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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
73
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

"It gives you the ability to upgrade switches remotely, schedule the upgrade time, perform backups, and monitor the health of all networks."
"The map overview of our campus environment shows the distribution of RF frequency channels and the distribution of a client, providing us with a great idea of where the busier areas are within our environment to allow us to tweak and tune."
"Cisco Prime is very good management-wise, giving you the ability to upgrade switches remotely, schedule the upgrade time, perform backups, and monitor the health of all networks."
"The solution's configuration management tool is amazing because it centralizes and pushes configurations which saves a lot of volume and effort."
"What attracts customers to Cisco Prime is it is readily available."
"The technical support team is very good."
"Cisco Prime is user-friendly, so we are comfortable using it."
"Cisco Prime allows us to manage all the wireless controllers and access points."
"We look at the traffic to segment the network and it improves and increases the performance, and when we have a mobile connection and local laptops on the same network, we have seen a big performance upgrade."
"I like the features on offer, for example SD-WAN; it's one single configuration point for everything, especially when you have a headquarters and branch, and the VPN is also beneficial, with very good correlation between FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager, and we find the pricing to be fair."
"It would normally take us a handful of days to install one FortiGate instance on one site. But with this technology, zero-touch deployment, we need just one hour or maybe as little as 30 minutes to install one site. It is much more efficient."
"The most valuable feature is the centralized management console."
"It has multiple features in one box, which helps to avoid needing a lot of equipment. This is something that makes them unique."
"The user interface, along with user-friendly planning features, makes it straightforward to configure desired settings."
"The product is easy to use and manage."
"Central management system for Fortinet devices that's simple, scalable, and stable, with a straightforward setup."
 

Cons

"The solution is considered legacy and DNAC has overcome it because of centralized controls that allow a complete LAN network to be moved to centralized management."
"Maybe it could be a little cheaper."
"Prime is used for managing all the infrastructure and if it can be integrated with the SIEM tool it could be well managed."
"Cisco Prime's initial setup is complex."
"We would like to see the inclusion of detailed alerts."
"Cisco Prime needs to have lower prices and more customization options."
"The onboarding process could be improved and developed to enhance compatibility for non-Cisco devices."
"They can also improve the management of more enterprise devices."
"Fortinet is releasing quite a lot of new versions and I would say that most of the versions are not well tested before they're pushed out."
"The documentation could be better."
"The GUI and the whole process of configuration should be improved."
"FortiManager could be more user-friendly."
"The FortiManager is more complex and they can make it easier to use the VPN manager. 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."
"The solution could improve by having better integration with other solutions other than Fortinet."
"The compatibility with legacy products should be better. It would also be nice if the software could manage other devices from Fortinet and third parties."
"FortiManager should improve the integration with third-party platforms."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
"The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
"The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."
"The cost is quite high."
"If we have a license for Cisco DNA, we can use the same license for Cisco Prime."
"I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"Cisco Prime is an expensive solution."
"You need to get special quotes from the company for each order."
"On a scale from one to ten with one being the highest price and ten being the lowest price, I would rate FortiManager's price at three."
"FortiManager is a bit expensive - I would rate its pricing three out of ten."
"I hope that the prices will become more competitive in subsequent releases, as the current pricing is perceived as somewhat elevated."
"The licensing costs depend on how many devices you want to use."
"The pricing model is affordable."
"The price of Fortinet FortiManager is inexpensive."
"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."
"FortiManager isn't expensive, but its cost is dependent on which services are required."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
11%
Construction Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
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 Enterprise17
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.
886,576 professionals have used our research since 2012.