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.
"We can monitor all devices and get the required information using the product."
"It is very versatile in terms of analytics."
"What I found valuable in Cisco DNA Center is the Software-Defined Access Network, so the entire LAN network can be centralized and managed from a single dashboard. Cisco DNA Center is suitable for centralized management and lets you deploy switches in a centralized fashion. You can also do multiple switch port configurations simultaneously and segregate your traffic into multiple fabrics. Another valuable feature of Cisco DNA Center is enhanced security through Scalable Group Tags. Cisco DNA Center can be integrated with your Cisco ISE to enhance the port securities, and this paves the way for Software-Defined Networking in the LAN segment, which is the main advantage of Cisco DNA Center. I also like that you can use Cisco DNA Center for data assurance or correlation. The solution shows your network and client health parameters, which I find convenient for troubleshooting."
"It does a lot of things automatically, and that's the big thing with it. They're making the software so that you don't need to be as knowledgeable as me on the switching and routing side to get your work done. If you want, you can have DNA troubleshoot your problem for you and give you solutions or fix it itself, if it was something that's just a configuration issue."
"The product offers an intuitive and automated way to manage user networks. It gives me an insight into the network health."
"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 most valuable feature of Cisco DNA Center is the AI (Artificial Intelligence) that provides us with valuable information."
"The solution helps in user microsegmentation."
"It helps us manage and monitor analytics and fix issues."
"The product's most valuable features are monitoring and configuration."
"As a large organization, it is difficult to individually monitor every device. Instead, we use Cisco Prime to keep an eye on the network and services. We do not use it as a node tool, as we have other tools for network operation centers. When services go down, it can cause issues, we rely on Cisco Prime to monitor and notify us of any service disruptions. We mainly use Cisco Prime Infrastructure for configuration-level tasks."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is its excellent audio and video conferencing with clear quality and no interruptions."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Prime include its comprehensive functionality as a one-stop solution for basic SNMP port management."
"Cisco Prime is a good tool for inventory monitoring and wireless management."
"The solution's configuration management tool is amazing because it centralizes and pushes configurations which saves a lot of volume and effort."
"If an AP or any wireless device goes into critical mode, Cisco Prime sends an alert. That is the most helpful feature."
"Cisco could improve the security side of their solutions."
"The solution's technical support is an area with which my company's clients have a problem. Cisco doesn't provide good technical support unless a user has a big account that Cisco wants to retain."
"There should be an option for automation of template deployment by using the stored data. It is not easy to save configuration information for lots of devices without using other tools. There should be a tighter, better repository of information that can be merged with the templates."
"As a user, it would be good if I could plug in controllers, suites, and devices from other vendors to Cisco DNA Center."
"The solution can be quite pricey."
"The task failure reporting or provisioning failure reporting could be a little bit better in the UI, with more information given to the user."
"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."
"It should be able to monitor Palo Alto, Juniper, and Check Point products - not just Cisco solutions."
"If you think about a centralized monitoring system, Cisco Prime is not good because it does not support third-party vendors like Palo Alto or FortiGate."
"The onboarding process could be improved and developed to enhance compatibility for non-Cisco devices."
"I would rate the scalability of Cisco Prime a six out of ten. To scale up from a hundred to a thousand devices, the platform needs to be rebuilt logically. This process might require a downtime window and may involve changing the hardware or upgrading to a larger appliance."
"The solution has issues with real time monitoring of devices and NetFlow such as inadequate visualization for reports, sources, and destinations."
"The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."
"Cisco needs to improve Prime's monitoring tab. If any device goes down, there is a 15-second lapse before we know. It would be much better if we were alerted two or three minutes before a device is about to fail, so we can dispatch a field engineer and avoid network downtime. I would like to see a feature that allows you to access the devices directly from Prime's monitoring tab. That would make work easier for us."
"The solution needs to include centralized management that aligns with the Greenfield network and its focus on real-time, scenario-based applications."
Cisco DNA Center is ranked 1st in Network Management Applications with 36 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, HPE Intelligent Management Center and Fortinet FortiManager. See our Cisco DNA Center vs. Cisco Prime report.
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