Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Prisma SD-WAN comparison

Cisco and Palo Alto Networks are both solutions in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 7.7, while Palo Alto Networks is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.7. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Palo Alto Networks users who would recommend it.

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Read 90 Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN reviews

13,223 Views
8,685 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Prisma SD-WAN

Read 18 Prisma SD-WAN reviews

2,976 Views
1,492 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Prisma SD-WAN

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Prisma SD-WAN and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN are two leading solutions in the market. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN seems to have the upper hand due to its robust features despite its higher price.

Features: Prisma SD-WAN reviews highlight easy integration, effective bandwidth management, and extensive security measures. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN reviews emphasize advanced routing capabilities, comprehensive analytics, and seamless scalability.

Room for Improvement: Users suggest that Prisma SD-WAN could improve its reporting functions and range of third-party integrations. For Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, the feedback points to a need for better documentation and more user-friendly setup processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Prisma SD-WAN is praised for its straightforward deployment model and responsive customer service. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, although noted for a steeper learning curve during deployment, receives high marks for its knowledgeable support team.

Pricing and ROI: Prisma SD-WAN is noted for its lower setup costs and positive ROI, making it an attractive option for budget-conscious users. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, despite its higher initial investment, is viewed as delivering substantial long-term ROI due to its extensive feature set and scalability.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs. Prisma SD-WAN Report (Updated: October 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs. Prisma SD-WAN

October 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

2nd

Ranking in WAN Edge

2nd

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Management Applications (5th)

Prisma SD-WAN

Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

4th

Ranking in WAN Edge

4th

Average Rating

8.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (7th)

Featured Reviews

MOHAMEDELSHERIF

Senior Technical Consultant at International Turnkey Systems - ITS

Feb 17, 2023

Good centralization and manageability for edge routers but quite expensive

Our company uses the solution to provide secure connections for customers. We have a hybrid data center model that bridges the gap between cloud and on-premises for customers. It is a mixed design to consolidate resources. We also replace expensive NBLS lines with SDN and the internet to provide…

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Imran Taiyeb Ali

Senior Solutions Specialist at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees

Nov 13, 2023

A stable tool that offers a good uptime and ensures a return on investment

There are some small issues in Prisma SD-WAN's area related to bypass pair or couple ports related to redundancy. Sometimes, during the product's initial setup phase, bypass pair or couple ports don't come up normally, and it requires an hour and a half to troubleshoot to reset the box from Prisma SD-WAN to factory default. Prisma SD-WAN has some minor issues in its physical port, especially in bypass pair or couple ports. Bypass pair or couple ports are not abnormal ports. It is just that the aforementioned ports behave differently. If Prisma SD-WAN can fix bypass pair or couple ports and make them robust enough to work after the initial setup in the first attempt, then it can save a lot of time. The physical device's bypass pair or couple ports generally have issues.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"So far, the feature that I like best is the policy configuration manager."

"If one of your ISPs goes down or has latency in your environment, Cisco SD-WAN will detect the issue and explain why the ISP is down."

"SD-WAN provides a range of common benefits, including cost reduction, increased visibility, and scalability"

"Cisco SD-WAN is a good product."

"It is very simple and easy to manage, compared to other methods."

"The most useful feature for our organization is the combination of on-prem and cloud-based deployments. We connect securely to our hybrid cloud using transit VPCs and cloud on-ramp for fast deployments."

"The solution's application control and application traffic steering tool are its most valuable aspects in terms of how we utilize the product."

"You get security, all of the service you need, and it's easy to deploy."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN pros

"Prisma SD-WAN is intuitive. We have a better idea of the different tools we can use and jump between the menus quickly."

"When it comes to supporting large, complex, network architectures, it's a very simple architecture. The main component is the fabric. It's very easy to troubleshoot if there is an issue happening in the underlying network."

"From the main controller, we can administer the customer's devices, QoS, network, and traffic. We can monitor it and we can change and create policies as well as upgrade the software. We can totally control a customer's network from one site, the Prisma SD-WAN portal."

"The solution allows our network to be self-healing in the event of a loss of connectivity between different locations."

"The product's initial setup phase is straightforward."

"It is flexible to use the internet connection via local breakouts without going to data centers."

"The product provides efficient stability, security, and reliability features."

"The solution's most valuable feature is the visibility of the logs."

More Prisma SD-WAN pros

Cons

"The whole solution needs to be re-imagined. It's quite complex right now and really needs to be simplified to make it easier for those of us using it. It should offer more simplified management as well."

"We need them to start focusing on the SD-WAN compatibility with other environments and not being so vendor locked with Cisco environments."

"The user interface needs improvement. Users should be able to find various features faster without much tweaking."

"The client portal needs to be improved in order to make the solution much better."

"Cyber security should also be implemented in the solution, along with maybe implementation of AI/ML."

"The price could be better. From a technical side, and everything's working smoothly. Cisco SD-WAN could be cheaper."

"There should be more security features in the hybrid and on-premise deployments of Cisco SD-WAN. The cloud has most of the security features."

"Cisco SD-WAN doesn't have automation capabilities, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and isn't IOT-based."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN cons

"The pricing for Prisma SD-WAN needs improvement."

"The solution should include custom ports and group voice connections."

"Prisma could be a little cheaper."

"Prisma SD-WAN can be built on top of a couple of hardware platforms, including the Palo Alto Next-Generation Firewall or the CloudGenix infrastructure."

"Prisma SD-WAN's technical support should be improved."

"The tool needs to work on price and complexity."

"I would also like to see improvement in the product training for customers. Palo Alto has not initiated very much training but they have to do so because this is a new product. If you have experience in a legacy environment, and you are moving to Prisma SD-WAN, you don't have a training framework. That is one of the disadvantages."

"Customer support is our biggest pain point. The quality of support has gone down a little since we initially deployed this product. I don't know if this is due to turnover at Palo Alto or a lack of training. It is now taking one or two days to get an initial response that says, "Hey, we've looked into this, can you pull this data for us?" In the past, we'd immediately get a response."

More Prisma SD-WAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is much cheaper than other solutions. Most of our clients are the top 500 companies, and they all have a corporate contract."

"Cost-wise, Cisco SD-WAN is comparatively high."

"The solution is quite expensive so it is important to enhance its cost efficiency."

"It's costly. The cost is high compared to competitors."

"It's expensive. If you compare Cisco with Fortinet and Juniper, you'll find that Cisco is more expensive than other vendors."

"Cisco SD-WAN is more expensive than its competitors."

"It is expensive."

"We can only buy three-year licenses, not monthly. The cost seems high for us, especially since we're in Vietnam, which isn't a rich country. But we still like the product because it is good."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN pricing and cost advice

"It is more expensive than Fortinet."

"If you're already invested in a Palo Alto product, it would be logical to use this solution. If not, there might be some other solutions that are more viable in terms of pricing."

"This solution stood out because it cost considerably less than the other SD-WAN solutions out there from Cisco."

"Prisma SD-WAN is a pretty expensive solution."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

43%

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

26%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco SD-WAN?

When considering the most valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN, the decoupling of self-monitoring stands out significantly.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco SD-WAN?

The product pricing is high. Fortinet is cheaper than Cisco. I rate the product’s pricing a seven out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco SD-WAN?

It is expensive.

See all answers

What do you like most about Prisma SD-WAN?

The product's initial setup phase is straightforward.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma SD-WAN?

Pricing can be an issue. Some customers may find it unaffordable due to their budget constraints.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Prisma SD-WAN?

The pricing model could be improved to make it more affordable for smaller companies.

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiGate vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 17% of the time

Meraki SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 13% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 11% of the time

Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 7% of the time

Peplink SpeedFusion vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Competitors

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 26% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 16% of the time

Meraki SD-WAN vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 14% of the time

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 11% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 6% of the time

More Prisma SD-WAN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

November 2024

Download Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN product report

Buyer's Guide

Prisma SD-WAN

November 2024

Download Prisma SD-WAN product report

Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN

CloudGenix

Learn More

Cisco

Palo Alto Networks

Overview

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN serves to connect remote offices, reduce MPLS costs, and facilitate cloud and internet access while providing secure connectivity and centralized management for hybrid networks.

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is leveraged for secure connectivity, load balancing, VPN, centralized network management, and migrating from traditional networks to SD-WAN. It supports hybrid networks, enabling centralized management across branches and data centers, improving security, and optimizing bandwidth usage. Industries such as banking and retail benefit from its capabilities for secure and efficient network management.

What are the main features of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN?

Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations and administration.
Application-Level Routing: Enhances performance for critical applications.
Segmentation: Provides robust network segmentation for security.
Policy Configuration: Customizable policies for traffic management.
Real-Time Traffic Visibility: Enables monitoring for better insights.
Load Balancing: Distributes network traffic efficiently.
Hybrid Cloud Connectivity: Seamless integration with cloud services.
Deep Packet Inspection: Detailed traffic analysis for security.
High Security: Offers strong security protocols to protect the network.
Ease of Deployment: Features like zero-touch provisioning simplify setup.

What benefits should be considered in reviews?

Cost Savings: Reduces operational expenses through efficient network management.
Reliability: Proven performance and uptime for critical operations.
Scalability: Grows with the organization's needs.
Integrated Health Monitoring: Proactively identifies and resolves issues.
Industry Trust: Cisco's reputation for quality and support.

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN's implementation in banking enhances secure transaction communication between branches and data centers. Retailers utilize it to ensure steady connectivity for point-of-sale systems and inventory management. Organizations benefit from centralized management, making it easier to handle networks across multiple locations.

Simplify management, enable app-defined SD-WAN policies and deliver a secure, cloud-delivered branch today with the Industry’s first next-generation SD-WAN.

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates

Open Networking User Group, Columbia Sportswear Company, Coca Cola

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs. Prisma SD-WAN

October 2024

Free Report: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs. Prisma SD-WAN

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