No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

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

"Cisco Prime is a good tool for inventory monitoring and wireless management."
"The solution helps with the management and support of the enterprise network."
"The dashboard is a valuable feature. It's very clear, and the metrics make it easy to see the current network situation."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is the heat map."
"Our primary use case for this solution is Assurance; it helps us manage and monitor analytics and fix issues such as poor voice quality, with real-time alert generation for VoIP infrastructure so that, for example, if there is latency during calls, it can be immediately alerted to take immediate action before we investigate the deeper issue."
"Enables oversight in order to tweak and tune."
"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 initial setup was straightforward."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the consolidation and the single point of administration solution."
"FortiManager's most valuable feature is central management."
"The integration is quite good."
"The most valuable feature is the centralized management console."
"It is a stable, reliable product."
"There is something called zero-touch provisioning, where you can add a new device without any configuration. You just add it to FortiManager and then forget about it."
"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."
 

Cons

"It should be able to monitor Palo Alto, Juniper, and Check Point products - not just Cisco solutions."
"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."
"If you think about a centralized monitoring system, Cisco Prime is not good because it does not support third-party vendors like Palo Alto or FortiGate."
"The solution has issues with real time monitoring of devices and NetFlow such as inadequate visualization for reports, sources, and destinations."
"Maybe it could be a little cheaper."
"The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."
"Cisco Prime's initial setup is complex."
"The user interface of Cisco Prime could be more user-friendly and increase its performance."
"The solution should be more open to other products."
"The GUI could be updated. It's not as good as it could be and is something the solution should improve in an upcoming release."
"Fortinet FortiManager could improve them by adding more portfolio components."
"I prefer configuring rules and the VPN on the standalone device, not on the manager."
"Setting up FortiManager can be complex because it involves changes from other devices and a lot of configuration."
"FortiManager needs to handle different firewall versions more efficiently."
"Setting up FortiManager can be complex because it involves changes from other devices and a lot of configuration."
"The FortiManager is more complex and they can make it easier to use the VPN manager. All other features are okay. 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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco Prime is an expensive solution."
"We update the license every five years."
"If we have a license for Cisco DNA, we can use the same license for Cisco Prime."
"You need to get special quotes from the company for each order."
"I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"I would 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 pricing is based on a licensing model by feature."
"The price of Fortinet FortiManager is inexpensive."
"Fortinet FortiManager is costly."
"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."
"Pricing could improve a little bit so I rate it a seven out of ten."
"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."
"The license model they use depends on the size and is not limited to the users."
"For us, it is a little bit expensive."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Management Applications solutions are best for your needs.
886,174 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
8%
Computer Software Company
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.
886,174 professionals have used our research since 2012.