Cisco DNA Center vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE comparison

Cisco and NETSCOUT are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.0, while NETSCOUT is ranked #20 with an average rating of 8.5. Cisco holds a 1.5% mindshare in NMS, compared to NETSCOUT’s 1.8% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of NETSCOUT users who would recommend it.

Cisco DNA Center

Read 41 Cisco DNA Center reviews

1,518 Views
914 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Read 49 NETSCOUT nGeniusONE reviews

2,576 Views
1,788 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Center

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE and Cisco DNA Center compete in the network management solutions category. NETSCOUT focuses on deep traffic insights, offering an advantage in network visibility, while Cisco offers advanced automation and integration capabilities.

Features: NETSCOUT nGeniusONE provides NetFlow traffic analysis, packet inspection, and comprehensive features like top-talkers monitoring and dependency mapping. It facilitates effective troubleshooting and proactive performance management. Cisco DNA Center delivers strong analytics, seamless integration with Cisco devices, and automation capabilities, simplifying network management with highlights in wireless assurance and centralized control.

Room for Improvement: NETSCOUT nGeniusONE could improve GUI usability, reduce dependency on physical agents, and adopt better modular pricing strategies. Managing the tool without expert help is challenging. Cisco DNA Center needs pricing considerations and enhancements in configuration management and integration with third-party devices. Users seek better real-time data replication and more user-friendly dashboards.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both NETSCOUT nGeniusONE and Cisco DNA Center primarily offer on-premises deployment with some hybrid options. NETSCOUT often requires dedicated personnel due to complexity, while Cisco DNA Center benefits from its centralized control but demands thorough setup. Customer service for both is generally supportive, although NETSCOUT's complexity may require more frequent assistance.

Pricing and ROI: NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is high-cost but potential ROI is achieved by reducing troubleshooting times and improving network visibility. Cisco DNA Center is also priced high, valued for centralized management, ideal for large enterprises due to the expense. Both solutions contribute to positive ROI by saving troubleshooting time and enhancing network uptime and customer satisfaction.

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

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

January 2025

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Helped 831,158 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

16th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

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

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

20th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 1.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is 1.8%, up from 1.5% 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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Ruslan Melnyk

Business Unit Manager at BAKOTECH

Useful for network performance monitoring

My manager can explain the use cases attached to the product. I am a unit leader in my company, and I don't sell the product directly to our partners or customers. In my company, I manage certain processes and a team while building, developing, and providing them with a direction for the market. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is a good solution for network performance monitoring since it is not cloud-based. My company sells NETSCOUT nGeniusONE in eight to ten countries. I think the solution is not good for capacity planning, but it is better to help find problems in applications because not every infrastructure is good at managing working applications. I think it is a solution meant for applications. The tool is useful for solving problems attached to applications. The tool's real-time network monitoring capability was used when the product was more reactive. In our company, if we use real-time monitoring, then we need to deal with raw traffic. In our company, if we don't see any problem in the real-time systems, we have the possibility to rely on the tool since it acts like a time machine for us, which can allow us to get back to the areas of problem and solve them. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. For many users, it can be a good monitoring system that can be scaled up in the future. I think it is a good product to start with when working systems in an environment. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is another tool used to manage raw traffic, and I find it to integrate well into our customers' network. I am not using it actively on the system. I use the tool for network packet brokers. I rate the tool a ten out of ten.

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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 solution helps with the management and orchestration of campaigns. It helps with visibility and analytics. I also like its SDA configuration."

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

"Cisco VXLAN is a protocol that has been around for some time, but the practical implementation and operational capability of Cisco DNA Center bring it to life."

"The product's most valuable feature is the visual representation of the switch's front panel."

"Cisco DNA Center is a user-friendly solution."

"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."

"DNA Center is scalable."

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

More Cisco DNA Center pros

"The stability of this product is ok."

"Deep packet inspection is a very useful tool as it works in real time and uses serial packet-level analysis."

"It catches bigger issues on a weekly basis. That's how often we find something big enough that the only reason we know about it is because of the nGeniusONE. The bigger issues are mostly security-type issues: Odd traffic leaving our network or coming into it, that has found its way past a firewall."

"The visual and graphical interfaces in the display that it provides for us to show our senior leadership. We can show them what is actually happening, instead of a spreadsheet."

"Valuable features include data threat detection, network analytics, and overall bandwidth monitoring."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"Deep packet inspection is a very useful tool as it works in real time and uses serial packet-level analysis."

"The biggest benefit is the ability to do low-level packet inspection. When I say packet inspection, I don't mean looking at payload, but just looking at your communication handshakes and the like. It reduces troubleshooting time because you can get a much better view into the communications path between servers, database servers, web servers, and understand what's going on."

More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE pros

Cons

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

"The solution needs to improve the dashboard."

"Requires more focus on the digital side of things."

"The task failure reporting or provisioning failure reporting could be a little bit better in the UI, with more information given to the user."

"Cisco could improve the security side of their solutions."

"An area for improvement in Cisco DNA Center is the latency in data correlation. For example, sometimes, when an issue happens, and I check the logs, I can't find the corresponding log. There's a delay in log replication, so this is what needs improvement in Cisco DNA Center. Reporting in Cisco DNA Center could also be improved because it only has a few templates, and you can't customize it based on your requirements. There aren't many options available in Cisco DNA Center regarding reporting, versus Cisco Prime, which has excellent features for different levels of detailed reports. I'd like to see real-time data replication in the next release of Cisco DNA Center, similar to what's done in Meraki. Data in Meraki is real-time with no delay, so data is immediately replicated in the cloud. Currently, there's a lag in Cisco DNA Center, and addressing that lag is the enhancement I'd like to see in Cisco DNA Center. The solution also needs to be more user-friendly."

"The cost is very high."

"The solution can be quite pricey."

More Cisco DNA Center cons

"The solution could do more for security. It should offer more security-related features."

"For individual subscriber tracings, sometimes it does not capture all the messages. There is a little bit of room for improvement there."

"A lot of tools highlight what's going on but they don't actually pinpoint the user experience. It would be good if there were a small message or something highlighting what the user experience is like and any degradation that's actually occurring."

"The technical support could improve a bit with quicker responses for early on questions. What I think are simple questions are taking a long time to get answers to."

"NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is a complex product since it deals in areas like network packet brokers and packet analysis, making the tool complicated for end users."

"The pricing could benefit from being somewhat lower for broader adoption."

"While it is good, the single pane of glass view is too high level. It is better for management or someone doing sanity checks. A lot of times, I need to go deeper into the additional screens to get what I want out of it."

"There are so many features that it makes it hard to know it all. You end up paying for things that you don't use and probably don't even need. It might be better if Netscout came up with a modular way to pay for what you're going to use and not pay for all of this "white elephant" without being able to take advantage of all of it."

More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is medium-priced."

"The solution is expensive."

"Our licensing agreement is for three years."

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

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

"I rate the product's pricing an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is very cheap, and ten is very expensive."

"The tool's licensing may not come across as something that may be friendly for users."

"The product is very costly."

More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice

"Make sure you get the low down on your licensing and understand the licensing requirements before making a purchase, especially when it comes to an upgrade. Make sure that it suits your needs before you commit to it. For example, we purchased ATA at version 6.2.1. At that time, the licensing covered everything we need. NETSCOUT comes out with 6.2.2, stating that in order to upgrade, you had to purchase CyberStream licensing. Now that requires some additional funding from both a capital investment and a maintenance cost. That's something that should have been said, "Well, if you want these additional features, you will need to purchase these CyberStreams." Otherwise, we should be allowed to continue on the basic operations as it is now through the newer releases without being stuck."

"There is a need to make yearly payments towards the licensing charges attached to the product. The product may come across as a cheap tool for some, while it may seem costly for others."

"Like any company, we always want better pricing. The pricing is okay, but it's not a cheap solution. When you want to deploy it across an enterprise as large as ours, you go into seven figures. It's not a cheap solution to get out there."

"If you are able and you are willing to use everything that Netscout provides to you, it's probably a relatively fair price. The problem is that it's such a large and such a complex tool that I'm not sure that many companies would be able to use it entirely, the way it's expected to be used."

"We have a premium customized contract for the solution."

"It can be expensive, but if you have a good configuration, based on what you are looking for, it's okay, it's manageable."

"The product is too expensive compared to other products."

"Licensing is flexible, it's not tied to anything else. We can easily switch up the licensing piece... Obviously, NETSCOUT is a little bit in the higher range, but it gives you value for money. You get what you pay for."

More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

University

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

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

Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?

I would say if it’s an ISP that will build a scrubbing center, Netscout/Arbor is a good solution. In all other solutions, Imperva is a great choice.

See all answers

What do you like most about NETSCOUT nGeniusONE?

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NETSCOUT nGeniusONE?

The pricing is a bit high yet not overly expensive. The cost depends on the size of the customer, as sizing controls the pricing.

See all answers

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Compared 8% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

Huawei eSight vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 13% of the time

Gigamon Deep Observability Pipeline vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Compared 10% of the time

ThousandEyes vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Compared 8% of the time

Pico Corvil Analytics vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Compared 6% of the time

Ixia Network Packet Brokers vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center

January 2025

Download Cisco DNA Center product report

Buyer's Guide

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

January 2025

Download NETSCOUT nGeniusONE product report

Also Known As

DNA Center

NETSCOUT nGenius, nGeniusONE

Learn More

Cisco

NETSCOUT

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.

The nGenius Real-Time Monitor software provides you with tools to monitor and display information about your network both historically and in real time. The nGenius Real-Time Monitor software allows you to understand your current network usage and to plan for future needs. It also allows you to proactively troubleshoot problem areas in your network.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Cerner Corporation

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

January 2025

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