What is our primary use case?
The solution primarily focuses on visibility into Cisco products and day zero, day one, and day two operations. It enables plug-and-play features, device onboarding, hierarchy definition, and telemetry data collection, offering a comprehensive 360-degree view. The core of the solution is basic automation and visibility assurance.
What needs improvement?
Most customers have heterogeneous environments. The main drawback of Cisco Catalyst Center is that it can only manage and monitor Cisco devices with a DNA license, specifically the Catalyst 9000 series. Customers often have mixed vendor environments, and platforms like Xtream offer vendor-agnostic solutions. While Cisco's DNA Center does have third-party SDKs that allow monitoring of non-Cisco devices, this approach isn't always practical. Additionally, Kumar mentioned the importance of segmentation, transitioning to SDA, and moving away from traditional VLANs and ACLs towards identity-based segmentation integrated with ISE. Therefore, it's more suitable for customers who primarily use Cisco solutions rather than those with diverse vendor environments.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco Catalyst Center for four to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Cisco performs well in the network space, especially in areas like switching, DNA Center, and wireless, where it is known for its stability. However, there are some issues with security, and the stability isn't as strong. Despite this, the number of PAC cases raised for Catalyst Center is generally low.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
For scalability, Cisco DNA Center offers different form factors—small, large, and extra-large. The scalability depends on factors like the maximum number of APIs and nodes the hardware can support. You need to choose the appropriate form factor based on your requirements for the next two to three years to ensure it can handle your needs. The available options start from a capacity of 256 devices, as the smaller 44-device option is no longer available.
How are customer service and support?
The device must be accessed regularly to monitor the network and generate reports from the DNA Center, which provides a wealth of data. Daily tasks like changing configurations or deploying templates won’t be frequent, as these are typically part of the initial setup. However, the operations or NOC team will monitor and manage the DNA Center daily to ensure smooth network operations.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used Juniper and HP. Arista is one of the things that we generally see in data centers.
At its core, switching is primarily about L2 and L3 functions, with little variation beyond the basics of port speed and supported features. The real difference now lies in the platforms' management, monitoring, and data capabilities. Every OEM, like Juniper with Marvis, Arista with CloudVision, Cisco with Catalyst Center, and Aruba with Aruba Central, emphasizes their platform more than hardware products. These platforms are where the value is added, offering advanced functionalities like automation, analytics, and enhanced network visibility, differentiating them from one another.
How was the initial setup?
If you're moving toward a software-defined network in a public environment, it's important to understand how LISP works, how to create the fabric, and how to manage segmentation. While these aspects can be complex, basic automation and assurance are relatively straightforward.
If all the prerequisites are met, such as IP configuration and port opening, integrating a device into the network should only take one or two hours. This assumes everything is properly set up where the device is deployed.
What was our ROI?
These platforms are valuable because they reduce the need for extensive technical resources to manage the network. With such platforms in place, the cost of resources can be lowered, and adding or configuring new elements in the IT landscape becomes much easier. This streamlined approach simplifies network management and allows for more efficient operations.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is the most expensive when you compare it with other OEMs.
What other advice do I have?
If you look at the data, the data sheet mentions what kind of data the DNA Center is capturing and sending to the cloud. This data collection is essential for certain functionalities, like vulnerability assessments and local telemetry. I don't see any issues regarding data security, but it largely depends on the network's security and where the Cisco DNA Center is deployed.
Following the microservices architecture, you need three nodes to establish a Cisco DNA Center. This requirement is necessary if you want to form a fully functional Center. However, customer awareness of the DNA Center is still quite limited. Many customers hesitate to adopt a controller-based approach or commit to a single OEM. When considering Cisco, customers must have an infrastructure ready for the DNA Center, which often requires purchasing expensive software subscriptions like the DNA Advantage or Essentials licenses.
Additionally, Cisco has introduced an AWS form factor for DNA Center, allowing it to run as an AWS instance. However, this option has limitations and doesn’t offer the full functionality of the on-premise deployment. Customers increasingly seek diverse solutions and are less inclined toward adopting DNA Center, similar to how they were hesitant with SDN controllers five years ago. The market dynamics are changing, and customer interest in DNA Center is not as strong as it once was. It's very tough to push the Catalyst Center.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
