Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs SonicWall SMA comparison

The compared Cisco and SonicWall solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #5 in NMA , with an average rating of 7.7. SonicWall is ranked #2 in UAG , with an average rating of 9.0, and holds a 42.9% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Read 90 Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN reviews

0 Views
29 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

SonicWall SMA

Read 14 SonicWall SMA reviews

60 Views
39 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

SonicWall SMA

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN and SonicWall SMA based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, HPE Aruba Networking and others in Network Management Applications.

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Network Management Applications

November 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Management Applications (5th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd), WAN Edge (2nd)

SonicWall SMA

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

8.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Universal Access Gateways (2nd), SSL VPN (8th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (19th)

Featured Reviews

MOHAMEDELSHERIF

Senior Technical Consultant at International Turnkey Systems - ITS

Good centralization and manageability for edge routers but quite expensive

The setup is quite straightforward and the solution is easy to deploy. Deployment time depends on the size the customer or enterprise. Each customer has its own use case so it is difficult to give a time estimate. In any case, the work is straightforward with no obstacles or challenges.

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Maheshbabu T

Project Manager at CGG

It allows us to provide CML-based access to any user, but the reporting could be better

I rate SonicWall SMA seven out of 10. If you're planning to implement this solution, I suggest checking the version to ensure it's compatible with your other technology. I say go for it if it's suitable for your use case. Multifactor authentication technologies are built into the product, whereas some products lack multifactor authentication. We need only one or two. They provide authentication, gateway integration, OTP integration, etc.

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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

"The most valuable feature is the ease of central management."

"It is very stable with very good firmware."

"This solution can scale from SMB to the enterprise level. It is very impressive."

"Troubleshooting is swift, allowing for fast turnaround times whenever we encounter an issue."

"The product's brand recognition is one of the most valuable aspects of the solution."

"If I have to give a neutral view of all the SD-WAN platforms that I have known so far, Cisco is good in routing."

"Any technical support we needed was great."

"The most valuable features are manageability, scalability, and simplicity."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN pros

"I think they ask for a fair price."

"SonicWall SMA allows us to provide CML-based access to any user."

"Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is they have IT consultants that know SonicWall."

"It is faster than other security options when using remote connections."

"The performance is good."

"This solution has many options for remote desktop and access."

"I like the load balancing capability."

More SonicWall SMA pros

Cons

"The solution could be a bit cheaper."

"The solution is a bit complicated."

"The process of onboarding the vSmart, vBond, and vManage should be improved to make it easier to manage in general."

"If you don't have an in-house design team or outsource to a third party with expertise, the setup will be difficult."

"The inexpensive Viptela hardware may be replaced with overpriced Cisco routers. This would be a tragic mistake for Cisco as the lightweight commodity platform built by Viptela is the reason to own this solution."

"They should enhance the reporting because, as it is today, they need more executive-level reports."

"The solution should not be so bound to ISPs."

"Cisco could do more to offer bundling of the SD-WAN and other solutions."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN cons

"The timed synchronization between the network appliance needs improvement."

"The solution has 2FA, it will generate a token and send it to an email, but multifactor authentication is not available. I would suggest that there should be MFA integration and provided with the appliance."

"Enhancing live tracking capabilities could improve the product, particularly in monitoring user activity and request statuses in real-time on the web interface."

"I'd like to see the product maybe polish keyboards in Bookmark."

"SonicWall's reporting isn't good. Reports should be part of a data plan. The login mechanism should be improved. It would be helpful if the client could use an agent to log in. An agent-server model would improve the performance of the RDB, which consumes a lot of bandwidth."

"SonicWall SMA is difficult to use and it does not provide easy access to different parts of the network."

"The only thing that they could try to improve is the support for enterprise customers. Normally enterprises and SMBs can create a ticket, but for enterprises, SonicWall SMA needs to provide a global view, and this is what's currently missing. It's not even a question of timing. It's a question of the global vision because currently, it's lacking. They concentrate on the topic, but not on the means and not on the global picture. In most cases, there's something wrong with the integration of SonicWall SMA with other products, so that could also be improved."

"The problem is that when combined with what the client already has, there are two different logins and two different management systems, and these should be consolidated into a single interface."

More SonicWall SMA cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The Cisco SD-WAN licensing model needs to be simplified. There are currently three types of licenses: enterprise agreements, individual licenses, and DNA subscriptions. This can confuse customers, requiring a dedicated person to determine which type of license is right for their organization."

"The price of Cisco SD-WAN could improve, it is expensive. The cost of the solution is approximately 30 percent higher than competitors."

"I give the price a seven out of ten."

"The price of the solution is the only negative factor, it is much more expensive compared with the Cisco Meraki SD-WAN solution."

"This is not a cheap option but if you move from Capex to Opex, I expect you should have lower costs."

"Cisco is more expensive than FortiGate."

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

"The pricing is fair, and it's on par with the market vendors. But based on the competition, Cisco could work on the pricing, go deep on discounts and provide more commercially viable solutions to customers."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN pricing and cost advice

"The cost of the licensing is based on the maximum number of concurrent users, and it costs a lot to add them."

"I don't know about the pricing of the SSL-VPN box. I know the SSL-VPN software is free. Global VPN client, by comparison, is licensed for around $150 or something like that. But the SSL-VPN software is free. It is already built-in with the box."

"Our licenses are stackable and can be anywhere from five users to a million users."

"The platform has medium pricing."

"All the costs are included in a bundled license."

"This solution is priced well and we currently have the maximum number of licenses allowed."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

44%

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Construction Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Real Estate/Law 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 SonicWall SMA?

Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall SMA?

The platform has medium pricing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SonicWall SMA?

Enhancing live tracking capabilities could improve the product, particularly in monitoring user activity and request statuses in real-time on the web interface.

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiGate vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 16% of the time

Meraki SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 12% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 12% of the time

Prisma SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 9% of the time

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

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Competitors

Fortinet FortiClient vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 24% of the time

Ivanti Connect Secure vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 18% of the time

Peplink SpeedFusion vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 17% of the time

SonicWall Netextender vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 17% of the time

Citrix Gateway vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 11% of the time

More SonicWall SMA Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

December 2024

Download Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall SMA

November 2024

Download SonicWall SMA product report

Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN

SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access

Learn More

Cisco

SonicWall

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.

SonicWall SMA is a unified secure access gateway that enables organizations to provide anytime, anywhere and any device access to mission critical corporate resources. SMA's granular access control policy engine, context aware device authorization, application level VPN and advanced authentication with single sign-on empowers organizations to embrace BYOD and mobility in a hybrid IT environment.

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates

UnitedStack, Newport City Homes, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, PRIME aerostructures GmbH, Celtic Manor Resort

Buyer's Guide

Network Management Applications

November 2024

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