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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN reduces WAN expenses, improves efficiency, and enhances reliability, with ROI in three years for most users.
Sentiment score
5.7
Versa's SASE improved speed and user experience, but financial benefits remain uncertain and require detailed analysis.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN support is highly rated for expertise and responsiveness, despite occasional delays and redirection challenges.
Sentiment score
6.0
Versa's SASE platform receives mixed reviews, praised for expertise but criticized for slow, less specialized support compared to competitors.
Cisco's ongoing reorganizations have affected the quality of technical support, which varies depending on the engineer handling cases.
I work with a partner, not directly with the OEM, which makes getting technical support on call very challenging.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is praised for its scalability, suitable for diverse industries and enterprises, despite some technical expansion limits.
Sentiment score
7.4
Versa SASE Platform is scalable, ideal for large enterprises, with easy capacity increase, though less suited for smaller businesses.
Cisco SD-WAN is highly scalable and can be expanded to more than 10,000 sites.
The ease of configuration and features like zero-touch provisioning enhance the scalability of Cisco SD-WAN, especially in disaster recovery situations.
The scalability from a performance point of view is good, but from a commercial perspective, it is low.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is stable and reliable, but complex setups and new deployments may face minor issues and bugs.
Sentiment score
7.3
Users praise Versa SASE Platform's stability and reliability, with Dell hardware preferred, resolving initial firmware issues successfully.
While some software-related issues and bugs were encountered, they did not cause the whole environment to crash.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN needs cost efficiency, better interface, enhanced security, simplified licensing, and improved support and scalability.
Versa SASE Platform requires enhanced features, better integration, improved stability, and AI incorporation, while being costly and lacking resources.
Including more features like integrating with Splunk for monitoring vulnerabilities would help eliminate the need for other SOC solutions.
There should be more technical materials and certifications available to improve awareness and skills in the industry.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is costly compared to competitors, with complex licensing but offers comprehensive solutions and performance benefits.
Versa SASE offers cost-effective pricing with SD-WAN and firewall integration, appealing to users for its agility and support.
Its pricing is justifiable due to the comprehensive solution it offers.
It is also relatively cost-effective for smaller businesses when using the Meraki version.
The solution is very expensive, costing above one crore Indian rupees for our setup, which spans around twenty five branches.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN offers centralized management, security, scalability, cloud integration, and enhances network performance and cost savings.
Versa Unified SASE enhances cost-efficiency and flexibility with advanced features, centralized management, scalability, and intuitive deployment.
Security is standard compliant, eliminating config drift that was prevalent before manual configurations.
Integration with Cisco ISE, Cisco Firewalls, and other Cisco solutions is beneficial.
The most valuable features of Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) are application prioritization, advanced routing features, and network gateway firewall capabilities.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
2nd
Ranking in WAN Edge
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
92
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (5th)
Versa Unified Secure Access...
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
8th
Ranking in WAN Edge
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (14th)
 

Featured Reviews

Igor Van Den Ouden - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables secure and flexible branch connectivity with application-aware routing
The valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN include its security policies and zone-based firewall that are applied to every site, as well as application-aware routing. Security is standard compliant, eliminating config drift that was prevalent before manual configurations. Application-aware routing offers flexibility in using different lines for traffic, depending on the policy implemented.
PriyankDubey - PeerSpot reviewer
A flexible, stable and scalable solution
I don't have issues with the hardware, as the requisite capacity is visible in the data sheets. All the details in the data sheets are accounted for. But, I find myself confused when it comes to combining this with the software. I have not come across documentation on the Versa website which would provide information about the parameters for selecting the appropriate license. For this we are assisted by the solution's design engineer and the Versa team. I do what I can as a project manager and make the best suggestions I am capable of concerning the competition. Future releases should contain AI for the voice feature. SSL VPN is lacking in the solution. I wish to see this in the near future.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions solutions are best for your needs.
831,481 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
45%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco SD-WAN?
When considering the most valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN, the decoupling of self-monitoring stands out significantly.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco SD-WAN?
The pricing for Cisco SD-WAN is rated eight out of ten, with some variability depending on the reseller discounts and the size of the enterprise. It is also relatively cost-effective for smaller bu...
What needs improvement with Cisco SD-WAN?
The main area for improvement in Cisco SD-WAN is the lack of documentation, which often lags behind the software releases. This is especially notable since Cisco acquired the solution and is still ...
What do you like most about Versa FlexVNF?
Versa is a good centralized solution, where you're setting up your infrastructure in a data center type thing.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Versa FlexVNF?
Both Versa and VMware are cheap in terms of the router. I find Versa a little more expensive than VMware in terms of remote access and secure web gateway elements.
What needs improvement with Versa FlexVNF?
We've had the odd occasional stability issue with software upgrades, etcetera. They don't support certain other third-party applications, which can be a bit limiting at times, whereas VMware seems ...
 

Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN
Versa FlexVNF, FlexVNF, Versa Titan
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates
CenturyLink, RCN Business, Colt Technology Services
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs. Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,481 professionals have used our research since 2012.