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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
6.8
Number of Reviews
74
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 hardware Cisco provides is excellent. It's a well-made product."
"Cisco Prime allows us to manage all the wireless controllers and access points."
"Cisco Prime can help customers fix their Wi-Fi issues with scientific and digital data."
"The dashboard is a valuable feature. It's very clear, and the metrics make it easy to see the current network situation."
"The product's most valuable features are monitoring and configuration."
"It helps us manage and monitor analytics and fix issues."
"Cisco Prime is helpful as it provides us with real-time monitoring, which allows us to be proactive in our environment."
"Our clients are happy with Prime, the stability is good and it's easy to manage."
"It is a stable, reliable product."
"With Fortinet FortiManager, we can manage multiple firewalls and devices from a central point."
"A fully integrated 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."
"It is easy to set up the solution."
"The functionality is good; it has good features and it works well for us, with multiple features in one box, which helps to avoid needing a lot of equipment and makes it unique."
"The templates are great, they are very helpful, you make a template and push it to the FortiGate, and it's been working fine."
"The main benefit I receive from Fortinet FortiManager is that it streamlines every device."
 

Cons

"The solution has issues with real time monitoring of devices and NetFlow such as inadequate visualization for reports, sources, and destinations."
"The product needs to improve its interface and reporting."
"The overall management capabilities of Prime need to be improved."
"This solution could be improved if it could monitor configuration changes."
"I would rate the scalability of Cisco Prime a six out of ten. To scale up from a hundred to a thousand devices, the platform needs to be rebuilt logically. This process might require a downtime window and may involve changing the hardware or upgrading to a larger appliance."
"Cisco Prime could improve the notifications in the system. Having more details about what is happening would be useful, such as traffic numbers or who is connected. We can see them through the firewall controller, but it would be better if you can see them from one place."
"I rate Cisco Prime seven out of 10 for affordability. All Cisco solutions are expensive."
"The solution is not easy to configure. It's not user-friendly for admins."
"Setting up FortiManager can be complex because it involves changes from other devices and a lot of configuration."
"Troubleshooting for Fortinet products is more difficult than competing products like Cisco and Palo Alto."
"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."
"There may be a communication issue. However, other items may be the culprit, such as network connectivity. It depends on the customer's network."
"The fabric for integrations or connections could be improved."
"The documentation could be better."
"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."
"The dashboard could use some improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You need to get special quotes from the company for each order."
"If we have a license for Cisco DNA, we can use the same license for Cisco Prime."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
"I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"I would rate the pricing of Cisco Prime a seven out of ten."
"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The cost is quite high."
"We update the license every five years."
"The pricing model is affordable."
"The licensing costs depend on how many devices you want to use."
"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 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."
"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."
"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
Construction Company
12%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise24
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise21
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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 would like to see functionality that simplifies my life. I understand that adding new devices should be simplified.
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiManager?
I am using FortiGate 200E. I am mostly working with Fortinet FortiManager. Overall, I am using Fortinet FortiManager for everything. The dashboard is used frequently. I use Fortinet FortiManager mo...
 

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, Skyline Communications and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: June 2026.
903,147 professionals have used our research since 2012.