments, ConnectMyAssets is a complete and more capable replacement.

Question 5

How does ConnectMyAssets handle NIS2 compliance that SolarWinds NCM lacks?

Accepted Answer

ConnectMyAssets has a native NIS2 compliance engine that maps configuration management activities to NIS2 Article 21 requirements: asset inventory completeness, configuration change audit trails, access control logs, backup frequency verification, vulnerability management per device, and supply chain governance. Reports are generated in a format suitable for submission to national competent authorities. SolarWinds NCM has compliance templates for SOX, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, NIST FISMA, and DISA STIG, all US frameworks with no NIS2 or DORA coverage. For European organizations subject to the NIS2 Directive (essential and important entities) or DORA (financial sector), SolarWinds NCM provides no built-in compliance automation for these legal requirements.

Question 6

How long does it take to migrate from SolarWinds NCM to ConnectMyAssets?

Accepted Answer

Most migrations complete in one to two weeks. ConnectMyAssets provides an import tool for SolarWinds NCM device lists and configuration history. The deployment itself (appliance installation, device credential configuration, first backup cycle) typically takes one to two days. Running both platforms in parallel for a week before cutting over is the recommended approach. Compliance policy configuration and report generation add one to two days. For large environments with hundreds of devices, the migration timeline extends but remains predictable: device credential import is bulk-scriptable and the platform handles discovery automatically.

Feature	SolarWinds NCM	ConnectMyAssets
Standalone appliance deployment (no platform dependency)SolarWinds NCM requires the full Orion platform stack: Windows Server, SQL Server, and the Orion core services.	✗	✓
Fully offline, no external connectivity requiredSolarWinds NCM calls external services: NIST CVE API, license servers, and optional AWS/Azure cloud deployment.	✗	✓
Transparent, per-device pricing (no forced bundles)SolarWinds moved all customers to mandatory 3-year subscription bundles in 2025, with renewal increases reported up to 300%.	✗	✓
NIS2 compliance reporting (EU Directive 2022/2555)	✗	✓
DORA compliance reporting (financial sector)	✗	✓
ISO 27001 / PCI-DSS network compliance	✓	✓
NIST FISMA / DISA STIG compliance templates	✓	✗
Configuration backup & full version history	✓	✓
Configuration rollback	✓	✓
Real-time change detection & alerting	✓	✓
CVE tracking across all vendorsSolarWinds NCM CVE detection is limited to Cisco IOS devices only.	✗	✓
Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP)	✗	✓
OT / ICS / SCADA device support	✗	✓
SSH bastion with session recording	✗	✓
CMDB / unified asset inventorySolarWinds requires NPM (a separate product) for topology and asset correlation.	✗	✓
IPAM (IP address management)	✗	✓
European data sovereignty	✗	✓
No supply chain compromise historyThe SolarWinds Orion platform was the delivery vehicle for the 2020 SUNBURST supply chain attack, which compromised 18,000 organizations including US federal agencies. NCM runs on the same Orion platform.	✗	✓
Firewall policy audit (shadow rules, permissive ACLs)	✗	✓
Encrypted credential vault (RSA end-to-end, no plaintext exposure)	✗	✓
Network topology map (LLDP/CDP-based, interactive)SolarWinds topology requires NPM as a separate licensed module.	✗	✓
AI Insights — natural language queries, local inference	✗	✓
SHA-256 integrity checksums on every backup	✗	✓
30-day free trial available	✓	✗
Large peer community (THWACK)	✓	✗

ConnectMyAssets vs SolarWinds NCM

Why Organizations Move Away from SolarWinds NCM

Feature Comparison

When SolarWinds NCM Is the Right Choice

Migrating from SolarWinds NCM to ConnectMyAssets

Export device list and configuration history

Deploy ConnectMyAssets and run in parallel

Activate compliance and decommission SolarWinds NCM

Frequently Asked Questions

Network Configuration Management Without the Orion Tax