Cisco Catalyst Center vs. Cisco Prime LAN Management (discontinued)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Catalyst Center
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Cisco Catalyst Center (formerly Cisco DNA Center) is a network management system that leverages AI to connect, secure, and automate customer’s network operations. It harnesses the Catalyst family of switching and wireless through AI-enabled automation that simplifies the IT experience and streamlines complex network operations. Offering operational flexibility, Cisco Catalyst Center can be deployed on-premises on a physical appliance or in a VMware virtual environment, or in a…N/A
Cisco Prime LAN Management (discontinued)
Score 7.6 out of 10
N/A
Cisco Prime LAN Management Solution is discontinued. Current users are encouraged to explore Cisco Catalyst Center as a modern solution.N/A
Pricing
Cisco Catalyst CenterCisco Prime LAN Management (discontinued)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Catalyst CenterCisco Prime LAN Management (discontinued)
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco Catalyst CenterCisco Prime LAN Management (discontinued)
Considered Both Products
Cisco Catalyst Center
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
Cisco Catalyst Center replaces Prime in every way and provides more features.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
It's a good evolution.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
We evaluated SolarWinds but stopped the PoC after they got hacked. It wasn't stacking up well against DNAC anyway so it was inevitable that we were going to go with DNAC. DNAC has performed well so we made the right choice.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
Prime was being end of lifed, so the choice was easy. Although it was still very new when we aquired it, we trusted Cisco to deliver a working platform.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
Today we are running Prime along with DNA Center. Thankfully, Cisco does provide automated tools to migrate. however, it does not feel as if the two products have parity at this moment. I've noticed I juggle between the two to troubleshoot wireless issues and configure …
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
Prime still has some features such as rogue reporting and compliance jobs that DNA does not have.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
DNA Center is Prime on steroids and its logical successor
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
I have not used any other products like Cisco DNA Center, as this was really the only SDN product we thought would be worthwhile since we are almost a 100% Cisco shop.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
I was not involved in picking DNA Center as our final solution.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
Cisco Prime Infrastructure is a similar solution to Cisco DNA Center but on Prime we use to management the LAN network for example: monitoring and getting reports of several data, upgrade devices, save configurations, it has API that we use to configure and automate daily work. …
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
Cisco DNA Center was easier to deploy, and of course, having all Cisco hardware integrated made it faster. The newer GUI seems to operate smoother than older java based web GUIs.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
Cisco Prime, for example, is similar in that you have information about the network. Both applications can monitor the network, client, issues, etc.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
It's more effective because the information is deeper and uses information directly from the access switch.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
Por la integración general que tiene con diferentes soluciones de seguridad y data center

(We chose Cisco DNA Center) for the overall integration it provides with different security and data center solutions.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
por las ingtegraciones que podemos obtener con cisco dna center // This is good for the input we can get with Cisco DNA Center
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
DNA provides the possibility for a much better, more inclusive solution.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Center
At the time of comparison, Juniper's solution was far far away from the capabilities Cisco DNA Center had for Enterprise Networking.
Cisco Prime LAN Management (discontinued)

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Cisco Catalyst CenterCisco Prime LAN Management (discontinued)
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

NinjaOne
NinjaOne
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Cisco ACI
Cisco ACI
Score 8.5 out of 10
NinjaOne
NinjaOne
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco ACI
Cisco ACI
Score 8.5 out of 10
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Catalyst CenterCisco Prime LAN Management (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(128 ratings)
9.2
(12 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(16 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(31 ratings)
7.6
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Catalyst CenterCisco Prime LAN Management (discontinued)
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
Cisco Catalyst Center does a good job configuring the switches and forming the fabric using recommended configuration and specific switch setup. Managing switches through inventory is another job Cisco Catalyst Center does well. On the other hand managing access to infrastructure (host onboarding for example) is one tedious job. To set 48 access ports on a switch takes more time than it would take an engineer connected to a switch using CLI.
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Discontinued Products
Although Cisco Prime [LAN Management Solution] is a nice tool and no other 4rd party tools can match its native monitoring and managing capabilities still i have given less rating and that's because it is only for Cisco vendor Devices. Hence if you have only Cisco infrastructure then go for it or else look for another 4rd party tool in conjunction with Cisco prime.
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Pros
Cisco
  • I think it abstracts the technical detail of what actually needs to be configured on the devices. So you can specify the intent and it'll do complex technical commands on the devices. You do not necessarily need to know I'm from a technical background, so I do know that, but on a scale, it's very easy just to click a few buttons and say what you want and it'll just do it for you.
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Discontinued Products
  • Wireless file detection and planning mode has helped us expand into new areas of our buildings.
  • Alerting is detailed when we have issues with hardwired and wireless devices, and Rogue Access Points are easily identifiable.
  • Cisco equipment information is much more detailed than other management products' SNMP queries and is an excellent tool for troubleshooting end-device connectivity issues.
  • Our KPI reporting for senior management and centralized management of our WIPS 'Wireless Intrusion Prevention' setup have both benefited significantly from the detailed reporting capabilities.
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Cons
Cisco
  • Learning curve is pretty steep
  • Setting golden images is tricky and cant always get it to work as advertised. Takes a couple times. Having a recent problem where it stopped working and Cisco TAC only explanation is that 3850 is no longer supported.
  • When I initially set up, couldnt find documentation. I set up a lot of IP addresses and assigned them to DNA. Cant find where these are located.
  • Troubleshooting with TAC, they always want me to run some scripts that I have no clue how to do.
  • Ability to be able to access configuration backups would be great.
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Discontinued Products
  • Maps. One thing that I miss is the fact that you can't see both wired and wireless equipment in the same topology map. For visualization and troubleshooting purposes, that would help a lot, and I honestly don' t think it's that much harder to implement.
  • I'd love to see an option to show 'live dashboards,' maps, or other visual tools to publish in a NOC room, or even just to broadcast in a big monitor to allow multiple workmates to check that information. Again, I don't think that would be too hard to implement. I remember a similar feature was available in the first versions of the product, way back in the 90's (yes, I'm that old :-) )
  • Sometimes, depending on what screen you are, the solution can be a little slow. I'm not saying the whole system is slow, but sometimes that slowness can bother a little.
  • Talking about areas for improvement, one area I think can be improved is the upgrade process. Even for not so large deployments, it can take a lot of time. Having this time decreased would be the right thing to do.
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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.
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Discontinued Products
No answers on this topic
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.
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Discontinued Products
We are very happy using Cisco Prime LAN Management Solution for the following reason: 1- Ease of use with the GUI. 2- Very well organized dashboard which can view many statistics on your devices. 3- Customized dashboard for different views ( for technical team and executives ) 4- Schedule configuration templates to use whenever we need on whatever device we want.
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Alternatives Considered
Cisco
The software upgrades and ability to integrate with the wireless telemetry data set Cisco DNA Center ahead. However the automation with Change Control, Intent and better path mapping (even across MPLS and WAN Circuits) make NetBrain a needed tool to get that gives you that visibility and flexibility. Solarwinds has the ablity to view Netflow which would be an interesting add to DNA Center or an easier path to get or integrate with Stealthwatch.
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Discontinued Products
There are various 3rd party tools available in the market which not only supports monitoring of cisco devices but also supports non-cisco devices, even with these capabilities in these 3rd party tools Cisco Prime has maintained a uniqueness in its products being the native tool from Cisco. The uniqueness is about product supportability for given devices and some of the edge features such as configuration management, detailed heatmaps etc
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Return on Investment
Cisco
  • Initial cost is pricy, but management needs to understand the value this provides so make them aware
  • Reporting could be improved in more detail in our opinion, but it gives a great overview of your environment. High level overview for managers would be greatly appreciated with as little or much detail as needed for certain Cisco gear.
  • Does not work as well with some older Cisco equipment because they want you to buy new, again the cost impact comes into play.
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Discontinued Products
  • It has helped us with our quarterly wireless security testing by pinpointing the location of non-approved access points vs. hunting for them via signal strength.
  • Saves time by helping to identify network health issues before they become a definitive problem causing downtime.
  • With errors detected early, we have noticed our wi-fi network is much more stable thus freeing up our engineer's time elsewhere.
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