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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Catalyst Center

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/ACisco Catalyst Center provides an intent-based platform for managing enterprise networks across campus, branch, and edge environments. It combines automation, analytics, and assurance to streamline IT operations, improve security posture, and reduce manual tasks. With integratedAI/ML-driven insights, policy-based controls, and end-to-end visibility across wired and wireless infrastructures, Catalyst Center empowers IT teams toproactively detect issues, enforce compliance, and accelerate…N/A

    Cisco Nexus Dashboard

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/ACisco Nexus Dashboard simplifies data-center networks with automation and analytics. The data-center network helps organizations to meet business demands, and provision reliable data-center networking services as fast as possible, when and where organizations need it. As network infrastructure management is becoming more complex, diverse, and distributed, with multiple configuration points, monitoring tools, and vast amounts of data being generated every second. Cisco Nexus Dashboard is…N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Catalyst CenterCisco Nexus Dashboard
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Catalyst CenterCisco Nexus Dashboard
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Catalyst CenterCisco Nexus Dashboard
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
    Cisco Catalyst Center stands out compared to other network management platforms thanks to its strong automation capabilities, Assurance, and deep integration with Cisco’s switching, wireless, and security portfolio. Competing tools often lack the same end‑to‑end visibility and …
    Incentivized
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    92%
    Would buy again
    306 Answers
    97%
    Would buy again
    60 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    90%
    Delivers good value for the price
    245 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    49 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    319 Answers
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    60 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    83%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    195 Answers
    86%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    42 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    80%
    Implementation went as expected
    229 Answers
    87%
    Implementation went as expected
    46 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Catalyst CenterCisco Nexus Dashboard
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Cisco Meraki Dashboard
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Cisco Nexus Series Switches
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Prime LAN Management (discontinued)
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Cisco Nexus Series Switches
    Score9.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Catalyst CenterCisco Nexus Dashboard
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.4
    (343 ratings)
    7.6
    (64 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.9
    (9 ratings)
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    Usability
    7.9
    (19 ratings)
    7.9
    (5 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (7 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.7
    (33 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (7 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Catalyst CenterCisco Nexus Dashboard
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    Would recommend Cisco Catalyst Center to medium to large scale organizations that have many cookie-cutter sites and the resources to properly provision all their devices. I would not recommend to teams that do not have a strong network engineering team that can navigate the various intricacies of the platform.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    We used Cisco Nexus Dashboard specifically for automating the creation of networks in our private cloud environment using a VXLAN EVPN multisite environment. It integrates into Infoblox well. It's also very suited in network troubleshooting for past and present issues. Where I don't see it being used much is in the campus but it's nice to know we have the ability to add catalyst if needed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cisco
    • Again, the ease of use of the APIs and the API Explorer provides the tools needed to write these custom workflows that allow us to do a lot of the automation we’re doing now, saving hundreds of hours by using those tools.
    • The product is very intuitive, and there is a lot of support out there in the DevNet community to help with that.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • It is a flexible tool that helps streamline and facilitate the development of new services.
    • Ideal for automating tasks such as network modification, configuration, and removal, which provides great time savings.
    • Ensures services without interruption and without difficult scheduling.
    • It has a simple user interface and excellent support, made up of several providers.
    • It facilitates the administration of managed services.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • Within its Tasks - Audit, it can sometimes allow plaintext data, including passwords, to be seen. There should be functionality to detect password usage and appropriately obfuscate the data.
    • Occasionally, Catalyst Center does not sync changes properly within templates, which requires deleting and reconfiguring the template version. Better processes here would be beneficial.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • With the latest version release of Cisco Nexus Dashboard to version 3.0.1 I can say that most of the features have already improved but one of the wishlists that I want for ND is the possibility of extracting lists of Anomaly.
    • Include older versions of Firmware in the list of choices when doing the firmware upgrade analysis, currently only the recommended is in the list of choices.
    • If possible, include all the prechecks in the Firmware pre-upgrade analysis same in the script provided by Cisco.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    I think new products are often "half-baked" or over hyped when they release, as was the case with DNAC. We were well ahead of the curve in acquiring it. But as it has matured it is now a fantastic addition to our infrastructure. I think we are easing into a stage where it is hard to envision a large organization NOT having Catalyst Center in place. If for nothing outside of the mapping and troubleshooting aspects; using it as a "source of truth".
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    We observe significant product development with each release, along with substantial expansion of functionality. The program code has been consolidated into a single image, which simplifies installation and routine system update operations. Additionally, it is possible to install it outside the production network, which further enhances the solution’s availability.Additionally, the new graphical interface is very simplified and user-friendly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Cisco
    Cisco DNA Center is going to help us in security, simplicity and ease of administration. Cisco DNA Center is complete management and control platform that simplifies and streamlines network operations. Cisco DNA Center offers a single dashboard for every core function in your network. With this platform, IT can become more nimble and respond to changes and challenges faster and more intelligently.
    Read full review
    Cisco
    For the end user, it is relatively easy to use. However, some training and practice is a must because the NSO is not as straightforward as the traditional router CLI. For the administrator, Cisco Network Service Orchestrator (NSO) is just like another program running on the Linux system--there is no big difference.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    For us, it's not yet a single pane of glass for the ACI network as Network Assurance Engine is not yet integrated into the [Cisco] Nexus Dashboard. This will be the case after the next update we plan to do. Today it's a tool I use daily to figure out if something unusual or unexpected happened in the SDN part of our network. The legacy network is still monitored with different tools.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Cisco
    El soporte de CISCO DNA Center es muy bueno, responden a mis dudas pero no he tenido oportunidad de reportar un incidente o determinar un tiempo de respuesta critico. The support of CISCO DNA Center is very good, they answer my questions, but I have not had the opportunity to report an incident or determine a critical response time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    here was never a need to contact support, as the system includes several commands that allow for self-healing. Even if, after the upgrade process, one of the processes was not running, I was able to quickly find the appropriate sequence of commands that definitively resolved the issue. The entire architecture was designed in such a way as to be resilient to the failure of one node in a three-server setup.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Cisco
    It was informative, but the labs were not available long enough for us to get intimately familiar with CCNA before it was closed. The course instructor was well informed and got us as close to ready as she could.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    Honestly, the product implementation took 1–2 days to comprehensively manage the client’s entire infrastructure. The delivered on-premise solution, provided as physical servers, quickly builds the required environment in which individual data centers are rapidly added. The data collection process takes some time but also depends on the number of devices in the network.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    Cisco Catalyst Centeris basic zero-touch provisioning out of the box. You just rack and stack the switches, patch 'em in, and the controller pushes the config automatically. No need to console into every single box or spend hours script-running over CLI.The AI-driven assurance and telemetry are top-tier. Instead of getting flooded with useless syslog alerts when a link drops, it correlates the telemetry data to give you proactive health checks. It literally pinpoints wireless anomalies and bandwidth chokepoints before the users even start opening tickets.It handles fabric microsegmentation like a boss through SD-Access and TrustSec. You can easily enforce group-based policies right at the hardware level. It drops IoT gear, guests, and corporate traffic into their own secure buckets dynamically, without you having to manage a trillion messy VLANs and ACLs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    The Cisco Nexus Series switches perform admirably in our blended distributed system. We have been dealing with any of these sorts of switches for over 5 years and have been exceptionally happy with their functionality. Several of our other computer networks in our data rooms have proved effective with Cisco equipment. Because of the simplicity of maintenance and the high quality of technical support provided by Cisco representatives, there is a high level of trust in these switches.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    It's a very secure platform that can manage all the business networks, monitor various network traffic, and is easy project management software. Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller can centralize all the network traffic in one room for easy and secure management and threat detection capability and even the secure channels offered are excellent.
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • I have used it for upgrading devices, and it's does a great job at that, however out operations team for whatever reason has not adopted the feature.
    • Overall it feels like Cisco Catalyst Center has been huge waste of time. I feel like my time would be better spent on other projects and looking at other products and tools
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • Bit pricey.
    • Need to be purchased with vendor support. As far as I know, now support other vendors.
    • It's upgrade from DCNM and worth looking into.
    • It's still evolving and may need minor cosmetic adjustment
    • Easy to create and maintain vxlan and non vxlan fabrics.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Cisco Catalyst Center Screenshots

    Screenshot of AIOpsScreenshot of BaselinesScreenshot of PoliciesScreenshot of HealthScreenshot of Network HierarchyScreenshot of PoE

    Cisco Nexus Dashboard Screenshots

    Screenshot of 9324C-SE1U N9300 Smart SwitchScreenshot of 9324C-SE1U N9300 Smart SwitchScreenshot of N9348Y2C6D-SE1U N9300 Smart SwitchScreenshot of N9348Y2C6D-SE1U N9300 Smart SwitchScreenshot of N9348Y2C6D-SE1U N9300 Smart SwitchScreenshot of 9324C-SE1U N9300 Smart Switch