Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs VMware NSX comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.1
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN's customer service is praised for responsive, knowledgeable support, despite occasional delays and outsourced assistance issues.
Sentiment score
7.9
VMware NSX support is generally reliable but varies in responsiveness and expertise, with improvement needed in certain regions.
Our technicians have a good support experience from the company.
 

Room For Improvement

Sentiment score
4.2
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN needs better pricing, easier setup, enhanced security, improved documentation, flexible licensing, user-friendly interface, and advanced features.
Sentiment score
4.9
VMware NSX needs enhancements in integration, automation, deployment, and support to address complexity, pricing, and user-friendliness challenges.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is highly scalable and integrates well with other Cisco products, suitable for various sectors.
Sentiment score
7.8
VMware NSX is scalable across large infrastructures, praised for adaptability, hardware independence, and seamless integration in various environments.
 

Setup Cost

No sentiment score available
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is costly but valued for reliability, quality, and comprehensive features despite a complex licensing model.
Sentiment score
4.8
VMware NSX pricing is higher than competitors, complex, and may discourage smaller organizations due to potentially unused features.
VMware NSX is a little higher in price compared to the competition.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
9.0
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is generally reliable and effective, though some users encounter occasional bugs and suggest improvements for reliability.
Sentiment score
8.0
VMware NSX is stable and mature, praised for robust performance and dependability, despite occasional minor upgrade issues.
 

Valuable Features

Sentiment score
8.2
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN offers ease of management, enhanced security, scalability, cloud integration, reliable failovers, and strong technical support.
Sentiment score
8.0
VMware NSX offers micro-segmentation, automation, scalability, and integration, enhancing security and flexibility across virtual environments and clouds.
The most powerful feature of VMware NSX is the micro-segmentation that allows us to separate the different protocols our application works with.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (5th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd), WAN Edge (2nd)
VMware NSX
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
101
Ranking in other categories
Network Virtualization (2nd), Cloud and Data Center Security (1st), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (8th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (7th), Network Automation (5th), Microsegmentation Software (1st)
 

Featured Reviews

MOHAMEDELSHERIF - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Chris Nixon - PeerSpot reviewer
Overly complex, initial setup could be simplified, but the migration methods are good
The on-premises version of VMware NSX is not scalable. The cloud version is most likely fine. I couldn't really say, but after the on-premise system was implemented, everyone was afraid of change. It was really flaky. We don't have a large number of users. It is not used as such by people; it is a piece of infrastructure software. There would have been less than half a dozen, not very many.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Management Applications solutions are best for your needs.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
43%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

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.
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.
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
There are some very major differences between both the Products and to name a few. -Cisco ACI have physical network gear (9K Switches) where the Code runs in ACI Policy Mode & the UCS server wh...
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
Once you know your way around the Cisco ecosystem, using Cisco ACI is not so difficult. It is a global product, so when you change one interface, changes are automatically reflected on every switch...
What do you like most about VMware NSX?
The product has valuable features for security and network extension.
 

Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN
VMware Nicira, Lastline Defender
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates
City of Avondale, Lumeta, Kroll Ontrack, Heartland Payment Systems, Baystate Heallth, Exostar, Tribune Media, iGATE, NTT Communications, Synergent, California Natural Resources Agency, Bloomington Public Schools, Columbia Sportswear, Join Experience S.A, Schuberg Philis
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, HPE Aruba Networking, Fortinet and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.