Cisco DNA Center vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager comparison

Cisco and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Network Automation category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.0, while SolarWinds is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.2. Cisco holds a 20.3% mindshare in NA, compared to SolarWinds’s 13.7% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Cisco DNA Center

Read 41 Cisco DNA Center reviews

3,153 Views
1,830 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Network Configur...

Read 25 SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager reviews

1,436 Views
1,121 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Center

SolarWinds Network Configur...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 6, 2025

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager and Cisco DNA Center compete in network management. Cisco DNA Center has the upper hand in advanced features and large enterprise suitability, while SolarWinds is preferred for smaller networks due to its pricing and support.

Features: SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is recognized for compliance, reliability, and security vulnerability detection. It also offers automation for configuration changes and centralized backup management. Cisco DNA Center excels with advanced analytics, wireless assurance, and zero-touch provisioning, providing strong integration with Cisco devices and network health insights.

Room for Improvement: SolarWinds could improve its reporting capabilities and third-party tool integration, along with automation features. Cisco DNA Center needs development in affordability, non-Cisco product integration, and user-friendly setup processes. Enhancements in task failure reporting and upgrade efficiency are also needed.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both products primarily offer on-premises deployment. SolarWinds gets good customer support feedback, though slower response times and report generation issues are noted. Cisco users report complex deployment and a steep learning curve, despite overall positive support experiences.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is cost-effective for smaller businesses, yielding ROI from reduced overheads within three years. Cisco DNA Center is expensive, suitable for large enterprises investing in comprehensive features for centralized management, offering good value in robust capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco DNA Center vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Report (Updated: December 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

December 2024

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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 Automation

2nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Management Applications (1st), Network Monitoring Software (16th)

SolarWinds Network Configur...

Ranking in Network Automation

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Configuration Management (10th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Network Automation category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 20.3%, down from 25.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is 13.7%, down from 14.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Automation

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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Manish Ved

Lead Infrastructure Domain Architect (Systems) at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees

Network configuration is done well; great pricing

Our model of deployment is on-premises. I would advise other people looking into this solution to read its documentation and better understand what it does before they start using it. I would rate this solution as a whole a 10, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

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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 monitoring is very valuable to me."

"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 gives a consolidated view."

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

"People like to use the dashboards to get an overview of their network."

"The most valuable features were the monitoring, maintenance, and configuration."

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

"The most valuable features of Cisco DNA Center are wireless assurance and visibility."

More Cisco DNA Center pros

"The configuration compliance aspect of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager allows for easy comparison of configuration settings across branches, ensuring adherence to security guidelines and best practices. Automation capabilities have greatly impacted workflows, enabling tasks such as configuration backups, template deployment, and firmware upgrades to be automated, thereby streamlining processes and saving time. Compliance reporting features provide valuable insights into network compliance, offering pre-built security audit reports and customizable options to meet specific requirements."

"The features we find most valuable is the configuration backup automation, the configuration compliance, the security vulnerability detection and upgrading devices."

"The most valuable Real-time fault detection is beneficial as it enables the identification of changes made to a device's configuration through the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. This makes it easy to pinpoint which configurations were added or removed, potentially causing network issues. Such changes are saved in logs for future reference."

"It allows us to manage backups in big companies. It is also useful in managing the configuration changes."

"It is a stable solution."

"The installation is straightforward."

"What's nice with NCM is you can set up policies that you can then check against the configs to ensure that your device configs adhere to a baseline or standard that you've set in place."

"It is pretty straightforward to set up."

More SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager pros

Cons

"They should include UTM features in the product."

"There should be an option for automation of template deployment by using the stored data. It is not easy to save configuration information for lots of devices without using other tools. There should be a tighter, better repository of information that can be merged with the templates."

"The network, data center, and SD-WAN are all being treated as different services, but I would like to have only one solution to manage all of them."

"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."

"One area that needs improvement is the upgrade process."

"The cost is very high."

"DNA Center has been on the market for a few years and they need to update it."

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

More Cisco DNA Center cons

"There are certain limitations of node-related monitoring"

"On NCM, reporting could be a bit better. It's completely become just one report. When I try to create a custom report, the solution just commits old server data."

"The solution could improve by being more secure."

"The network logs could be improved. When the error logs come across with those false positive alarms in the error logs."

"We want to be able to store it in a data warehouse format and integrate it with Google single sign-on."

"The only thing that requires some experience, and training doesn't fix, is how to set up your custom policy-based reports to check compliance."

"Releasing a product compatible with operating systems other than Windows would be advantageous."

"The Network Configuration Manager needs to improve the access control list compliance."

More SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"The partnership price is notably high, but it ultimately depends on the chosen business model."

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

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

"The licensing cost for Cisco DNA Center is not more than that of other solutions."

"The price of the solution is expensive. The hardware is licensed on the device, but the hardware on the server is expensive."

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

"The product is very costly."

More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice

"There is a license needed to use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager."

"Pricing is reasonable and competitive."

"In Africa, the cost is a major factor in decision-making for many companies. As a result, some companies may choose cheaper solutions, even if they are open-source, over more expensive ones, such as SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. However, as an engineer, I believe that the functionalities and services offered by SolarWinds justify the cost. Nonetheless, many companies in Africa may still view the prices as unaffordable."

"You have a base license for 50 devices, and then you can add more licenses as you go."

"Additional costs beyond the standard licensing fee are inevitable."

"The pricing is good."

"I have a yearly subscription."

"There is a license for the use of this solution and it is priced well, there is a lot of value for the money."

More SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

University

Government

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

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 SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?

The configuration compliance aspect of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager allows for easy comparison of configuration settings across branches, ensuring adherence to security guidelines and b...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?

The pricing is okay. Overall, I would rate the pricing a three on a scale of one to ten, with ten being most expensive and one being cheap.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?

The vendor recently introduced AI features to detect alerts. The AI features do not work well. It would be good if the vendor developed the AI feature so that we could understand what patterns the ...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 9% of the time

Meraki Dashboard 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 7% of the time

Aruba Airwave vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 6% of the time

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Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

Compared 12% of the time

IBM Tivoli NetCool vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

Compared 7% of the time

OpenText Network Node Manager i vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

Compared 6% of the time

VMware NSX vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

Compared 6% of the time

ManageEngine Network Configuration Management vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

Compared 5% of the time

More SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center

January 2025

Download Cisco DNA Center product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

December 2024

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager report

Download SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager product report

Also Known As

DNA Center

SolarWinds NCM

Learn More

Cisco

SolarWinds

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.

Before you monitor your network, configure it! A reliable and secure network starts with carefully planned, executed, and monitored network configuration and change management. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) saves time and improves network reliability and security by managing configurations, changes, and compliance for routers, switches, and other network devices from Cisco, Juniper, HP, Dell, Brocade, Aruba, Rukus, and more.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

United Lincolnshire Hospitals, Air Rarotonga, NetSuite, Thai AirAsia, REA Group, 335th Signal Command, Agilisys, Marine Expeditionary Force

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

December 2024

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