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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

"Cisco Prime allows us to do a lot of functions with the users and it is flexible."
"If an AP or any wireless device goes into critical mode, Cisco Prime sends an alert. That is the most helpful feature."
"The product has a lot of features and capabilities."
"Our clients are happy with Prime, the stability is good and it's easy to manage."
"Cisco Prime is very good management-wise, giving you the ability to upgrade switches remotely, schedule the upgrade time, perform backups, and monitor the health of all networks."
"Cisco Prime is helpful as it provides us with real-time monitoring, which allows us to be proactive in our environment."
"Cisco Prime allows us to do a lot of functions with the users and it is flexible."
"The most valuable is the assistance for network support."
"My advice to anybody who is researching this product is that it is quite easy to use and the learning curve is not steep."
"The centralized policy management helps with the creation of policies because it is easy to monitor and facilitates installation."
"FortiManager's most valuable feature is central management."
"Being able to push consistent firewall rules and configuration changes across multiple FortiGates saves a ton of time and reduces errors compared to managing each device individually."
"It is a stable, reliable product."
"Fortinet FortiManager is effective and helpful for VPN management, such as deployment VPN management."
"Overall, I find that this is a good solution and it gives me everything that I want."
"Even without the security orchestration, just the fact that the customer could request the firewall team to configure a job that would roll out a configuration on the firewalls and it could be deployed across all the firewalls through the FortiManager was a big improvement compared to deploying the new firewall rule on each firewall sequentially."
 

Cons

"Cisco can only be used for Cisco environments and is not compatible with other vendors."
"This solution could be improved if it could monitor configuration changes."
"The product's pricing can be cheaper."
"Some improvements are needed, specifically in the form of more updates and enhancements."
"The solution is not easy to configure. It's not user-friendly for admins."
"Maybe it could be a little cheaper."
"Prime is used for managing all the infrastructure and if it can be integrated with the SIEM tool it could be well managed."
"The product needs to improve its interface and reporting."
"We have experienced a series of minor bugs that necessitated contacting technical support on several occasions."
"Wizards could be improved in pushing policies."
"I didn't like the connectivity with FortiManager and FortiSwitch, which was buggy and annoying and had fewer features."
"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."
"Regional support in African countries needs to be improved."
"The documentation could be better."
"When we have a specific configuration pushed it does take some time to be deployed on the actual firewall."
"When I installed it, I found it somewhat difficult to set up."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We update the license every five years."
"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."
"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 product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
"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."
"The licensing costs depend on how many devices you want to use."
"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."
"Pricing could improve a little bit so I rate it a seven out of ten."
"The pricing model is affordable."
"Fortinet is a high-end product and the cost is high. They should consider reducing the price, especially for existing customers."
"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."
"This is an affordable solution, and its licensing model is based on the number of devices."
"Fortinet FortiManager is costly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
8%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
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: March 2026.
885,728 professionals have used our research since 2012.