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Cisco Prime [EOL] vs Fortinet FortiManager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Prime [EOL]
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiManager
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
72
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (3rd)
 

Featured Reviews

AR
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.
SudeepMaydeo - PeerSpot reviewer
Global Head of IT Infrastructure at EPL Americas
Ensures seamless integration and centralized visibility for network security operations
The version upgrade from a single dashboard for all the firewalls in one click is the beauty of Fortinet FortiManager as the most impactful feature in managing our network security. Fortinet FortiManager's policy management enhances our security protocols by enabling us and giving integrated centralized visibility, which has proven to be very healthy. Because of this, we have identified some of the vulnerabilities in our systems, and we mitigated them through Fortinet FortiManager. The central dashboards and the visibility are what appealed to us to go with Fortinet FortiManager. Fortinet FortiManager has adapted to changes in our network scale and complexity as we have geographically 18 international locations, all equipped with firewalls and some cybersecurity initiatives and IT infrastructure initiatives.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product has a lot of features and capabilities."
"The dashboard is a valuable feature. It's very clear, and the metrics make it easy to see the current network situation."
"Cisco Prime is helpful as it provides us with real-time monitoring. This allows us to be proactive in our environment."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is its excellent audio and video conferencing with clear quality and no interruptions."
"In terms of reliability especially, Cisco is light years ahead."
"If an AP or any wireless device goes into critical mode, Cisco Prime sends an alert. That is the most helpful feature."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments because it saves time, prevents manual errors during deployment, and is easier to troubleshoot."
"Cisco Prime has been around for a long time, and it keeps getting better and better."
"The SD-WAN deployment environment, and the SD-WAN templates are particularly useful. Managing the solution is very intuitive. The initial setup of the solution was very straightforward."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the consolidation and the single point of administration solution."
"FortiManager is for the syncing of devices, and when companies are using multiple devices from Fortinet, such as FortiGate, FortiSwitches, and FortiAP, it is required so that a single person can centrally manage all of the devices, making it a very useful application."
"The capability of centralized management is valuable. We can configure all firewall boxes with the same configuration."
"You can configure it at your ease."
"The solution has the best stability for application control and inspections."
"Everybody is quite happy with the way that the graphical user interface works."
"Fortinet FortiManager allows a full view of all the devices on the network from one location."
 

Cons

"The reporting could be simplified and the information made clearer to the user."
"The product needs to improve its interface and reporting."
"Lacking in integration with a SIEM tool."
"That is unacceptable and it's the biggest downfall of the solution."
"The solution is a bit pricey."
"The reporting feature of Cisco Prime should be improved."
"If you look at some of the wireless site-survey tools that are available in the commercial space, Cisco should include similar solutions, which would help our on-plant engineers when they're doing a site survey."
"The onboarding process could be improved and developed to enhance compatibility for non-Cisco devices."
"I would like to be able to manage other products such as Endpoint and FortiAnalyzer through FortiManager. That is, the integration with other solutions needs to be improved."
"The FortiManager is more complex and they can make it easier to use the VPN manager. All other features are okay. However, the VPN manager is more difficult and can cause some issues in the environment, if you do not have the experience to use it."
"There are a lot of bugs that need to be fixed, for example, the ZTP."
"If you have more than one FortiMail device, you can't manage it then with FortiManager on FortiGate."
"Regional support in African countries needs to be improved."
"It requires a lot of resources. This is the main challenge."
"If you have more than one FortiMail device, you can't manage it then with FortiManager on FortiGate."
"Its licensing model should be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."
"Cisco Prime is an expensive solution."
"You need to get special quotes from the company for each order."
"The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"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."
"I would rate the pricing of Cisco Prime a seven out of ten."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
"The pricing is based on a licensing model by feature."
"In comparison with other products, the price of FortiManager is reasonable."
"Fortinet is a high-end product and the cost is high. They should consider reducing the price, especially for existing customers."
"If you compare Fortinet and Palo Alto, Fortinet is cheaper, but if you compare Cisco and Fortinet, sometimes Cisco is cheaper because Cisco gives us more discounts because of the size. Cisco isn't cheap, but sometimes, we get a big discount from them."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."
"I hope that the prices will become more competitive in subsequent releases, as the current pricing is perceived as somewhat elevated."
"Fortinet FortiManager is costly."
"Fortinet FortiManager is a low-priced product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise24
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business35
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise19
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What needs improvement with Cisco Prime?
The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive.
What is your primary use case for Cisco Prime?
We use Cisco Prime for centralized configuration management backups and monitoring.
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiManager?
The most valuable feature is the centralized management console.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiManager?
I am satisfied with the licensing cost, and I would rate it an 8.5.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiManager?
I do not use Fortinet FortiManager daily, but I can speak with my security team and ask them what areas need future improvement for Fortinet FortiManager. When I installed it, I found it somewhat d...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Prime Infrastructure
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mohawk Industries, Universidad EAFIT, Halton Healthcare
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: March 2026.
886,174 professionals have used our research since 2012.