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Cisco Prime [EOL] vs Fortinet FortiManager comparison

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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.
Tushar Joshi - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. System Administration (Grindmaster Machines Pvt Ltd) at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
Centralized policies have simplified firewall management and support consistent role-based control
I do not use Fortinet FortiManager automation features. I can provide my feedback about it. It is good, in my opinion. What I think about the reporting part is that it is good. As far as the user is concerned, I think Fortinet FortiManager is optimal now. I do not think any requirement is there. I do not see anything additional to add to Fortinet FortiManager. I purchased the license for Fortinet FortiManager through the partner. I gave this review a rating of eight.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Technical support is great, and we find them to be helpful and responsive."
"The solution provides data that allows us to time travel through logs and perform remote operations or troubleshooting."
"We use Cisco Prime for network mapping and surveys."
"The solution helps with the management and support of the enterprise network."
"The endpoint information Cisco Prime generates helps us troubleshoot, and it's also useful for compliance reporting and endpoint identification."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is the heat map."
"The dashboard is a valuable feature. It's very clear, and the metrics make it easy to see the current network situation."
"The VLAN mapping function has been most impactful in simplifying our network management tasks."
"The solution has the best stability for application control and inspections."
"It's very easy to install, and it's easy to discover and communicate with your device."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"The solution brings device management into one single pane of glass and is a pretty good product."
"A fully integrated solution."
"The product is a combination of management and monitoring from the same interface."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiManager are the overall management it provides and its ease of use."
"The integration is quite good."
 

Cons

"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."
"There is room for improvement in the Access layer."
"The onboarding process could be improved and developed to enhance compatibility for non-Cisco devices."
"They could consider offering more flexible pricing options for their customers."
"The solution is considered legacy and DNAC has overcome it because of centralized controls that allow a complete LAN network to be moved to centralized management."
"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."
"Maybe it could be a little cheaper."
"If you look at some of the wireless site-survey tools that are available in the commercial space, Cisco should include similar solutions, which would help our on-plant engineers when they're doing a site survey."
"Fortinet develops many different solutions but only some of them can be managed using FortiManager."
"When we have a specific configuration pushed it does take some time to be deployed on the actual firewall."
"When I started, it was a bit difficult, however, now it's okay. It can be a bit complex for basic users."
"It's a difficult process to transfer one interface from one virtual domain to another."
"The dashboard could use some improvement."
"The areas that need improvement are implemenation and support. In terms of implementation, it mainly needs clear documentation."
"We have some visibility issues with the reporting."
"The price always has room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You need to get special quotes from the company for each order."
"I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"If we have a license for Cisco DNA, we can use the same license for Cisco Prime."
"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."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
"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."
"FortiManager is a bit expensive - I would rate its pricing three out of ten."
"Pricing could improve a little bit so I rate it a seven out of ten."
"The price point is very good."
"Fortinet is a high-end product and the cost is high. They should consider reducing the price, especially for existing customers."
"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."
"Fortinet FortiManager is costly."
"Fortinet FortiManager can be expensive."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
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 think Fortinet FortiManager can be improved as the web page loading is slightly slow.
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiManager?
My main use case for Fortinet FortiManager is to manage multiple FortiGate devices. I can confirm that I use Fortinet FortiManager perfectly in my main use case.
 

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: October 2026.
921,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.