Cisco DNA Center vs Fortinet FortiManager comparison

Cisco and Fortinet are both solutions in the Network Management Applications category. Cisco is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.0, while Fortinet is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.1. Cisco holds a 29.7% mindshare in NMA, compared to Fortinet’s 5.5% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

Cisco DNA Center

Read 41 Cisco DNA Center reviews

7,007 Views
4,089 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

Fortinet FortiManager

Read 64 Fortinet FortiManager reviews

1,099 Views
788 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Center

Fortinet FortiManager

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

Fortinet FortiManager and Cisco DNA Center compete in centralized security and network management. Cisco DNA Center has the upper hand in network visibility and analytics, while FortiManager excels in the centralized management of Fortinet environments.

Features: Fortinet FortiManager provides centralized management for up to 100,000 devices with automation for deployments and policy creation. Its integration with Fortinet solutions offers seamless zero-touch provisioning and management capabilities. Cisco DNA Center excels in automation and provides comprehensive network visibility and analytics, enhancing security integration with Cisco devices.

Room for Improvement: FortiManager users report issues with documentation, real-time troubleshooting, and integration with external products. The VPN manager and user interface could be more intuitive. Cisco DNA Center experiences challenges with pricing, integration with non-Cisco products, and more detailed failure reporting, alongside desires for improvement in flexible configurations and intuitive interfaces.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both FortiManager and Cisco DNA Center offer on-premises deployment options, with FortiManager additionally thriving in cloud environments. FortiManager provides solid technical support, though sometimes lacking in speed and expertise. Cisco's support is more dependable but at a higher cost, providing consistent customer service due to its global reach.

Pricing and ROI: Fortinet FortiManager is seen as affordable with pricing flexibility based on device numbers, offering a significant ROI by optimizing management tasks. Cisco DNA Center, perceived as expensive, offers value in centralized management for large enterprises but may deter smaller businesses due to its cost. While offering comprehensive management tools, Cisco's high pricing impacts its ROI perception.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco DNA Center vs. Fortinet FortiManager Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. Fortinet FortiManager

January 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

Ranking in Network Management Applications

1st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (16th), Network Automation (2nd)

Fortinet FortiManager

Ranking in Network Management Applications

3rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 29.7%, up from 27.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiManager is 5.5%, down from 5.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Management Applications

Featured Reviews

AvrahamSonenthal

Senior Network Engineer at Inside Global

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.

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HamedWasel

Senior Network Security Engineer at Orange

Easy to set up with good integration capabilities but we've had troubles when moving devices

We've faced an issue when we need to move devices. Templates need to be recreated instead of having the policies, et cetera, cut and pasted over. Everything should just move over when we need to move devices instead of recreating everything from scratch. For the IPSEC tunnels, Fortimanager doesn't have all of the features that are available on Fortigate.

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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

"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 monitoring features are very useful for network engineers."

"It is simple to manage and it is all done from a single dashboard."

"Has a good processing feature with a high level of accuracy."

"The most valuable features of the solution are all of its security features...It is a highly scalable solution."

"What's most valuable in Cisco DNA Center is the ability to manage any Cisco infrastructure and device through it. Setup was straightforward."

"Automation helps configure devices without manual intervention, enabling zero-touch provisioning."

"Cisco DNA Center provides operational support, compliance support, security vulnerability detection, and automatic scheduling."

More Cisco DNA Center pros

"FortiManager helps automate configuration deployment, allowing us to plan and schedule configurations."

"The centralized management of policies and certificates, coupled with the capability to handle multi-site deployments effectively, provides streamlined operations."

"There is something called zero-touch provisioning, where you can add a new device without any configuration. You just add it to FortiManager and then forget about it."

"The user interface is very easy to navigate."

"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."

"This solution enables you to centralize the rules and the configuration of all the equipment."

"Provides good and detailed log management."

"The firewall configuration has more capabilities than the other firewall management systems that I have worked with."

More Fortinet FortiManager pros

Cons

"The solution’s security side could be improved."

"The tool's IoT integration should be better."

"The solution's integration feature can be better."

"As a user, it would be good if I could plug in controllers, suites, and devices from other vendors to Cisco DNA Center."

"The solution needs to improve the dashboard."

"The product doesn’t have good monitoring capabilities."

"The solution can be quite pricey."

"They can improve the network visibility. Licensing and its maintenance are also needed."

More Cisco DNA Center cons

"It requires a lot of resources. This is the main challenge."

"There may be a communication issue. However, other items may be the culprit, such as network connectivity. It depends on the customer's network."

"Their EDR products could be better. They need to dedicate more R&D to that area."

"If you have more than one FortiMail device, you can't manage it then with FortiManager on FortiGate."

"The graphical user interface could use improvement as it appears complex and not user-friendly."

"Having FortiManager work with all of the Fortinet products would be a good improvement."

"The graphics interface between Fortinet FortiManager and any Forti products should be standardized."

"The graphical user interface could use improvement as it appears complex and not user-friendly."

More Fortinet FortiManager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have a three-year license with them."

"The price could be better. It's a very expensive tool."

"Cisco DNA Center is expensive."

"I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being 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 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."

"Licensing for Cisco DNA Center is a little bit expensive, just like any Cisco solution. Its cost could still be improved."

"The tool is medium-priced."

More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice

"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."

"For us, it is a little bit expensive."

"The pricing is based on a licensing model by feature."

"FortiManager is a bit expensive - I would rate its pricing three out of ten."

"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."

"On a scale from one to ten with one being the highest price and ten being the lowest price, I would rate FortiManager's price at three."

"Compared to Check Point or Cisco, Fortinet FortiManager is more affordable but it is still on the higher end."

More Fortinet FortiManager pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

19%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

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?

I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being expensive.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiManager?

The most valuable feature is the centralized management console.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiManager?

FortiGate offers the same features as Palo Alto yet at a more reasonable price. The ROI justifies the investment.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiManager?

FortiManager needs to handle different firewall versions more efficiently. If FortiGate devices have different versions, managing them is challenging. There's also a need to upgrade firewalls or ch...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 9% of the time

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 8% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

Huawei eSight vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 6% of the time

Aruba Airwave vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 6% of the time

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Fortinet FortiGate Cloud vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 65% of the time

Fortinet FortiOS vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 9% of the time

AlgoSec vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 5% of the time

Zabbix vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 3% of the time

Fortinet FortiWeb vs Fortinet FortiManager

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiManager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center

January 2025

Download Cisco DNA Center product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiManager

January 2025

Download Fortinet FortiManager product report

Also Known As

DNA Center

No data available

Learn More

Cisco

Fortinet

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.

Fortinet FortiManager is used for centralized management of FortiGate firewalls, utilizing zero-touch deployment techniques to optimize configuration and deployment, reducing installation time and errors while improving network security and efficiency.

By centralizing policy management and monitoring across devices and locations, Fortinet FortiManager enhances security and operational efficiency. Automation tools simplify management, control, and consistent configuration across environments. It offers scalability for managing large numbers of devices, beneficial for organizations seeking unified threat protection and streamlined administration from one console. The platform integrates effortlessly with Fortinet products, supporting zero-touch provisioning, SD-WAN, and traffic analysis. Although intuitive, the graphical interface and overall performance require refinement, alongside enhanced support and documentation for troubleshooting and configuration.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiManager?

Centralized Management: Streamlines device configuration across multiple systems.
Automation Tools: Simplifies implementation and maintenance of configurations.
Zero-Touch Provisioning: Reduces setup time and minimizes errors.
SD-WAN Support: Enhances wide-area network efficiency and effectiveness.
Traffic Analysis: Monitors network traffic for improved security insights.
Policy Pushing: Facilitates efficient deployment of security rules.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Operational Efficiency: Reduces installation time and configuration errors.
Scalability: Supports management of numerous devices.
Improved Security: Centralized management enhances threat protection.
Time Savings: Automation reduces manual intervention needs.
Cost-Effectiveness: Simplified administration can lower management costs.

Fortinet FortiManager is implemented across diverse industries like telecommunications, finance, and healthcare, where centralized management and enhanced security are crucial. Its ability to streamline processes and integrate with existing Fortinet products makes it ideal for organizations looking to maintain robust network security standards.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. Fortinet FortiManager

January 2025

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