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Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs Cisco Prime [EOL] comparison

The compared Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) and Cisco Prime [EOL] solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) is ranked #25 in NMS , with an average rating of 8.2, and holds a 0.6% mindshare in the category. Additionally, 92% of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Cisco Prime [EOL] users who would recommend it.
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabri...
Read 26 Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) reviews
  • 1,495 Views
  • 1,435 Comparison Views
92% willing to recommend
Cisco Prime [EOL]
Read 35 Cisco Prime [EOL] reviews
    91% willing to recommend
     

    Comparison Buyer's Guide

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    Executive Summary
    We performed a comparison between Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) and Cisco Prime [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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    Network Monitoring Software
    January 2026
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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 Nexus Dashboard Fabri...
    Average Rating
    8.0
    Reviews Sentiment
    6.2
    Number of Reviews
    26
    Ranking in other categories
    Network Monitoring Software (25th)
    Cisco Prime [EOL]
    Average Rating
    7.8
    Reviews Sentiment
    6.5
    Number of Reviews
    35
    Ranking in other categories
    No ranking in other categories
     

    Featured Reviews

    Jagdev Dhaliwal - PeerSpot reviewer
    Jagdev Dhaliwal
    Network Engineer at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Flow monitoring has improved planning for east-west traffic and real-time capacity decisions
    Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) helps to understand the flows and data plane capacities, which are the primary use cases. Usually, people struggle with east-west traffic flow when they need to decide on firewalls or products. People typically understand north-south traffic flows but usually miss the east-west traffic flows in data centers. I was focusing more on this so that people can accordingly plan, such as after F5, the number of servers, the number of sessions needed, and whether we need to plan the interface for groups from the line capacity perspective. This kind of information was valuable to us. The real-time telemetry feature was beneficial. When experiencing performance issues, I could determine if there were any issues related to flows or areas where bottlenecks were occurring.
    Read full review
    AR
    AndrewRichardson
    Network Engineer at Edmonton Catholic School Board
    Has an easy implementation process, but the performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive
    The project implementation was easy overall. Adapting Cisco's solutions to our specific environment required effort, as their documentation only covers some network scenarios. The deployment didn't happen all at once; it was staged and controlled to ensure a smooth transition. We started with a small test environment before gradually rolling it out to all campuses. This gradual approach helped mitigate the risk of any issues arising across multiple locations simultaneously, especially on a critical day like Monday morning. We have a team of three executives working on the process. Their job roles included network specialists and a manager. It requires maintenance, which is included in the annual cost. We receive updates and support as part of the renewal process.
    Read full review

    Quotes from Members

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

    Pros

    "I don't have to rely on the on-site engineer who can do the configuration. I can have our team just plug the devices and perform remotely. I can also do the templates."
    "The feature I find most valuable, is the stability of the solution."
    "It uses push technology, which pushes the changes to all relevant devices to ensure they are updated accordingly."
    "I like that is easy to work on and straightforward."
    "The product has excellent stability."
    "The tool's most valuable feature is the consolidated dashboard, providing insights into parameters and overall usage of network features. It allows us to easily summarize insights through the dashboards. The solution offers automation capabilities, particularly in the context of connecting LAN sites with websites."
    "Cisco's support I would rate as a 10 compared to all other vendors."
    "The interface of this solution is easy to use overall."
    More Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) pros
    "The hardware Cisco provides is excellent. It's a well-made product."
    "Cisco Prime is a good tool for inventory monitoring and wireless management."
    "The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is its excellent audio and video conferencing with clear quality and no interruptions."
    "It helps us manage and monitor analytics and fix issues."
    "The endpoint information Cisco Prime generates helps us troubleshoot, and it's also useful for compliance reporting and endpoint identification."
    "The VLAN mapping function has been most impactful in simplifying our network management tasks."
    "The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is the heat maps."
    "The most valuable is the assistance for network support."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] pros
     

    Cons

    "API lacks robustness."
    "In the next release, I would like to see it merged with Prime and I think that it should be more unified."
    "The delivery Cisco Data Center Network Manager could improve if it was easier. Additionally, some feature improvement is needed."
    "It's a relatively expensive product for some clients."
    "If the customer thinks about using additional solutions, Cisco should make sure they are not left out."
    "Data Center Network Manager is a little complex because it includes a lot of hardware to be installed."
    "The initial setup is challenging."
    "The reporting is not very intuitive and has room for improvement."
    More Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) cons
    "The reporting feature of Cisco Prime should be improved."
    "The overall management capabilities of Prime need to be improved."
    "I would rate the scalability of Cisco Prime a six out of ten. To scale up from a hundred to a thousand devices, the platform needs to be rebuilt logically. This process might require a downtime window and may involve changing the hardware or upgrading to a larger appliance."
    "The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."
    "If you think about a centralized monitoring system, Cisco Prime is not good because it does not support third-party vendors like Palo Alto or FortiGate."
    "They can also improve the management of more enterprise devices."
    "There is room for improvement in the Access layer."
    "The product needs to improve its interface and reporting."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] cons
     

    Pricing and Cost Advice

    "I would say that the pricing offers great value for the money."
    "On average, Data Center Network Manager's pricing isn't too costly unless you choose a premier license."
    "The product is licensed with contracts that work on a yearly basis rather than a monthly model."
    "When we purchase a Nexus box, the MDS CM license comes with it."
    "We usually opt for a yearly plan, commonly for three or five years upfront. Some customers may not utilize all the features included in the product, and this can lead to them paying for functionalities they don't need."
    "The price of Cisco Data Center Network Manager is expensive compared to other vendors on the market."
    "The solution is very expensive."
    "The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's still an expensive solution. There are cheaper alternatives but no similar platform across all domains."
    "The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
    "If we have a license for Cisco DNA, we can use the same license for Cisco Prime."
    "The price of Cisco Prime was reasonable because we purchased it as part of a Cisco One package. The package was a bundle of Cisco solutions together, such as Cisco ISE and CMX. The price is reasonable com compared to other solutions."
    "The cost is quite high."
    "We update the license every five years."
    "I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
    "The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
    "I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] pricing and cost advice
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    Answers from the Community

    ChrisPoe - PeerSpot reviewer
    ChrisPoe
    Vice President of Offerings - Advanced Technology & Security Solutions at Carousel Industries
    Mar 2, 2023
    Mar 2, 2023
    What are the overall differences between Cisco Prime and Cisco DNAC?
    Two major differences: 1. The actual models that they manage, the p-dart Cisco migration report will tell you where you stand on this issue. Not all CPI models are supported on DNA. 2. Installation and maintenance automation of connected devices. A modern must-have for device deployment and maintenance. Having said these two points, DNA is and will be the integration point for a whole suit...
    See 2 answers
    Olajide Olusegun - PeerSpot reviewer
    Olajide Olusegun
    Network Team Lead at Atlas Security
    Mar 1, 2023
    We use both Cisco DNAC and Cisco Prime (PI). Actually, you can easily use the migration tool on Cisco PI 3.10 to migrate your data and integrate it with DNAC. DNAC is more dynamic and robust than PI supporting intent-based networking, analytics and assurance, and many automated operations.  Best suited for enterprise environments with many Cisco platforms and multiple managed devices where automated operations are highly required. If we didn't have PI before, we would have just settled for DNAC because DNAC can do a lot more and better.
    Read full answer
    RM
    Roger Martinez
    President at TCT
    Mar 2, 2023
    Two major differences: 1. The actual models that they manage, the p-dart Cisco migration report will tell you where you stand on this issue. Not all CPI models are supported on DNA.   2. Installation and maintenance automation of connected devices. A modern must-have for device deployment and maintenance.   Having said these two points, DNA is and will be the integration point for a whole suite of products like CPO which will become a DNA module and tighter integration with ICE. Furthermore, the new automation feature is really a prequel to the more interesting self-diagnosis and self-correction of device operations. Hope this answers your question, but install the PDART migration report to really understand the ROI of DNA.
    Read full answer
     

    Top Industries

    By visitors reading reviews
    Government
    13%
    Computer Software Company
    10%
    Manufacturing Company
    8%
    Financial Services Firm
    7%
    Government
    13%
    Computer Software Company
    11%
    Manufacturing Company
    9%
    Healthcare Company
    8%
     

    Company Size

    By reviewers
    Large Enterprise
    Midsize Enterprise
    Small Business
    By reviewers
    Company SizeCount
    Small Business10
    Midsize Enterprise6
    Large Enterprise16
    By reviewers
    Company SizeCount
    Small Business9
    Midsize Enterprise4
    Large Enterprise24
     

    Questions from the Community

    What do you like most about Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
    It uses push technology, which pushes the changes to all relevant devices to ensure they are updated accordingly.
    See all answers
    What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
    The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's still an expensive solution. There are cheaper alternatives but no similar plat...
    See all answers
    What needs improvement with Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
    I do not believe it integrated well with different infrastructures for hybrid environments. I am uncertain because we have never attempted that in our environment, so they could perform better in t...
    See all answers
    What do you like most about Cisco Prime?
    The most valuable features of Cisco Prime include its comprehensive functionality as a one-stop solution for basic SNMP port management.
    See all answers
    What needs improvement with Cisco Prime?
    The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive.
    See all answers
    What is your primary use case for Cisco Prime?
    We use Cisco Prime for centralized configuration management backups and monitoring.
    See all answers
     

    Comparisons

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    Compared 14% of the time
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    Compared 13% of the time
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    Compared 13% of the time
    Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) Logo
    Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)
    Compared 8% of the time
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    ExtremeCloud IQ vs Cisco Prime [EOL]
    Compared 16% of the time
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    Compared 12% of the time
    DX Spectrum vs Cisco Prime [EOL] Logo
    DX Spectrum vs Cisco Prime [EOL]
    Compared 11% of the time
    NetMaster Network Intelligence vs Cisco Prime [EOL] Logo
    NetMaster Network Intelligence vs Cisco Prime [EOL]
    Compared 10% of the time
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] Competitors
     

    Product Reports

    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)
    January 2026
    Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) reportDownload Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) product report
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Prime [EOL]
    January 2026
    Cisco Prime [EOL] reportDownload Cisco Prime [EOL] product report
     

    Also Known As

    Cisco Data Center Network Manager
    Cisco Prime Infrastructure
     

    Overview

    The Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC) offers a comprehensive solution for managing Cisco NX-OS switches in hybrid-cloud environments, providing automation, visibility, and consistent operations. Designed to simplify and enhance data center management, NDFC integrates with Cisco Nexus Dashboard to streamline network connectivity, reduce deployment times, and ensure seamless transitions with minimal disruptions. Its modular architecture, new user interface, and support for non-Nexus OS platforms make it a robust tool for LAN, SAN, and IP Fabric for Media management. Additionally, NDFC enhances fabric reliability, automates workflows, and supports cloud connectivity with AWS and Microsoft Azure, making it ideal for businesses adapting to increasingly complex digital environments.

    Cisco

    Cisco Prime products deliver next-generation management by supporting an intuitive workflow-oriented user experience and integrated lifecycle operations across Cisco architectures, technologies, and networks.

    Cisco
     

    Sample Customers

    Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia
    Mohawk Industries, Universidad EAFIT, Halton Healthcare
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    January 2026
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