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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

"What I found most beneficial from Cisco Prime is that it gives you an insight into what your network does, even when you're not actively monitoring what's going on with your network."
"If an AP or any wireless device goes into critical mode, Cisco Prime sends an alert. That is the most helpful feature."
"Our clients are happy with Prime, the stability is good and it's easy to manage."
"The product has a lot of features and capabilities."
"Enables oversight in order to tweak and tune."
"The dashboard is a valuable feature. It's very clear, and the metrics make it easy to see the current network situation."
"The interfaces are a valuable feature."
"Cisco Prime allows us to do a lot of functions with the users and it is flexible."
"Overall, I find that this is a good solution and it gives me everything that I want."
"The most valuable features are the centralized management of the firewalls, by unifying the deployment process of the policies among many of the firewalls or virtual domains that you have, and it is very easy to install and use."
"It is a stable, reliable product."
"The features are good."
"For the ROI, for a five-year project, Fortinet FortiManager would be the best option to use."
"I recommend FortiManager if you have more than FortiGate firewalls or more Fortinet products."
"The centralized management of policies and certificates, coupled with the capability to handle multi-site deployments effectively, provides streamlined operations."
"For the whole security fabric from Fortinet, with a simple click you can see if some workstations or services are affected by an attack, you can really easily quarantine it, check the solution, and fix it, and it's very good from a security perspective."
 

Cons

"The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
"Lacking in integration with a SIEM tool."
"They could consider offering more flexible pricing options for their customers."
"The solution is not easy to configure. It's not user-friendly for admins."
"The solution is a bit pricey."
"Maybe it could be a little cheaper."
"I rate Cisco Prime seven out of 10 for affordability. All Cisco solutions are expensive."
"The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."
"The response times from technical support need to be a bit quicker."
"Setting up FortiManager can be complex because it involves changes from other devices and a lot of configuration."
"The solution has some bugs."
"The documentation could be better."
"We have some visibility issues with the reporting."
"The scalability has room for improvement."
"The GUI is not ideal. It needs to be improved. It should be more user-friendly."
"The price always has room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
"The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
"Cisco Prime is an expensive solution."
"We update the license every five years."
"I would rate the pricing of Cisco Prime a seven out of ten."
"If we have a license for Cisco DNA, we can use the same license for Cisco Prime."
"The solution requires you to have a license for every device, as well as for any advanced features being used, which makes it costly for high-volume users. However, for a large-scale environment with a lot of customers we have found it to be a worthwhile investment."
"FortiManager isn't expensive, but its cost is dependent on which services are required."
"Fortinet FortiManager operates on a licensing system that is dependent on the number of devices being managed. Yearly subscription renewal is necessary to continue using the service. Although there is a cost associated with Fortinet FortiManager, its price is undoubtedly justified by the value it provides in terms of the purpose it serves."
"Fortinet FortiManager is not expensive at all if you compare it with other vendors like Check Point and Cisco. Fortinet products are the least expensive on the market in the category of firewalls."
"FortiManager is reasonably priced - I pay around US$40,0000 per year, which covers fifty locations."
"The pricing is based on a licensing model by feature."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction 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 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.
886,468 professionals have used our research since 2012.