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Cisco DNA Center vs WhatsUp Gold comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.5
Cisco's customer service experiences range from excellent to inadequate, highlighting issues with expertise, communication, and support consistency.
Sentiment score
8.3
WhatsUp Gold's customer service is highly rated, though some users face delays and regional support limitations.
Our local support team provides excellent service.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco DNA Center offers scalable, flexible network management, praised for ease of configuration despite costly licensing and limited IPv6 support.
Sentiment score
7.6
WhatsUp Gold is praised for its scalability, supporting IT teams with flexible network monitoring, especially in small to medium businesses.
WhatsApp Gold is scalable as it has an auto-discovery feature that easily allows the addition of new devices to the network.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco DNA Center is generally stable, rated highly by users, despite occasional minor issues with logs and database errors.
Sentiment score
7.8
WhatsUp Gold is highly rated for stability, efficiently managing large databases with minor server setup issues reported.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco DNA Center struggles with compatibility, pricing, training, and features, impacting user experience and system performance.
Users desire a better interface, enhanced monitoring, affordable pricing, improved integration, and agile feature releases for improved efficiency.
Our region heavily uses WhatsApp Messenger for communication, and integration with this platform would be beneficial.
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers should consider Cisco DNA Center's high cost and potential licensing fees, but promotions may lower expenses.
WhatsUp Gold offers value but higher costs due to licensing and supports fees, yet remains cheaper than competitors like SolarWinds.
The licensing is based on devices, providing better cost-effectiveness than setups with more complex calculations.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco DNA Center offers analytics, AI-driven insights, centralized management, and automation, enhancing network operations with scalability and ease of use.
WhatsUp Gold provides network monitoring, intuitive interfaces, effective alerts, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and comprehensive documentation for Windows compatibility.
The most valuable feature is the auto-discovery function.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco DNA Center
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
18th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (1st), Network Automation (2nd)
WhatsUp Gold
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
33rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (31st), Server Monitoring (13th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (31st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 1.4%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WhatsUp Gold is 1.2%, down from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

AvrahamSonenthal - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Tom Condo - PeerSpot reviewer
If CPU, memory, or disk space is over-utilized, it alerts us immediately via text or email if there is an issue
When it comes to the intuitiveness of the topology mapping feature, our network architect created a vision diagram of our entire network and then created the links tied into the WhatsUp active monitoring to different spots on our topology map. It's one of the more critical functions we do here. We have the map displayed in different places in our room and help desk. We get alerted via emails but we can also see it visually. It does what it says it's going to do. We find this feature very helpful. The interactive mapping interface for scrolling, zooming, and drilling down on an element to learn about a network issue is good. When we see a network there will sometimes be a spot that has one link. You can go into a particular part of the topology map, scroll in, and see exactly which module it is. All the information is provided. This feature really helps. You can see the correlation between that link and what failed. This feature is very helpful. The interface is fairly intuitive. Some of our users used SolarWinds and Nagios, and WhatsUp is easy in comparison. Once you get set up, the look, feel, and configuration are good. Our network architect had never used it before but he was able to create the Visio and map. It was very simple. He has no problems with it.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
9%
 

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 WhatsUp Gold?
The interactive mapping interface for scrolling, zooming, and drilling down on an element to learn about a network issue is good. When we see a network there will sometimes be a spot that has one l...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WhatsUp Gold?
Clients find the licensing calculator confusing, but we simplify this for them by collecting relevant information first. The licensing is based on devices, providing better cost-effectiveness than ...
What needs improvement with WhatsUp Gold?
Improvements are needed in integration, especially for WhatsApp call and messages. Our region heavily uses WhatsApp Messenger for communication, and integration with this platform would be benefici...
 

Also Known As

DNA Center
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Artoni Trasporti, Austin Independent School District, Banca Marche, Burke County North Carolina, Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine, Clayco, Community Integrated Care, Desca, Deutsche Bergbau, Flexi-Van, Gropper, Hamleys, Hammonds Furniture, Knowledge IT, Idras S.P.A., Sibeg, Swann Engineering, Trivium Lindenhof
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco DNA Center vs. WhatsUp Gold and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,145 professionals have used our research since 2012.