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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Optical Networking

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/ACisco Optical Networking is a suite of products supporting data center networking, including the NCS 1000, 2000, 4000, 4200, and the Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager (Cisco EPN Manager), as well as Cisco ONS 15000 series platforms and devices.N/A

    Datadog

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/ADatadog is a monitoring service for IT, Dev and Ops teams who write and run applications at scale, and want to turn the massive amounts of data produced by their apps, tools and services into actionable insight.

    $18

    per month per host

    Pricing
    Cisco Optical NetworkingDatadog
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Log Management
    $1.27
    per month (billed annually) per host
    Infrastructure
    $15.00
    per month (billed annually) per host
    Standard
    $18
    per month per host
    Enterprise
    $27
    per month per host
    DevSecOps Pro
    $27
    per month per host
    APM
    $31.00
    per month (billed annually) per host
    DevSecOps Enterprise
    $41
    per month per host
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Optical NetworkingDatadog
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional Details—Discount available for annual pricing. Multi-Year/Volume discounts available (500+ hosts/mo).
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Optical NetworkingDatadog
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Datadog
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    16 Answers
    94%
    Would buy again
    50 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    15 Answers
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    41 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    94%
    Happy with the feature set
    16 Answers
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    52 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    12 Answers
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    32 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    15 Answers
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    36 Answers
    Features
    Cisco Optical NetworkingDatadog
    Monitoring Tasks
    Comparison of Monitoring Tasks features of Cisco Optical Networking and Datadog
    Feature
    Cisco Optical Networking
    -
    Ratings
    Datadog
    7.9
    2 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Remote monitoring00 Ratings8.22 Ratings
    Network device monitoring00 Ratings7.72 Ratings
    Multiple Server Monitoring00 Ratings7.72 Ratings
    Multi-device monitoring00 Ratings7.72 Ratings
    Automated alerts and notifications00 Ratings8.22 Ratings
    Management Tasks
    Comparison of Management Tasks features of Cisco Optical Networking and Datadog
    Feature
    Cisco Optical Networking
    -
    Ratings
    Datadog
    6.1
    1 Ratings
    12% below category average
    Patch Management00 Ratings7.31 Ratings
    Service configuration management00 Ratings6.41 Ratings
    Software and hardware inventory00 Ratings5.51 Ratings
    Policy-based automation00 Ratings5.51 Ratings
    Reporting
    Comparison of Reporting features of Cisco Optical Networking and Datadog
    Feature
    Cisco Optical Networking
    -
    Ratings
    Datadog
    8.2
    2 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Performance data reports00 Ratings8.22 Ratings
    Customizable reporting00 Ratings7.72 Ratings
    Data visualization00 Ratings8.62 Ratings
    Risk analysis00 Ratings8.22 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of Cisco Optical Networking and Datadog
    Feature
    Cisco Optical Networking
    -
    Ratings
    Datadog
    6.7
    1 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Data backup and recovery00 Ratings6.41 Ratings
    Antivirus and malware management00 Ratings7.31 Ratings
    Administrator access control00 Ratings6.41 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Optical NetworkingDatadog
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Amazon CloudWatch
    Score7.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Cisco Nexus Series Switches
    Score9.3 out of 10
    LogicMonitor
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Nexus Series Switches
    Score9.3 out of 10
    ManageEngine Site24x7
    Score10 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Optical NetworkingDatadog
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.2
    (17 ratings)
    8.9
    (65 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    4.3
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    8.1
    (10 ratings)
    8.7
    (44 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    5.0
    (7 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Optical NetworkingDatadog
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    Based on my experience, I think it's a goldmine for the experienced professional and a hectic job for newbies. I recommend newbies to have some experience and then jump to Cisco Optical Networking so that they can easily understand what they paid for and take the best out of it. It's best for network scalability so I highly recommend it to those who intend to scale their network in the near future however, if you know that your network will remain the same and you don't require it, there are cheaper options within Cisco.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Datadog
    Datadog may be better suited for teams that have a more out-of-the-box infrastructure, on the primary platforms Datadog supports. You may also have better results if you have a bigger team dedicated to devops and/or a bigger budget. We found that trying to adapt it to our use case (small team, .NET on AWS Fargate) wasn't feasible. We continually ran into roadblocks that required us to dig through documentation (and at times, having to figure out some documentation was wrong), go back and forth with support, and in my opinion, waste money on excessive and unintended usages due to opaque pricing models and inaccurate usage reports, as well as broken/non-functional rate sampling controls.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cisco
    • Makes use of limited fiber effectively.
    • Allows for the deployment of smart P2P MPLS links that automatically re-route around outages.
    • Simplifies the overhead of managing multiple technologies by converging the technologies.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Datadog
    • The thing which Datadog does really well, one of them are its broad range of services integrations and features which makes it one step observability solution for all. We can monitor all types of our application, infrastructure, hosts, databases etc with Datadog.
    • Its custom dashboard feature which helps us to visualize the data in a better way . It supports different types of charts through those charts we can create our dashboard more attractive.
    • Its AI powered alerting capability though that we can easily identify the root cause and also it has a low noise alerting capability which means it correlated the similar type of issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • A simplified management platform that provides services without having to invest In multiple products, each with an additional cost. The product should just come with the services and features.
    • Simplifying the BOM selection process. There are to many hidden part numbers you need to know.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Datadog
    • Alert windows cause lag in notifications (e.g. if the alert window is X errors in 1 hour, we won't get alerted until the end of the 1 hour range)
    • I would appreciate more supportive examples for how to filter and view metrics in the explorer
    • I would like a more clear interface for metrics that are missing in a time frame, rather than only showing tags/etc. for metrics that were collected within the currently viewed time frame
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    We will renew our use of Cisco Optical Networking due to its reliability in maintaining high-performance, low-latency connections, its scalability in supporting growing bandwidth demands, and its integration with existing Cisco infrastructure, which simplifies management and reduces operational complexity. Additionally, its robust security features and automation capabilities have enhanced network resilience, making it a valuable long-term solution for our expanding needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Datadog
    Definitely will not revisit after our issues and, in my opinion, poor support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Cisco
    It just works depending on what your requirement is. Cisco also provides a well formed cheat sheet on which gear to use for which scenario. Very convenient. It makes my job as a Sales Engineer easier when I have a short timeline to get a solution designed. It is also build well enough to be used in austere environments.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Datadog
    There are so many features that it can be hard to figure out where you need to go for your own use case. For example, RUM monitoring us buried in a "Digital Experience" sidebar setting when this is one of our key use cases that I sometimes struggle to find in the application. It appears that ECS + Fargate monitoring was recently released which is great because we had to build a lambda reporting solution for ephemeral task monitoring. But this new feature was never on my radar until I starting clicking around the application.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Cisco
    I would rate the overall support for Cisco Optical Networking at 9/10. The support team is highly responsive, knowledgeable, and effective in resolving issues quickly. Cisco’s comprehensive online resources, documentation, and community forums also make it easy to find solutions. However, there is always room for improvement in terms of response time during peak periods.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Datadog
    The support team usually gets it right. We did have a rather complicate issue setting up monitoring on a domain controller. However, they are usually responsive and helpful over chat. The downside would be I don’t think they have any phone support. If that is important to you this might not be a good fit.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Datadog
    Documentation was difficult to work through, rollout was catastrophic (completely outage)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    We selected Cisco Optical Networking after evaluating alternatives such as Ciena, Nokia, and Infinera. Cisco stood out for its seamless integration with our existing network infrastructure, which already relied heavily on Cisco solutions. This made deployment and management significantly easier. The Cisco NCS 2000 series offered flexible ROADM capabilities, allowing us to scale bandwidth dynamically without extensive infrastructure changes. Additionally, Cisco’s Evolved Programmable Network Manager (EPNM) provided intuitive management and automation, streamlining provisioning and monitoring tasks. While Ciena’s WaveLogic Ai impressed us with its adaptive modulation and Nokia’s 1830 PSS offered strong scalability, both required more complex configurations that didn’t align as well with our existing setup. Infinera’s GX Series excelled in long-haul capacity, but Cisco’s modular design better suited our evolving bandwidth needs. Ultimately, Cisco Optical Networking provided the best combination of scalability, integration ease, and operational efficiency, making it the ideal choice for our organization.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Datadog
    Our logs are very important, and Datadog manages them exceptionally well. We frequently use Datadog services for our investigations. Use case: Monitor your apps, infrastructure, APIs, and user experience.


    Key features:


    Logs, metrics, and APM (Application Performance Monitoring)


    Real-time alerting and dashboards


    Supports Kubernetes, AWS, GCP, and other integrations


    RUM (Real User Monitoring) and Synthetics





    ✅ Best for backend, server, and distributed systems monitoring.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • The best impact it had was to lower my network maintenance cost by the time span of more than a year
    • It might look a bit pricey at the beginning, but along with time, you'll feel that you're actually saving a lot of your time and money in terms of network management
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Datadog
    • Saved us (time & money) from developing our own monitoring utilities that would pale in comparison
    • Alerts allow us to remedy issues before our customers even know about them
    • Tracking resource usage over time allows us to better plan for future needs, before it becomes a pain-point.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Cisco Optical Networking Screenshots

    Screenshot of Cisco Network Convergence System 2006Screenshot of Cisco Network Convergence System 2006Screenshot of Cisco Network Convergence System 2006

    Datadog Screenshots

    Screenshot of the out-of-the-box and customizable monitoring dashboards.Screenshot of Datadog's collaboration features, where users can discuss issues in-context with production data, annotate changes and notify their teams, see who responded to that alert before, and discover what was done to fix it.Screenshot of where Datadog unifies traces, metrics, and logs—the three pillars of observability.Screenshot of some of Datadog's 400+ built-in integrations.Screenshot of Datadog's Service Map, which decomposes an application into all its component services and draws the observed dependencies between these services in real timeScreenshot of centralized log data, pulled from any source.