We compared Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Prime based on our user's reviews in several parameters.
Users have mentioned the need for improved integration capabilities with third-party tools and additional customization options to better suit their specific requirements. Additionally, users have highlighted the importance of enhanced documentation and training resources to facilitate platform adoption and understanding. Some users have also suggested improvements to the user interface for a more intuitive and streamlined experience.
Features: Cisco DNA Center stands out with its unity of configuration, versatile analytics, enhanced security, AI and machine learning capabilities, VXLAN and SD-Access features, and wireless assurance. On the other hand, Cisco Prime shines with its comprehensive network management, efficient automation and fault detection tools, intuitive interface, robust security features, and effective performance monitoring.
Pricing and ROI: The setup costs for Cisco DNA Center are mentioned as straightforward and hassle-free, ensuring a smooth implementation process. Users appreciate the flexibility in licensing options. Cisco Prime also has a straightforward setup cost that does not require excessive time or resources. The licensing process for Cisco Prime is also commended as seamless and hassle-free., Cisco DNA Center provided a significant ROI by streamlining network management, improving operational efficiency, and optimizing network performance. Users praised its comprehensive monitoring and automation features. On the other hand, Cisco Prime demonstrated its value by improving network management capabilities, enhancing network visibility, and reducing downtime. Users appreciated its user-friendly interface and effective troubleshooting capabilities.
Room for Improvement: Cisco DNA Center users have requested a more intuitive and streamlined user interface, improved documentation and training resources, better integration capabilities with third-party tools, and customization options. Cisco Prime could also benefit from enhancements according to user feedback.
Deployment and customer support: The reviews for Cisco DNA Center suggests varying timeframes for deployment, setup, or implementation phases, with some users mentioning spending a week for both, while others spent three months on deployment and an additional week on setup. In contrast, the reviews for Cisco Prime show that some users spent three months on deployment, while others only required a week. The term "setup" is used alongside deployment, indicating they refer to the same period for some users. Understanding the context is important when evaluating the time required for each phase., Cisco DNA Center product has been highly praised for its customer service and support. Users appreciate the knowledgeable and responsive staff who quickly address queries. On the other hand, Cisco Prime's customer service has also received positive feedback, with users highlighting the promptness and helpfulness of the support team.
The summary above is based on 58 interviews we conducted recently with Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Prime users. To access the review's full transcripts, download our report.
"People like to use the dashboards to get an overview of their network."
"It is simple to manage and it is all done from a single dashboard."
"It offers automation, security enforcement, analytics, and integration with other Cisco technologies, making it a key driver for efficient network operations and compliance with security protocols."
"I like the visibility, instant build, network, policies, and the ability to control access. I also like that you can visualize your whole network."
"Cisco DNA Center is a user-friendly solution."
"It gives us automation capabilities for pushing out the configuration to branch networks. It also provides visibility into the health of user network devices."
"The best feature of Cisco DNA Center is the visibility page, where you can see everything on the dashboard, and you don't have to be a technical person to view the issues."
"The automation features are significant, reducing configuration time. This means outstanding functionality. By deploying the controller automatically, the rest becomes automated"
"The hardware Cisco provides is excellent. It's a well-made product."
"The solution provides data that allows us to time travel through logs and perform remote operations or troubleshooting."
"Enables oversight in order to tweak and tune."
"If an AP or any wireless device goes into critical mode, Cisco Prime sends an alert. That is the most helpful feature."
"The technical support team is very good."
"The dashboard is a valuable feature. It's very clear, and the metrics make it easy to see the current network situation."
"The VLAN mapping function has been most impactful in simplifying our network management tasks."
"The interfaces are a valuable feature."
"Cisco DNA Center was a new technology for us, at the beginning, it was not easy to do, but Cisco did a lot of training with us to a level we could handle everything. The team is managing itself now without the assistance of Cisco."
"Cisco could improve the security side of their solutions."
"The solution can be quite pricey."
"The product doesn’t have good monitoring capabilities."
"What I want to see in Cisco DNA Center in the future is more support for other platforms so that you can manage third-party products, such as Fortinet."
"Cisco DNA Center should improve its configuration management. It is better to have a dev version before pushing it."
"The tool's IoT integration should be better."
"An area for improvement in Cisco DNA Center is the latency in data correlation. For example, sometimes, when an issue happens, and I check the logs, I can't find the corresponding log. There's a delay in log replication, so this is what needs improvement in Cisco DNA Center. Reporting in Cisco DNA Center could also be improved because it only has a few templates, and you can't customize it based on your requirements. There aren't many options available in Cisco DNA Center regarding reporting, versus Cisco Prime, which has excellent features for different levels of detailed reports. I'd like to see real-time data replication in the next release of Cisco DNA Center, similar to what's done in Meraki. Data in Meraki is real-time with no delay, so data is immediately replicated in the cloud. Currently, there's a lag in Cisco DNA Center, and addressing that lag is the enhancement I'd like to see in Cisco DNA Center. The solution also needs to be more user-friendly."
"It should be able to monitor Palo Alto, Juniper, and Check Point products - not just Cisco solutions."
"The onboarding process could be improved and developed to enhance compatibility for non-Cisco devices."
"Cisco Prime could improve the graphical user interface."
"Maybe it could be a little cheaper."
"The reporting feature of Cisco Prime should be improved."
"The product's pricing can be cheaper."
"They can also improve the management of more enterprise devices."
"There is room for improvement in the Access layer."
Cisco DNA Center is ranked 1st in Network Management Applications with 37 reviews while Cisco Prime is ranked 2nd in Network Management Applications with 35 reviews. Cisco DNA Center is rated 7.8, while Cisco Prime is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of Cisco DNA Center writes "Practical implementation of VXLAN is good and provides centralized control". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Cisco Prime writes "Robust, cost-effective, and provides good visibility, but the scalability could improve". Cisco DNA Center is most compared with Aruba Airwave, SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager, Huawei eSight, Juniper Mist Wired Assurance and Fortinet FortiManager, whereas Cisco Prime is most compared with SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager, Aruba Airwave, Huawei eSight, Fortinet FortiManager and HPE Intelligent Management Center. See our Cisco DNA Center vs. Cisco Prime report.
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