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

Cisco DNA Center vs Fortinet FortiManager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco DNA Center
Ranking in Network Management Applications
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (19th), Network Automation (2nd)
Fortinet FortiManager
Ranking in Network Management Applications
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 29.8%, up from 27.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiManager is 4.7%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications
 

Featured Reviews

AvrahamSonenthal - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 12, 2024
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.
HamedWasel - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 15, 2023
Easy to set up with good integration capabilities but we've had troubles when moving devices
We have over 300 Fortigate sites and we use this solution to manage everything under one interface.  The scripts are very useful. We can push the TCL and CLI scripts to Fortigate. The automation is great between Ansible and Fortimanager. We can integrate the solution with other solutions. There is…

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."
"The best feature of Cisco DNA Center is the visibility page, where you can see everything on the dashboard, and you don't have to be a technical person to view the issues."
"The automation features are significant, reducing configuration time. This means outstanding functionality. By deploying the controller automatically, the rest becomes automated"
"The product offers an intuitive and automated way to manage user networks. It gives me an insight into the network health."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco DNA Center is the AI (Artificial Intelligence) that provides us with valuable information."
"We have many people from the team who manage a lot of devices. By using Cisco DNA Center, it has taken some of that burden away, we are impressed with it. We did the investment in CAPEX, but in the OPEX was very low."
"The solution helps in user microsegmentation."
"The solution has the capability to scale."
"We look at the traffic to segment the network and it improves and increases the performance. When we have a mobile connection and local laptops are on the same network. We have seen a big performance upgrade."
"I like the rapid deployment feature. I also like that it's easy to troubleshoot. FortiManager is amazing because we can have a centralized policy. All our devices are integrated, and we can also engage in troubleshooting. We can use it for different deployments. One fantastic feature is the ability to create a version and deploy it immediately."
"The setup is very simple."
"The user interface, along with user-friendly planning features, makes it straightforward to configure desired settings."
"The SD-WAN deployment environment, and the SD-WAN templates are particularly useful. Managing the solution is very intuitive. The initial setup of the solution was very straightforward."
"The most valuable feature is the central configuration for firewall policies."
"The product is easy to use and manage."
"It has multiple features in one box, which helps to avoid needing a lot of equipment. This is something that makes them unique."
 

Cons

"They should include UTM features in the product."
"The solution’s security side could be improved."
"The features of Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Prime could have more parity."
"The solution's technical support is an area with which my company's clients have a problem. Cisco doesn't provide good technical support unless a user has a big account that Cisco wants to retain."
"DNA Center has been on the market for a few years and they need to update it."
"From the recent DNA point of view, there are some stability challenges with Cisco, but very minor."
"An area that needs improvement is the integration with other vendors."
"When it comes to deploying wireless fields, integrating defaults into the DNS interface can be challenging."
"Can be difficult to configure."
"Pricing-wise, it could always be less, even though it is less expensive than Palo Alto."
"Areas for improvement in Fortinet FortiManager are scalability and stability."
"The GUI is not ideal."
"The dashboard could use some improvement."
"The solution could improve by having better integration with other solutions other than Fortinet."
"Wizards could be improved in pushing policies."
"Their EDR products could be better. They need to dedicate more R&D to that area."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive solution."
"The solution is expensive."
"The price of the solution is expensive. The hardware is licensed on the device, but the hardware on the server is expensive."
"Cisco DNA Center is expensive."
"We have a three-year license with them."
"The licensing cost for Cisco DNA Center is not more than that of other solutions."
"I do know that Cisco does offer some really good promotions for DNA Center to bring the costs down."
"The price could be better. It's a very expensive tool."
"The pricing model is affordable."
"The license model they use depends on the size and is not limited to the users."
"FortiManager is reasonably priced - I pay around US$40,0000 per year, which covers fifty locations."
"The licensing costs depend on how many devices you want to use."
"Fortinet FortiManager operates on a licensing system that is dependent on the number of devices being managed. Yearly subscription renewal is necessary to continue using the service. Although there is a cost associated with Fortinet FortiManager, its price is undoubtedly justified by the value it provides in terms of the purpose it serves."
"Fortinet FortiManager can be expensive."
"Our organization pays a monthly license fee for the solution."
"If you compare Fortinet and Palo Alto, Fortinet is cheaper, but if you compare Cisco and Fortinet, sometimes Cisco is cheaper because Cisco gives us more discounts because of the size. Cisco isn't cheap, but sometimes, we get a big discount from them."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Management Applications solutions are best for your needs.
815,854 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
6%
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco DNA Center?
I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being expensive.
What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?
One area that needs improvement is the upgrade process. The time required for downloading and installing packages during upgrades is too long, often taking around ten hours. This is a significant i...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiManager?
The most valuable feature is the centralized management console.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiManager?
On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiManager?
The graphics interface between Fortinet FortiManager and any Forti products should be standardized. Doing a configuration change directly in the UTM is not the same as doing it via FortiManager for...
 

Also Known As

DNA Center
No data available
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco DNA Center vs. Fortinet FortiManager and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
815,854 professionals have used our research since 2012.