Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Score8.7 out of 10

304 Reviews and Ratings

What is Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN?

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is a software-defined wide area network solution designed to simplify and optimize enterprise network connectivity in complex digital landscapes. It enables organizations to connect any user to any application, whether on-premises, in data centers, or across multiple clouds, with integrated capabilities for multicloud support, security, predictive automation, and enhanced network visibility—all built on a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)-enabled architecture.

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is presented as ideal for enterprises undergoing digital transformation, especially those adopting hybrid and multicloud strategies. It addresses challenges such as fragmented IT environments, complex WAN architectures, and the need for secure access to business-critical applications.

In summary, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN aims to empower organizations to thrive in a cloud-first, distributed work environment by delivering a secure, high-performance, and easy-to-manage network foundation. It accelerates digital transformation by simplifying WAN operations, enhancing security, optimizing cloud connectivity, and providing actionable insights to ensure superior application experiences for users.

Categories & Use Cases

Software-Defined WAN

#1 most frequent

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

20.6%

701 installations of 3,407

#2 most frequent

Manufacturing

17.0%

578 installations of 3,407

#3 most frequent

Finance and Insurance

12.5%

425 installations of 3,407

“Moving forward more to network automation than using traditional networking.”
— CLoud Network Engineer, Generali (10,001+ employees)

Evan Mintzer

Director of Production Infrastructure in Information Technology at Customers Bank (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is used for connectivity for WAN connectivity. Really, it's to connect all of our sites together. So it connects all our sites together. Some of the things we can do are look at how the connection's working. So we're using internet connection pipes for all of our sites. With Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, we look at the visibility on those. We have resilience because we have multiple connections and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN can automate the failover between them. It gives us a lot of data about the connectivity.

Pros

We came from DMVPN. With DMVPN, there's really no visibility. It's manually configured. I really like the fact that we can build in essence templates, application groups, and deploy to routers. Say we go to deploy a new site, upgrade a site. We're bringing the router online, connecting up to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, and deploying the already built application groups, which brings things up pretty quickly. My team's able to get new sites up and running a lot quicker than it used to be.

Cons

Licensing. I know the business unit is working so that all the gen two routers, they're changing the license model. I understand why they're doing it, but I think it does need some improvement. Recently, we had a problem because of the code version of bugging the code where I had generated two routers I couldn't bring online, so they were in essence paperweights until we resolved it, which took a couple of weeks, and unfortunately, it delayed a couple of the deployments that we had.

Return on Investment

I think the deployments have a positive impact. Once we got the application groups down, the configurations there, it's a lot easier for the staff to deploy and move over to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN. That deployment makes it easier. I'll give you an example: we actually had a couple of deployments this morning at two sites on the West Coast, so we were able to start early in the morning and get them up and running. And no one at the site knew, not that they didn't know what was happening, but they weren't impacted in any way.

Usability

Kevin Foster

Network Administrator in Information Technology at USMC (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

In the last year we have completely moved over to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN in our organization. The main problems we have ran into is a inability to create admin tiers that only allow some users to modify sites. We have a few thousand sites we work with and we need a way to allocate a small number of the sites to specific administrators.

Pros

It makes the process of deploying new routers faster and easier for less experienced administrators.
It has a higher level of security for networks, because it forces IOS updates.
Easier to manage multiple sites at once.

Cons

More roles and permissions for different tier accounts
Fixing the config groups not properly labeling what you need to enter.
Networks coming online with out being connected to vManage.

Return on Investment

Security
Consistency
Easier to train new people up to speed.

Usability

Jeremy May

network in Information Technology at P66 (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

On-prem and in the cloud for use with IOT.

Pros

Policy push.
Catches mistakes.
Standardize configs.

Cons

It should be able to tell you that it does not match before you try to push.
The routers have to be updated a lot.
The 6509 core switch could be up for years. I have to reboot some SDwan in a year or less.

Return on Investment

No MPLS.
Internet circuits cheaper.
Off ramps to the internet are better.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Silverlight

Other Software Used

AspenONE Asset Performance Management (APM)

Kaushal Trivedi

Network Architect in Information Technology at CF Industries (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

The Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN solution connects our entire organisation and helps with LAN and WAN Connectivity. The solution is robust and easy to use. Just need to keep pace with the upgrades and the security patches in the organisation.

Pros

Routing
Security Policies
Scalability

Cons

Better GUI
Easy to co-relation on the policies
Standard Template design via AI

Return on Investment

Better scalability
Easier deployment
Quicker troubleshooting

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Cisco DNA Analytics and Assurance

Other Software Used

Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms, Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller

Fabio Santos

Management Pos Sales in Engineering at 2S Innovation (201-500 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I am Management Pos Sales at [...] in Brazil. We have customers using this Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN technology, In recent projects the business problems are with migration where any customers's application has a some difficulty to migrate, as Office 365, video applications, but same with it, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is a very good product.

Pros

Traffic Control
Qos
Application Visibility

Cons

Qos Visibility - DAshboard

Return on Investment

Positive - Is reduction link cost
Negative - Some customers claim , this operation is a few hard , where training is need.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (Cisco ACI)

Other Software Used

Cisco Umbrella, Cisco Cloud Email Security, Absolute Secure Access

HPE Aruba Networking EdgeConnect, duplic

Juniper Mist WAN Assurance

Fortinet Secure SD-WAN

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

What is Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN?

Categories & Use Cases

Most Frequent Users

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

Manufacturing

Finance and Insurance