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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 solution helps with the management and support of the enterprise network."
"Cisco Prime is helpful as it provides us with real-time monitoring. This allows us to be proactive in our environment."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Prime include its comprehensive functionality as a one-stop solution for basic SNMP port management."
"If an AP or any wireless device goes into critical mode, Cisco Prime sends an alert. That is the most helpful feature."
"The installation is easy."
"Cisco Prime is a good tool for inventory monitoring and wireless management."
"We use the solution to control the physical service station that is part of the SCADA network. We connect and control them remotely."
"We use Cisco Prime for network mapping and surveys."
"Fortinet has the option of synchronization in the cloud, so you can manage everything if you have a cloud account."
"The reports feature is excellent."
"The most valuable features are the centralized management of the firewalls."
"The main benefit of Fortinet FortiManager is the ability to control all the devices from a central location, view their statuses, and manage their configurations and updates from a single management console."
"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 central management feature is the most valuable to me."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiManager, in my opinion, are SD-WAN and the manageability console."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
 

Cons

"They could consider offering more flexible pricing options for their customers."
"The solution can be slow at times."
"There is room for improvement in the Access layer."
"I want the tool to improve data visibility."
"It should be able to monitor Palo Alto, Juniper, and Check Point products - not just Cisco solutions."
"The onboarding process could be improved and developed to enhance compatibility for non-Cisco devices."
"The solution has issues with real time monitoring of devices and NetFlow such as inadequate visualization for reports, sources, and destinations."
"We would like to see the inclusion of detailed alerts."
"The response times from technical support need to be a bit quicker."
"The graphical user interface could use improvement as it appears complex and not user-friendly."
"Its licensing model should be improved."
"In future updates, I would like to see more customization and AI integration."
"Wizards could be improved in pushing policies."
"Configuring Fortinet without internet access is challenging."
"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."
"It would be better if it were easier to run a routing protocol. In the next release, I would like them to enhance some features in the GUI rather than CLI or OSP. For example, whenever a customer generates an ISP directly on the firewall, it's complicated to configure the routing protocol."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If we have a license for Cisco DNA, we can use the same license for Cisco Prime."
"We update the license every five years."
"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"I would rate the pricing of Cisco Prime a seven out of ten."
"You need to get special quotes from the company for each order."
"I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The cost is quite high."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
"Compared to Check Point or Cisco, Fortinet FortiManager is more affordable but it is still on the higher end."
"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."
"The license model they use depends on the size and is not limited to the users."
"Our organization pays a monthly license fee for the solution."
"The licensing costs depend on how many devices you want to use."
"For the licensing fee, we paid around 10,000 to 15,000 euros."
"The price point is very good."
"This is an affordable solution, and its licensing model is based on the number of devices."
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Top Industries

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

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: February 2026.
883,044 professionals have used our research since 2012.