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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 most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is its excellent audio and video conferencing with clear quality and no interruptions."
"The installation is easy."
"The solution's configuration management tool is amazing because it centralizes and pushes configurations which saves a lot of volume and effort."
"The product's most valuable features are monitoring and configuration."
"Cisco Prime has been around for a long time, and it keeps getting better and better."
"It gives you the ability to upgrade switches remotely, schedule the upgrade time, perform backups, and monitor the health of all networks."
"Our clients are happy with Prime, the stability is good and it's easy to manage."
"It helps us manage and monitor analytics and fix issues."
"In general, I have no serious concerns about this product so I have no problems recommending it."
"The solution is very stable."
"Fortinet FortiManager can centrally manage all FortiGates and is effective for the deployment of updates and patches."
"Without FortiManager, you cannot manage a complex environment across several sites with multiple firewalls."
"Even without the security orchestration, just the fact that the customer could request the firewall team to configure a job that would roll out a configuration on the firewalls and it could be deployed across all the firewalls through the FortiManager was a big improvement compared to deploying the new firewall rule on each firewall sequentially."
"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."
"I pushed templates from FortiManager to our site, and they were deployed successfully."
"It has multiple features in one box, which helps to avoid needing a lot of equipment. This is something that makes them unique."
 

Cons

"They can also improve the management of more enterprise devices."
"Cisco Prime could improve the graphical user interface."
"Cisco Prime is slow at times, we often have to restart the database to run reports or to gain access."
"They could consider offering more flexible pricing options for their customers."
"Cisco Prime's initial setup is complex."
"The solution has issues with real time monitoring of devices and NetFlow such as inadequate visualization for reports, sources, and destinations."
"Cisco Prime could improve the graphical user interface."
"Maybe it could be a little cheaper."
"If you have more than one FortiMail device, you can't manage it then with FortiManager on FortiGate."
"The dashboard could use some improvement."
"When I started, it was a bit difficult, however, now it's okay. It can be a bit complex for basic users."
"The response times from technical support need to be a bit quicker."
"Configuring Fortinet without internet access is challenging."
"Not just in FortiManager, but in any Fortinet project in general, the troubleshooting is very hard."
"We have some visibility issues with the reporting."
"Their EDR products could be better. They need to dedicate more R&D to that area."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco Prime is an expensive solution."
"If we have a license for Cisco DNA, we can use the same license for Cisco Prime."
"The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
"We update the license every five years."
"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."
"You need to get special quotes from the company for each order."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
"The licensing costs depend on how many devices you want to use."
"This is an affordable solution, and its licensing model is based on the number of devices."
"Compared to Check Point or Cisco, Fortinet FortiManager is more affordable but it is still on the higher end."
"In comparison with other products, the price of FortiManager is reasonable."
"I hope that the prices will become more competitive in subsequent releases, as the current pricing is perceived as somewhat elevated."
"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."
"Our organization pays a monthly license fee for the solution."
"Fortinet FortiManager can be expensive."
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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.
886,426 professionals have used our research since 2012.