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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 the heat maps."
"As a large organization, it is difficult to individually monitor every device. Instead, we use Cisco Prime to keep an eye on the network and services. We do not use it as a node tool, as we have other tools for network operation centers. When services go down, it can cause issues, we rely on Cisco Prime to monitor and notify us of any service disruptions. We mainly use Cisco Prime Infrastructure for configuration-level tasks."
"The solution's configuration management tool is amazing because it centralizes and pushes configurations which saves a lot of volume and effort."
"It helps us manage and monitor analytics and fix issues."
"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."
"Cisco Prime can help customers fix their Wi-Fi issues with scientific and digital data."
"The hardware Cisco provides is excellent. It's a well-made product."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is the heat map."
"You can configure it at your ease."
"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."
"I find Fortinet's technical support for FortiManager effective and I would rate it eight out of ten."
"I appreciate the ability to connect via SSH through Fortinet FortiManager to the FortiGates I manage. This feature allows me to gather information about the interfaces without having to physically connect to the device. This is a convenient aspect that I find valuable."
"It's very easy to install, and it's easy to discover and communicate with your device."
"Everybody is quite happy with the way that the graphical user interface works."
"The most valuable features are the centralized management of the firewalls."
"The best feature of Fortinet FortiManager is its ease of use. It is easy to manage the firewall from Fortinet FortiManager. Additionally, the interface is very good."
 

Cons

"The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."
"Cisco Prime needs to have lower prices and more customization options."
"Lacking in integration with a SIEM tool."
"Some improvements are needed, specifically in the form of more updates and enhancements."
"There is room for improvement in the Access layer."
"The reporting feature of Cisco Prime should be improved."
"They can also improve the management of more enterprise devices."
"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 GUI is not ideal."
"Its licensing model should be improved."
"The information extraction through command lines was could improve to some extent. Although there were some command lines available, there were not enough options. For instance, I needed to obtain the management IP address of my two Fortigates, but the Fortinet FortiManager did not provide me with the IP address on the LAN interface. I attempted to find this information through the command line but was unsuccessful. I also searched for articles on the internet, but could not find a solution. This is an aspect that could be improved or potentially there is a method to access this information that I have yet to discover."
"The reporting details have room for improvement."
"It would be nice to have a virtual appliance as well."
"FortiManager should improve the integration with third-party platforms."
"Within the management of some features on FortiManager, specifically the management of user objects used for VPN service, FortiManager is quite weak."
"This solution needs more experienced technical support staff. There's nothing special about it compared to other vendors."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We update the license every five years."
"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."
"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
"Cisco Prime is an expensive solution."
"The cost is quite high."
"The license model they use depends on the size and is not limited to the users."
"FortiManager is reasonably priced - I pay around US$40,0000 per year, which covers fifty locations."
"Fortinet FortiManager is costly."
"Our organization pays a monthly license fee for the solution."
"FortiManager isn't expensive, but its cost is dependent on which services are required."
"The price point is very good."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
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.
883,619 professionals have used our research since 2012.