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Cisco DNA Center vs Cisco Prime [EOL] comparison

Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Prime [EOL] are both solutions in the Network Management Applications category. Additionally, 89% of Cisco DNA Center users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Cisco Prime [EOL] users who would recommend it.
Cisco DNA Center
Read 41 Cisco DNA Center reviews
  • 6,795 Views
  • 3,997 Comparison Views
89% willing to recommend
Cisco Prime [EOL]
Read 35 Cisco Prime [EOL] reviews
    91% willing to recommend
     

    Comparison Buyer's Guide

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    Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

    Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Prime are both competing in the network management platform category. Cisco DNA Center has the upper hand with its innovation and integration with new technologies.

    Features: Cisco DNA Center offers modern network automation, policy enforcement, and analytics. Cisco Prime [EOL] provides robust monitoring, configuration, and troubleshooting tools essential for traditional networks.

    Room for Improvement: Cisco DNA Center could enhance its user training to aid those less experienced with advanced technology. Some users find complexity in initial setups. Compatibility with legacy systems might be improved. Cisco Prime [EOL] could benefit from integration with newer technological standards, improved user interface, and enhanced automation capabilities for modern network environments.

    Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco DNA Center focuses on seamless deployment with automation to reduce complexity. Cisco Prime [EOL] might require more manual configuration but is supported by reliable customer service valued for solving connectivity issues.

    Pricing and ROI: Cisco DNA Center involves a higher initial cost but offers long-term ROI benefits through automation reducing operational expenses. Cisco Prime [EOL] appeals to budget-conscious buyers due to its lower upfront costs yet may struggle to provide the same ROI as network technology evolves.

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    Buyer's Guide
    Network Management Applications
    February 2025
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    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 DNA Center
    Average Rating
    8.0
    Reviews Sentiment
    6.3
    Number of Reviews
    41
    Ranking in other categories
    Network Management Applications (1st), Network Monitoring Software (15th), Network Automation (2nd)
    Cisco Prime [EOL]
    Average Rating
    7.8
    Reviews Sentiment
    6.5
    Number of Reviews
    35
    Ranking in other categories
    No ranking in other categories
     

    Featured Reviews

    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.
    Read full review
    ZeeshanAli1 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Robust, cost-effective, and provides good visibility, but the scalability could improve
    We are extremely satisfied with the reliability and robustness of Cisco Prime Infrastructure, which we have been using for many years. Compared to newer products such as DNS centers or others, it has proven to be much more stable, which is important for large-scale operations. Stability is a primary concern for us, and we are glad that Cisco Prime Infrastructure meets our expectations in that regard. Furthermore, in regards to Legacy Plus new hardware, Cisco Prime has proven to be a reliable and adaptable solution thus far. Not only can it support older hardware, but it also has the capability to handle new features with the latest updates. If we consider new solutions such as DNS Center, we may have to sacrifice some legacy features that we still rely on. We may need to continue using these legacy features for a few more years due to various reasons such as budget constraints or the site not being a high priority. However, if we switch to a new product at this stage, we may lose a lot of the monitoring and other capabilities that we have with Cisco Prime. We have a close relationship with Cisco and understand that they are not prioritizing investments in Cisco Prime as they are encouraging customers to adopt the Cisco DNA Center. This means that we don't anticipate many new features to be added to the product in the future. While we know that we will eventually have to transition to a new solution, in the meantime, we plan to do a quick refresh of our legacy products.
    Read full review

    Quotes from Members

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

    Pros

    "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."
    "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."
    "The most valuable feature of Cisco DNA Center is the AI (Artificial Intelligence) that provides us with valuable information."
    "Has a good processing feature with a high level of accuracy."
    "The product offers an intuitive and automated way to manage user networks. It gives me an insight into the network health."
    "It is simple to manage and it is all done from a single dashboard."
    "I like that we can easily configure any new hardware. It's also easy to deploy and easy to troubleshoot."
    "DNA Center is scalable."
    More Cisco DNA Center pros
    "The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is the heat maps."
    "Has a good wireless heatmap and search management features."
    "Cisco Prime allows us to do a lot of functions with the users and it is flexible."
    "The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is the heat map."
    "The solution provides data that allows us to time travel through logs and perform remote operations or troubleshooting."
    "The VLAN mapping function has been most impactful in simplifying our network management tasks."
    "Cisco Prime, from a management perspective, has good reporting."
    "The solution helps with the management and support of the enterprise network."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] pros
     

    Cons

    "The solution needs to improve the dashboard."
    "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."
    "Cisco DNA Center was a new technology for us, at the beginning, it was not easy to do, but Cisco did a lot of training with us to a level we could handle everything. The team is managing itself now without the assistance of Cisco."
    "Cisco DNA Center should improve its configuration management. It is better to have a dev version before pushing it."
    "They should include UTM features in the product."
    "The task failure reporting or provisioning failure reporting could be a little bit better in the UI, with more information given to the user."
    "Technical support could be better. The price could be better, and it could be more stable."
    "As a user, it would be good if I could plug in controllers, suites, and devices from other vendors to Cisco DNA Center."
    More Cisco DNA Center cons
    "This solution could be improved if it could monitor configuration changes."
    "The reporting feature of Cisco Prime should be improved."
    "The onboarding process could be improved and developed to enhance compatibility for non-Cisco devices."
    "Cisco Prime's initial setup is complex."
    "Cisco needs to improve Prime's monitoring tab. If any device goes down, there is a 15-second lapse before we know. It would be much better if we were alerted two or three minutes before a device is about to fail, so we can dispatch a field engineer and avoid network downtime. I would like to see a feature that allows you to access the devices directly from Prime's monitoring tab. That would make work easier for us."
    "I want the tool to improve data visibility."
    "I would love for Cisco Prime to show bandwidth usage and consumption, but I can't monitor bandwidth usage at a given time."
    "The solution is not easy to configure."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] cons
     

    Pricing and Cost Advice

    "The price could be better. It's a very expensive tool."
    "Cisco DNA Center is a licensed product with multiple levels of licensing available such as basic, advanced, and essential. I don't have the exact figure, but Cisco DNA Center is costly. For example, the box has information about the essential license and costs a considerable amount of money. You need to pay extra to use advanced features in Cisco DNA Center. My company sees Cisco DNA Center as a solution that's worth the money, which is why it invested in the solution. If you want centralized management for your network, especially when upgrading it, Cisco DNA Center is perfect, but it's more suitable for a large-scale rather than a small-scale network."
    "The product is very costly."
    "We have a three-year license with them."
    "The partnership price is notably high, but it ultimately depends on the chosen business model."
    "It is an expensive solution."
    "The licensing cost for Cisco DNA Center is not more than that of other solutions."
    "The tool is medium-priced."
    More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice
    "If we have a license for Cisco DNA, we can use the same license for Cisco Prime."
    "The cost is quite high."
    "The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
    "The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."
    "I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
    "We update the license every five years."
    "The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
    "The price of Cisco Prime was reasonable because we purchased it as part of a Cisco One package. The package was a bundle of Cisco solutions together, such as Cisco ISE and CMX. The price is reasonable com compared to other solutions."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] pricing and cost advice
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    Top Industries

    By visitors reading reviews
    Computer Software Company
    18%
    Government
    10%
    Manufacturing Company
    9%
    University
    6%
    Computer Software Company
    16%
    Government
    13%
    Manufacturing Company
    9%
    Healthcare Company
    6%
     

    Company Size

    By reviewers
    Large Enterprise
    Midsize Enterprise
    Small Business
     

    Questions from the Community

    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.
    See all answers
    What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco DNA Center?
    The cost is very high.
    See all answers
    What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?
    The system is working fine for me currently.
    See all answers
    What do you like most about Cisco Prime?
    The most valuable features of Cisco Prime include its comprehensive functionality as a one-stop solution for basic SNMP port management.
    See all answers
    What needs improvement with Cisco Prime?
    The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive.
    See all answers
    What is your primary use case for Cisco Prime?
    We use Cisco Prime for centralized configuration management backups and monitoring.
    See all answers
     

    Comparisons

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    Compared 11% of the time
    Aruba Airwave vs Cisco Prime [EOL] Logo
    Aruba Airwave vs Cisco Prime [EOL]
    Compared 10% of the time
    SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs Cisco Prime [EOL] Logo
    SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs Cisco Prime [EOL]
    Compared 9% of the time
    Fortinet FortiManager vs Cisco Prime [EOL] Logo
    Fortinet FortiManager vs Cisco Prime [EOL]
    Compared 5% of the time
    HPE Intelligent Management Center vs Cisco Prime [EOL] Logo
    HPE Intelligent Management Center vs Cisco Prime [EOL]
    Compared 4% of the time
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] Competitors
     

    Product Reports

    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco DNA Center
    February 2025
    Cisco DNA Center reportDownload Cisco DNA Center product report
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Prime [EOL]
    February 2025
    Cisco Prime [EOL] reportDownload Cisco Prime [EOL] product report
     

    Also Known As

    DNA Center
    Cisco Prime Infrastructure
     

    Overview

    Cisco DNA Center offers a comprehensive platform for network automation and management, providing detailed analytics, enhanced security, and streamlined operations for both wired and wireless networks.

    Cisco DNA Center integrates with Cisco infrastructure to deliver efficient network automation and management, helping organizations improve network visibility, security, and control. It supports AI-driven analytics and automated workflows to enhance operational efficiency and reduce errors. Challenges include compatibility with third-party systems, steep learning curve, and complex deployment. Its interface facilitates centralized control, vital for troubleshooting, policy management, and configuration management, with support for zero-touch provisioning and SD-Access.

    What are the key features of Cisco DNA Center?
    • Robust Analytics: Provides detailed insights into network health with AI-driven analytics.
    • Centralized Security: Integrates with ISE for comprehensive security management.
    • Automated Device Management: Simplifies device provisioning and configuration transfers.
    • Wi-Fi Analytics: Offers deep insights into wireless network performance.
    • Zero-Touch Provisioning: Streamlines new device deployments with minimal human intervention.
    • Scalable Segmentation: Efficiently segments network traffic ensuring security and performance.
    What benefits should users consider?
    • Operational Efficiency: Automation reduces potential errors and streamlines workflow.
    • Enhanced Security: Integration with Cisco ISE bolsters security capabilities.
    • Network Visibility: Comprehensive dashboards and analysis tools enhance monitoring.
    • Troubleshooting: Real-time monitoring aids in identifying and resolving issues swiftly.

    In sectors such as healthcare, finance, and retail, Cisco DNA Center is utilized for its ability to enhance security and compliance, manage large-scale networks, and provide detailed analytics for better operational decision-making. Its support for location tracking and policy automation ensures efficient network management across diverse environments.

    Cisco

    Cisco Prime products deliver next-generation management by supporting an intuitive workflow-oriented user experience and integrated lifecycle operations across Cisco architectures, technologies, and networks.

    Cisco
     

    Sample Customers

    Information Not Available
    Mohawk Industries, Universidad EAFIT, Halton Healthcare
    Buyer's Guide
    Network Management Applications
    February 2025
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