Why enterprises choose EfficientIP over other DDI providers
Same DNS, DHCP and IP address management job as the incumbent, at a lower run cost, with DNS security inside the platform rather than bolted beside it. Below is the comparison, and what switching actually involves.
Recognized, deployed, and kept
- Value Leader 2025 EMA Radar for DDI
- Leader GigaOm Radar for DDI
- 1,600+ Enterprise networks running EfficientIP
- 98% Customer satisfaction
[Logo: customer]
[Logo: customer]
[Logo: customer]
[Logo: customer]
[Logo: customer]
[Logo: customer]
What changes when you move off your current DDI platform
Eight criteria decide most DDI replacements. Here is where the two approaches differ, and what each difference means once the platform is running.
| Criterion | EfficientIP | Typical incumbent deployment | What changes for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licensing and renewal cost | One licence per SOLIDserver appliance covers DNS, DHCP and IPAM together, with costs EfficientIP describes as easy to understand; DNS security runs as capabilities on the same appliances. | Separate licences and renewals for DNS, DHCP, IPAM and each security add-on, commonly priced per appliance or per managed IP and renewed on the vendor’s schedule. | A cost line you can defend in a budget review. |
| Compute footprint for equivalent DNS filtering | Filtering and detection run inside the resolver, so sizing follows query volume; the DNS Blast appliance sustains up to 17 million queries per second with filtering enabled. | Security features commonly add an inline layer or dedicated appliances, so the footprint grows with each filtering capability switched on. | Sizing follows query volume, not the filtering you want to switch on. |
| DNS security | DNS security modules run inside the platform: DNS Guardian, DNS Firewall, DNS Blast and DNS Client Query Filtering, each licensed as a SOLIDserver capability rather than as separate hardware. Tier packaging to be confirmed by EfficientIP. | Typically licensed as separate add-on modules or a per-feature subscription on top of the DDI licence, sometimes on separate hardware. | DNS becomes a control you already own. |
| Multi-vendor DNS and DHCP management | SmartArchitecture handles multi-vendor management of DNS and DHCP services across the estate. | Mixed estates usually need the incumbent’s own servers at every site, or separate tooling for the Microsoft and BIND servers left in place. | One console for an estate that currently takes several. |
| Deployment models | Hardware appliances; virtual appliances on VMware, Hyper-V, Nutanix, Proxmox and OpenStack; cloud images on AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. Any mix runs as one estate. | Hardware and virtual appliances, with cloud coverage that varies by product line and is often licensed as a separate offering. | The deployment decision stays open as workloads move between data centre and cloud. |
| Automation and API surface | REST and SOAP APIs across the complete set of DDI functions, with integrations for Ansible, Terraform, Chef, Puppet, VMware vRealize, OpenStack, Microsoft System Center and HP Operations Orchestration. | APIs are available, with coverage and toolchain integrations that vary by module and version, so automation is often built per product rather than once. | Network changes move at the speed of the workloads that need them. |
| Consolidated IP inventory and visibility | One IPAM repository across sites and clouds, fed by Cloud Observer discovery and Network Object Manager inventory, with DDI Observability Center dashboards for the NOC. | Address data split between the DDI console, cloud provider consoles and spreadsheets, reconciled by hand when someone asks. | Capacity planning stops depending on a spreadsheet nobody owns. |
| Migration from the incumbent | EfficientIP’s professional services team, which includes former Infoblox engineers, extracts the configuration, transfers zones, converts IPAM data and imports DHCP; customers describe the path as well outlined. Duration depends on estate size and is scoped in the assessment. | A renewal or in-place upgrade keeps the same licensing structure and architecture, and carries its own upgrade effort and downtime windows. | The switch is scoped as a project with a sequence, not as an outage risk. |
The cost side, itemized
Price is the reason most teams open this page. It is rarely the reason they switch, so here is the whole cost picture rather than the licence line on its own.
| Cost line | EfficientIP | Typical incumbent deployment |
|---|---|---|
| Platform licensing | Appliance-based licence covering DNS, DHCP and IPAM; EfficientIP reports total cost of ownership reduced by up to 75%. | Per-module and per-appliance licences, each renewed separately. |
| Infrastructure to run it | Hardware or virtual appliances sized to query volume; one appliance carries resolution, filtering and detection. | Additional appliances or inline devices to reach equivalent security coverage. |
| Operational time recovered through automation | Management time reduced by up to 80% (EfficientIP); the DDI ROI survey of 50 customers reports 90% less time on error identification and conflict resolution. | Manual address changes and cross-tool reconciliation, with error resolution done by hand. |
| Migration and professional services effort | A design, migrate, test and deploy engagement run by EfficientIP professional services, scoped from a migration assessment. | Upgrade cycles and renewal negotiations, plus any consultancy needed for the in-place upgrade. |
Renewal quotes are what start most of these conversations.
Two people evaluate this, and they are not evaluating the same thing
If you own the network
You are weighing a migration against an estate you cannot take offline. The questions that matter are multi-vendor coverage, hybrid and cloud reach, what the API can drive, and how the cutover is sequenced.
The replacement path is documented rather than improvised, and the products index lists the components it is built from.
If you own security
You are not comparing DDI platforms. You are asking whether DNS as a control point is something you currently have.
Query-level inspection, exfiltration detection that catches low-signal traffic, and behaviour-based detection for domains no blocklist has seen yet all sit in the platform, not in a separate product you integrate later. DNS Guardian is where most of that detection runs.
Where to check this without asking us
Every vendor claims the win. These are the places to test the claim.
Analyst evaluations
EMA and GigaOm both publish their DDI evaluations in full. The 2025 EMA Radar summary is the shortest way in.
Peer reviews
B2B software review sites carry unedited buyer accounts of DDI and DNS security deployments, including the ones that did not go smoothly.
EfficientIP carries more than 90 reviews on Gartner Peer Insights. The profile link will be added once outbound linking to review platforms is approved.
Customer outcomes
Named deployments written up with the environment and the result, worth reading alongside how the company is built.
If you are already comparing replacements
Most people who reach this page are further along than the page assumes. If you are scoping a replacement rather than opening an evaluation, the migration content answers the sequencing questions this page only names.
- Compare the replacement path The replacement comparison and the migration overview in one place.
- The migration walkthrough A step-by-step account of moving DNS, DHCP and IPAM off the incumbent.
- Implementation and migration support The engineers who run the cutover, and what they take on.