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Cisco DNA Center pros and cons

Vendor: Cisco
4.0 out of 5
Badge Ranked 1
487 followers
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Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Users appreciate the automation capabilities that reduce configuration time and provide automatic scheduling.
Cisco DNA Center enhances security through Scalable Group Tags and offers analytics and integration with other Cisco technologies.
The consolidation of network and client health parameters is convenient for troubleshooting and improves operational support.
The scalability and centralized management allow for easy deployment and management of switches in a centralized fashion.
The AI capabilities provide valuable insights and automation, aiding in network operations and compliance with security protocols.

CONS

Cisco DNA Center has limitations with the number of VRFs, causing problems for some customers.
There are high licensing costs associated with Cisco DNA Center.
Cisco needs to improve integration with third-party products.
Cisco DNA Center could improve its stability and technical support.
There are challenges in data correlation and latency issues in Cisco DNA Center.
 

Cisco DNA Center Pros review quotes

Syed Aathif Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 6, 2022
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.
reviewer1513455 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 18, 2021
I think that their LAN automation is a very good feature.
SI
May 22, 2023
Cisco VXLAN is a protocol that has been around for some time, but the practical implementation and operational capability of Cisco DNA Center bring it to life.
Learn what your peers think about Cisco DNA Center. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
823,875 professionals have used our research since 2012.
JM
May 4, 2022
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.
Mostafa Gouda - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 12, 2020
It is simple to manage and it is all done from a single dashboard.
NK
Jun 22, 2021
The solution has the capability to scale.
SinaGhozati - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 6, 2023
The most valuable features of the solution are all of its security features...It is a highly scalable solution.
Bharath _Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 23, 2024
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it gives some kind of ease in operations, especially since our company is moving from CLI to GUI-based configuration.
Vicente Manuel - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 30, 2022
What's most valuable in Cisco DNA Center is the ability to manage any Cisco infrastructure and device through it. Setup was straightforward.
reviewer1073793 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 19, 2019
People like to use the dashboards to get an overview of their network.
 

Cisco DNA Center Cons review quotes

Syed Aathif Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 6, 2022
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.
reviewer1513455 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 18, 2021
The task failure reporting or provisioning failure reporting could be a little bit better in the UI, with more information given to the user.
SI
May 22, 2023
I would like is to have a small information pointer available. It could be a plus feature that I want to implement. When I hover my mouse over the user interface, it should provide a brief explanation. It would be helpful to have it incorporated into the UI.
Learn what your peers think about Cisco DNA Center. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
823,875 professionals have used our research since 2012.
JM
May 4, 2022
It seems to be a little bit more centered toward wireless than wired. You've got more options you can do wirelessly than you can with the wired switches, but it works for what we need it to do. We would like to see a little bit more about the traffic, and we're looking at what's out there to see about that. We are looking at something that might give us a bit more insight into the actual traffic. If they had the full functionality on the wired side, as they do on the wireless side in terms of being able to view traffic and everything, it would be good.
Mostafa Gouda - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 12, 2020
The network, data center, and SD-WAN are all being treated as different services, but I would like to have only one solution to manage all of them.
NK
Jun 22, 2021
The solution can be quite pricey.
SinaGhozati - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 6, 2023
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.
Bharath _Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 23, 2024
In terms of the clustering part, there are some concerns.
Vicente Manuel - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 30, 2022
What could be improved is the licensing cost of Cisco DNA Center. It's a little bit expensive.
reviewer1073793 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 19, 2019
There is a limitation with the number of VRFs that you can have in your network, and this has caused us problems with some customers.