Cisco DNA Center vs IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) comparison

Cisco and IBM are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.0, while IBM is ranked #39 with an average rating of 8.0. Cisco holds a 1.3% mindshare in NMS, compared to IBM’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Cisco DNA Center

Read 41 Cisco DNA Center reviews

1,586 Views
951 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

IBM SevOne Network Performa...

Read 53 IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) reviews

1,998 Views
1,140 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Center

IBM SevOne Network Performa...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

IBM SevOne NPM and Cisco DNA Center compete in the network performance management category. Cisco DNA Center may have the upper hand due to its advanced automation capabilities and secure integrations.

Features: IBM SevOne NPM offers comprehensive infrastructure visibility, real-time accurate data reporting, and scalability, making it advantageous for managing a wide range of devices. Cisco DNA Center presents centralized management, seamless device integration, and excellent automation capabilities, particularly beneficial for Cisco infrastructure.

Room for Improvement: IBM SevOne NPM needs better data migration during upgrades, enhanced reporting features, and more intuitive configuration management. Cisco DNA Center could enhance its pricing, UI, and reduce upgrade times, alongside better support for non-Cisco devices.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM SevOne NPM supports on-premises, hybrid, and private cloud deployments, providing flexibility for diverse needs, while customer service is praised for its knowledgeable support. Cisco DNA Center supports on-premises and hybrid cloud deployments. Customers note its high complexity but technical expertise and responsive service are appreciated.

Pricing and ROI: IBM SevOne NPM's pay-as-you-grow model and scalable licensing offer flexible cost management, although prices can escalate quickly. Its ROI is seen in operational efficiencies and cost savings. Cisco DNA Center's pricing is high, potentially weighing more on smaller enterprises, but offers significant ROI through network management enhancements.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco DNA Center vs. IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM)

January 2025

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Helped 832,138 peers since 2012

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 Monitoring Software

15th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Management Applications (1st), Network Automation (2nd)

IBM SevOne Network Performa...

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

39th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (19th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (43rd), Log Management (47th), Cloud Monitoring Software (27th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 1.3%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) is 1.0%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

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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Grzegorz Nowak

Solution Architect at Wingu

Improves infrastructure planning by helping us analyze network traffic

We use SevOne to collect and report on network flows SevOne improves infrastructure planning by helping us analyze network traffic. We can look at bandwidth for specific endpoints on the customer's network and analyze traffic to identify issues. For example, maybe some connectors are unavailable.…

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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 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."

"The product offers an intuitive and automated way to manage user networks. It gives me an insight into the network health."

"The solution helps in user microsegmentation."

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

"The solution has the capability to scale."

"We can monitor all devices and get the required information using the product."

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

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

More Cisco DNA Center pros

"It's given us the ability to create various real-time network performance reports and distribute them to any colleague who can access these reports immediately."

"SevOne has rich API capabilities, giving us the flexibility to control what we collect and customize the collection, creation, and manipulation of now metrics as necessary."

"The monitoring of the network is very customizable. That is its unique feature."

"We've had great feedback from our customers about SevOne support. They're willing to set up a remote session upon request. You have to go through three tiers of support with most vendors, and they ask a lot of screening questions before they will do a remote session. You need to spend a lot of time before an engineer will host a remote session to look at your problematic system."

"Its ability to monitor practically any type of network device via SNMP is most valuable. This is the main functionality that we're using. If a network device exposes a metric, such as interface utilization, SevOne will monitor it for us."

"It also gives us the closest thing to real-time insight into network performance that we have, with just a 10-second delay. It's very important for us to know the health of the infrastructure very quickly."

"The network data collection has been very flexible for us. It's been thorough in areas that were lacking. They have a team that I've worked with to add other pieces to it. So if it's missing something out of the box, they work with me to add it. I was able to collect that data. It's not perfect, but it's pretty thorough."

"The feature that I have found most valuable is the scale-up and scale-down. The scale-up is an operation where the CPU boosts-up and then the memory will boost-up. That works awesomely."

More IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) pros

Cons

"From the recent DNA point of view, there are some stability challenges with Cisco, but very minor."

"The cost is very high."

"We encountered issues with their response times, which had a big impact on our workflow."

"What could be improved is the licensing cost of Cisco DNA Center. It's a little bit expensive."

"The solution's setup process needs enhancement."

"The tool's deployment is complex. It also needs to improve its GUI."

"There are some software problems from version to version. It takes a long time for DNA Center to recognize the video and control access devices."

"What I want to see in Cisco DNA Center in the future is more support for other platforms so that you can manage third-party products, such as Fortinet."

More Cisco DNA Center cons

"User-friendly, multi-tenancy."

"SevOne could improve its flexibility because it isn't fully customizable and its out-of-the-box configuration doesn't cover all use cases."

"One area that requires a little bit of improvement is the topology of visualization and being able to map out connections, end-to-end. It's able to do that, but it's not as impressive as we would like it to be. We would like to understand the different interface types and the connection points better, through the visualization. Heatmaps also need further development."

"Some similar solutions offer end-to-end visibility."

"I'm not really sure if this was the software's fault or a server issue, but a couple of years back the disks were failing on our SevOne physical server every month and the server would go down. The secondary server took over from the primary until the disk issue was resolved. That was annoying."

"When I started using it, I tried adding one of the BroadWorks application servers into SevOne... it created thousands and thousands of objects from that one application server and we immediately ran out of license... It would help, when new objects are discovered, if there were a way to categorize those objects and to pick the part of the object you need..."

"There are some tweaks and enhancements that I've already requested. One is to be able to make changes per device rather than as a global setting. That has to do with naming. It's minor."

"The reports are easy to configure but they are a bit outdated in terms of appearance and visualization."

More IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is medium-priced."

"Affordability is a problem because it's created for large enterprises only. So, some customers, even if their engineers want the solution, might have problems with budget limitations."

"Cisco DNA Center is expensive."

"I do know that Cisco does offer some really good promotions for DNA Center to bring the costs down."

"It is an expensive solution."

"The solution is expensive."

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

"The product is very costly."

More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice

"The pricing has been fair."

"For the value that you get from SevOne, it's worth the price. There are a lot of cheaper alternatives on the market, and even free options. But they require more staff, more resources, and engineers with more advanced knowledge of monitoring. That's what makes SevOne worth the price."

"Prices per license are not huge, but they exist."

"Many tools price things based on the number of KPIs that you're collecting around a device. In many cases, there could be hundreds of metrics that you need to collect. SevOne provides device-level pricing. That gives us the flexibility to turn on, and expand on, the metrics that we're collecting around those devices, without taking a financial hit."

"There are different options available for licensing, with the per-device option being more expensive but more flexible."

"Although I don't have exact details in terms of cost, my experience has been that SevOne is willing to make a deal with the customer."

"The pricing has not evolved with the market, which is one of the reasons we are moving to a new product."

"It is inexpensive compared to other monitoring tools."

More IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

University

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Educational Organization

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 SevOne Network Data Platform?

I like the tool’s scalability and real-time reports. Earlier, we struggled to give real-time reports to clients. I also like the tool’s deployment model where we can deploy it either on-premises or...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SevOne Network Data Platform?

The tool is not expensive. We were able to negotiate with SevOne on pricing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SevOne Network Data Platform?

SevOne could improve its flexibility because it isn't fully customizable and its out-of-the-box configuration doesn't cover all use cases.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 7% of the time

Fortinet FortiManager vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 7% of the time

Huawei eSight vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 6% of the time

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Instana Infrastructure Monitoring vs IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM)

Compared 16% of the time

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE vs IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM)

Compared 11% of the time

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor vs IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM)

Compared 11% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM)

Compared 8% of the time

Zabbix vs IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM)

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center

February 2025

Download Cisco DNA Center product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM)

January 2025

IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) report

Download IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) product report

Also Known As

DNA Center

SevOne

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

The IBM® SevOne Network Performance Management (IBM SevOne NPM) solution helps you spot, address, and prevent network performance issues early with machine learning-powered analytics from a single source. Boost network performance and improve your user application experience by proactively monitoring your multivendor end-to-end network across enterprise, communication, and managed service provider networks.

Transform raw network performance data into intelligent and actionable insights. The IBM SevOne NPM solution goes beyond detection, combining industry-leading expertise and advanced technology to help your IT team plan and optimize your network and act on what matters: improving network performance to provide an exceptional customer experience.

For further information, please visit www.ibm.com/cloud/sevo...

IBM

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

ATOS, Devereux, Spark New Zealand, Access4, Rogers Communication, Lumen (formerly known as CenturyLink)

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM)

January 2025

Free Report: Cisco DNA Center vs. IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM)

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