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Cisco Catalyst Center vs Cisco DNA Center comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Catalyst Center
Ranking in Network Management Applications
7th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco DNA Center
Ranking in Network Management Applications
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (13th), Network Automation (2nd)
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmad Attal - PeerSpot reviewer
Delivers strong analytics and integration capabilities but requires regular updates and training
My customers often complain about numerous software bugs requiring frequent software patches and updates to resolve these issues. Furthermore, the complexity of the solution can be challenging for some customers as they often require extensive training to fully understand and utilize the product. They have concerns about the high number of software bugs and the need for regular updates to address these bugs.
AvrahamSonenthal - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficiently manages our wireless network and provides valuable monitoring features
The platform's biggest benefit has been in managing our wireless network. Having a single pane of glass to control all wireless controllers and access points and to monitor activity has been a significant advantage. We're a small federal agency with around 300 network devices, so automation is a minor focus. It's more relevant for larger networks. The main benefits we've seen are in inventory management and the potential for configuration automation. However, I recommend using the DNA Centre only for larger networks with over a thousand devices; otherwise, it may not be cost-effective. Before proceeding, ensure that your devices are compatible with DNA Center, as not all Cisco devices are supported. Also, investing in proper training is different from plug-and-play. I rate it an eight.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The architecture and the way Cisco designs it, VXLAN and Cisco Express Forwarding are some of the features I like."
"Cisco Catalyst Center allows me to manage all the fabric SD Access from one location."
"The integration of Cisco Catalyst Center is fine"
"The best feature is its availability, easy deployment, and the good support for the solution."
"Cisco Catalyst Center allows me to manage all the fabric SD Access from one location."
"There is a lot of documentation for the platform, which is an advantage."
"Cisco performs well in the network space, especially in areas like switching, DNA Center, and wireless, where it is known for its stability."
"The best feature of Cisco is its industry-standard nature."
"DNA Center is scalable."
"The product gives a consolidated view."
"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 is a stable solution."
"The solution has the capability to scale."
"Automation helps configure devices without manual intervention, enabling zero-touch provisioning."
"People like to use the dashboards to get an overview of their network."
"It gives us automation capabilities for pushing out the configuration to branch networks. It also provides visibility into the health of user network devices."
 

Cons

"The main drawback of Cisco Catalyst Center is that it can only manage and monitor Cisco devices with a DNA license, specifically the Catalyst 9000 series."
"The only limitation is when integrating with other products due to Cisco's proprietary protocols."
"Regarding the cons of Catalyst, it is a little more expensive. With other vendors, you have one license for all features. In the case of Catalyst, there are many licensing options."
"The price to get in the door is quite high."
"The retention period of data could be improved from seven days to 30 days. This change would help in cases where users are on leave for extended periods."
"It is a little more expensive."
"The retention period of data could be improved from seven days to 30 days."
"The deployment process is pretty complex"
"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."
"We encountered issues with their response times, which had a big impact on our workflow."
"When it comes to deploying wireless fields, integrating defaults into the DNS interface can be challenging."
"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."
"One area that needs improvement is the upgrade process."
"DNA Center has been on the market for a few years and they need to update it."
"There are some software problems from version to version. It takes a long time for DNA Center to recognize the video and control access devices."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"We have a three-year license with them."
"The product is very costly."
"Cisco DNA Center is expensive."
"We get a yearly license at the time we buy the product."
"The solution is a little bit expensive but depends a lot on the customer's usage. If you use it in the right place, you can easily pay for it."
"I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being expensive."
"Our licensing agreement is for three years."
"I rate the product's pricing an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is very cheap, and ten is very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
18%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Energy/Utilities Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
18%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco Catalyst Center?
Regarding the cons of Catalyst, it is a little more expensive. With other vendors, you have one license for all features. In the case of Catalyst, there are many licensing options.
What is your primary use case for Cisco Catalyst Center?
I am working with some product lines from Cisco, focusing on routing platforms, Catalyst, and firewalls. I also work with access points and wireless controllers. I can work with any product from Ci...
What do you like most about Cisco DNA Center?
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.
What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?
The system is working fine for me currently.
 

Also Known As

No data available
DNA Center
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst Center vs. Cisco DNA Center and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
839,319 professionals have used our research since 2012.