Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

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, from a management perspective, has good reporting."
"Cisco Prime allows us to do a lot of functions with the users and it is flexible."
"I have found the solution to be scalable."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is the heat maps."
"The most valuable is the assistance for network support."
"The solution provides data that allows us to time travel through logs and perform remote operations or troubleshooting."
"Cisco Prime is a good tool for inventory monitoring and wireless management."
"The product's most valuable features are monitoring and configuration."
"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."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the consolidation and the single point of administration solution."
"FortiManager's ability to scale is good."
"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."
"The product is easy to use and manage."
"The firewall configuration has more capabilities than the other firewall management systems that I have worked with."
"The solution has the best stability for application control and inspections."
"I find Fortinet's technical support for FortiManager effective and I would rate it eight out of ten."
 

Cons

"The product needs to improve its stability."
"Cisco Prime needs to have lower prices and more customization options."
"The solution can be slow at times."
"Cisco can only be used for Cisco environments and is not compatible with other vendors."
"I rate Cisco Prime seven out of 10 for affordability. All Cisco solutions are expensive."
"There is room for improvement in the Access layer."
"Cisco Prime could improve the graphical user interface."
"The onboarding process could be improved and developed to enhance compatibility for non-Cisco devices."
"FortiManager should improve the integration with third-party platforms."
"Having FortiManager work with all of the Fortinet products would be a good improvement."
"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."
"We have some visibility issues with the reporting."
"There are a lot of bugs that need to be fixed, for example, the ZTP."
"For the IPSEC tunnels, Fortimanager doesn't have all of the features that are available on Fortigate."
"The scalability has room for improvement."
"It requires a lot of resources. This is the main challenge."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
"We update the license every five years."
"The cost is quite high."
"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
"I would rate the pricing of Cisco Prime a seven out of ten."
"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 licensing costs depend on how many devices you want to use."
"The license model they use depends on the size and is not limited to the users."
"The price of Fortinet FortiManager is inexpensive."
"FortiManager is reasonably priced - I pay around US$40,0000 per year, which covers fifty locations."
"The pricing is based on a licensing model by feature."
"The price point is very good."
"Fortinet FortiManager is costly."
"In comparison with other products, the price of FortiManager is reasonable."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Management Applications solutions are best for your needs.
883,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

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.
883,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.