Cisco Catalyst Center Reviews

I have been using Cisco Catalyst Center since 2018. My main uses for Cisco Catalyst Center are SDA and assurance only.

My main uses for Cisco Catalyst Center are SDA and assurance only. What I appreciate most about Cisco Catalyst Center is that it is a product which I am deploying to work.

Cisco Catalyst Center can be improved by having actual developers with real development expertise. In the next release, I want to see more developers and a better working cluster, as the clustering is not exactly functioning correctly.

I have been in my current field for six years.

I would assess the stability and reliability of Cisco Catalyst Center as very unreliable. I have experienced plenty of downtime and crashes.

How well Cisco Catalyst Center scales with the growing needs of my organization depends on the use case.

On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the best, I think customer support and customer service are actually good. I would rate them at eight or nine.

Prior to adopting Cisco Catalyst Center, there was a legacy system that was a Cisco parent product.

Regarding return on investment, I do not see a clear ROI because I am not part of that assessment.

My experience with setup, pricing, licensing, and cost is that I am not part of the licensing and pricing decisions.

I face no specific challenges with hybrid or distributed products. I would prefer not to assess the operational efficiency of Cisco Catalyst Center in my IT environment. My impression of end to end visibility offered by Cisco Catalyst Center is not positive. I would say there is no effect from end to end visibility from Cisco Catalyst Center on my organization's troubleshooting and capabilities. We came to Cisco Catalyst Center because we were already using it as there is always a single vendor in use. What stood out to me the most when using Cisco Catalyst Center is that the company was always using that product with no second vendor. There is no negative impact. My overall rating for this review is eight.

On-premises

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Cisco Catalyst Center will be used for deployment, scalability, and compliance.

The features I appreciate most with Cisco Catalyst Center are the net operations and security operations, or SecOps.

Mostly, it is the compliance portion of Cisco Catalyst Center that stands out. The traditional way I managed switches required me to configure them individually. With Cisco Catalyst Center, it is now controlled in one location and I can easily manage them, ensuring they are all up to date with compliance checks and other requirements. This makes the process much simpler for me.

One of the considerations that led us to change prior to adopting Cisco Catalyst Center was the management approach. Because it is easier, and as I mentioned before, we had to configure switches individually. With Cisco Catalyst Center, it has made my life significantly easier.

When I first installed Cisco Catalyst Center, it required a lot of hardware resources during the installation process. It does not use that much after installation, but it seems to use a considerable amount in my virtual environment. Perhaps there will be a lighter version in the near future.

I have been in the IT industry since 2004.

Cisco Catalyst Center scales with the growing needs of my organization at a level of 10.

I have not contacted tech support yet. However, based on my previous experience with other switches, I would rate customer service and tech support at 10. They are very helpful and supportive.

We always used CLI before, so Cisco Catalyst Center is a fairly new solution for us to manage switches.

We just started implementing Cisco Catalyst Center last year, so this is fairly new to us. I had the great opportunity to install and configure it for the first time, and I am learning quite a lot, especially from attending Cisco Live.

Regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing, my boss would know those details. I do not have that information as it does not really apply to me. I am simply the person he tells to go ahead and configure it. I do not know the details on the price.

In my type of environment regarding hybrid and distributed enterprise networks, I do not work with a hybrid type of environment, so I do not have any challenges in that area.

Cisco Catalyst Center addresses a lot of my security concerns, especially in the world of cybersecurity where there is a lot of risk. It does address many of those concerns.

My impression of the end-to-end visibility is that it is excellent. The new implementation of AI has made it easier, and it can find things that I could not see on my own. I have given this product a review rating of 10.

On-premises

Other

Cisco Catalyst Center is used for monitoring, troubleshooting, and management as the core of the network, and everything we do is in Catalyst.

The most valuable functions in Cisco Catalyst Center are its monitoring capabilities, as it has a very valuable dashboard that allows me to monitor everything and catch every issue in my network.

I am satisfied with the analytics part of Cisco Catalyst Center as I can get statistics about everything in my network, including clients, operating systems, MAC addresses, and switches, which is very good.

The main benefits I receive from Cisco Catalyst Center include management, monitoring, and troubleshooting of the network, and these are very good benefits. However, if I compare it with tools we had before Catalyst, there is no way to compare it. You cannot save money with Cisco.

My feedback about the web-based interface of Cisco Catalyst Center is that it is very good with no issues, but for some reasons, it is working poorly in Google Chrome, so I must use Firefox for better performance.

When I log into Cisco Catalyst Center using Google Chrome, some links inside it stop working, and I need to move to Firefox to make it better.

Cisco Catalyst Center does not integrate well with security products because we do not have Cisco ISE, the Cisco security product. We run another NAC solution, but it is acceptable to integrate Catalyst Center with another security product, although we did not.

Cisco Catalyst Center is not integrated well with third-party vendors because it can only work with Cisco products.

I have been working with Cisco Catalyst Center for about one year as it is a new product. Before that, we used Cisco Prime Infrastructure.

I would give Cisco Catalyst Center a rating of ten for stability.

I also give Cisco Catalyst Center a rating of ten for scalability.

I give technical support from Cisco a rating of ten.

The support is excellent.

I moved from Cisco Prime to Catalyst Center.

The initial setup for Cisco Catalyst Center is not a simple process. You must follow the exact recommendations from Cisco to get it set up correctly at the end; otherwise, you will face many issues. It is not complex, but at the same time, it is not simple.

We did not set it up with an integrator. Cisco provided a setup guide with videos and everything, so we followed the setup guide.

It is not a story from Cisco to save money.

I am totally satisfied with the functionality, but we cannot discuss prices with Cisco.

I can compare Cisco Catalyst Center with other products in terms of scalability, compatibility with Cisco products, management, monitoring, analyzing of the network, and AI function. Catalyst Center has a built-in AI function that can analyze data and provide troubleshooting help, which we do not have on our other platform.

I am using switching, wireless, and Catalyst Center from Cisco, and of course, Cisco controller as well. I work with Cisco tools, specifically Cisco Catalyst Center and DNA Center. We use an automation feature in Cisco Catalyst Center called PNP, or Plug and Play feature.

The Plug and Play feature reduces some manual work for me because when I want to set up a new switch, Cisco Catalyst Center takes over all the configuration and pushes out all the configuration to the new switches.

I can absolutely recommend it to other users.

On-premises

I use Cisco Catalyst Center for network connectivity for customers who either have limited IT staff and need a simple solution to administrate or want to build a complex architecture and platform. It is user-friendly and often used with Wi-Fi solutions.

The analytics feature is quite good, and the hardware is very performant. The integration with third-party software is useful, especially when paired with Cisco solutions such as ICE and ICI. This level of integration proves to be both useful and performant for users.

My customers often complain about numerous software bugs requiring frequent software patches and updates to resolve these issues. Furthermore, the complexity of the solution can be challenging for some customers as they often require extensive training to fully understand and utilize the product. They have concerns about the high number of software bugs and the need for regular updates to address these bugs.

I have been working with Cisco Catalyst Center for two years.

There are some software bugs and patch management needs, so I would rate the stability as a five out of ten.

I would give the scalability an eight out of ten.

The customer service is very good. They are excellent and efficient. I had a situation where they were present with us overnight to fix an issue for a customer, demonstrating their dedication.

Positive

The price is high, but they offer significant discounts, depending on the deal and the number of switches involved.

I would advise users not to skip the training sessions. 

Overall, I would rate Cisco Catalyst Center a seven out of ten.

Public Cloud

Other

We use Cisco Catalyst Center for managing switches in our IT infrastructure. Our primary focus has been on utilizing Catalyst switches for configuration and management purposes.

Cisco Catalyst Center has greatly enhanced the user-friendliness of configuring Catalyst switches. The integration of SDM makes switch configuration much simpler than before. Additionally, the virtual LANs provide some security features, helping us manage our network more efficiently. The integration with Cisco firewalls further enhances our network security.

If they can add a layer of portable hotspots with some licensing flexibility for 20 to 50 users, it would be a great feature.

I have been working with Cisco switches for the past fifteen to sixteen years.

There are no difficulties in integrating the switches with the firewalls; the process is very straightforward.

Cisco support is good, especially for those who have gone through Networking Academy. The support often comes in the form of chat boxes and preconditioned questions, making it easy to find solutions.

Positive

In terms of performance, the return on investment is good.

The cost is relative and depends on the market and one's budget provision. While Cisco provides a good return on investment, they are also facing competitive pricing challenges from Huawei.

Huawei has been a significant competitor to Cisco, especially regarding cost and return on investment. The increased features and enhancements have affected Huawei's pricing.

Overall, I give Cisco Catalyst Center an eight out of ten. While Huawei provides strong competition, Cisco's continuous enhancements make their products valuable.

On-premises

I primarily use Cisco Catalyst Center for monitoring large enterprises. It offers an additional option to tools like SolarWinds to monitor the Cisco estate specifically. It provides features like observability and management of the network.

The most valuable feature of Cisco Catalyst Center is its dual functionality of observability and management. Unlike SolarWinds, which provides only network observability, Cisco Catalyst Center offers both management and monitoring capabilities. This dual functionality is crucial for monitoring large enterprises, providing a robust solution for IT teams.

There is room for improvement in introducing auto-heal AI capabilities. In the current setup, incidents are always reactionary, and it would be beneficial if Cisco Catalyst Center could proactively handle issues such as bandwidth crunches and packet drops. Additionally, the initial setup, especially when loading the software on new devices, is time-consuming and can be further improved by reducing the time required.

I've been working with Catalyst since 2020.

When setting up Cisco Catalyst Center, loading the software onto the hardware is time-consuming, taking at least 30 minutes. This time delay can lead to increased costs when hiring external technicians for installation.

Cisco Catalyst switches are reliable and stable. They provide a robust and secure solution for critical workloads.

The support from Cisco is good. When purchasing a device, I get a specific type of support and credit backs. I have no issues with their support.

Neutral

The initial setup is seamless for using and managing Cisco Catalyst Center. However, the initial process of loading the iOS software on new devices is time-consuming. Reducing this time would lower installation costs, especially when most companies outsource this task and pay technicians by the hour.

Most companies hire external vendors to install these devices, as few have in-house network engineers for such tasks. To reduce costs, it is better to have pre-staged hardware.

Although there are other solutions in the market, none are as stable and cost-effective as Cisco Catalyst switches for critical workloads.

There are other market solutions, but none as stable and robust as Cisco Catalyst switches.

One improvement that could be made is offering preloaded iOS to reduce setup time, especially in remote locations such as oil rigs, where sending a technician just to load iOS is difficult. Overall, I rate Cisco Catalyst Center an eight out of ten. The cost, while stable and robust, could always improve.

Other

We are primarily using Cisco Catalyst Center for two purposes: LAN automation, which we deployed for two sites, and wireless assurance for all 17 sites.

One of the most significant features of Cisco Catalyst Center that has improved our network performance is the wireless assurance, which helped us identify issues in the wireless. Thanks to the help of Cisco Catalyst Center, we migrated from 2.4 to 5G as we understood where the maximum service interruptions were happening. This migration has led to significant improvement in customer satisfaction, better connectivity, better strength, and better onboarding.

The dashboards have been instrumental in identifying problems through a problem management model and allowed us to resolve issues at the LAN level.

The area for improvement in Cisco Catalyst Center is the spectrum analyzer, as I find it difficult to identify which type of device is causing a problem. Additionally, the accuracy of reports can be improved; while pulling accurate data for one day is fine, I struggle to get proper data for seven days due to the heavy logs.

There might be a need for compressing data since we do not have a syslog server in our environment, relying on the DNAC database, which has made it challenging to get reliable data beyond a short period.

I have been working with Cisco Catalyst Center for three years now.

It was difficult to deploy Cisco Catalyst Center in the beginning, three years back. Now we are familiar with it and are working on another site for the deployment, which is awaiting final confirmation. We are not facing any challenges, and we have done the LAN and WAN automation for this.

I rate the stability of Cisco Catalyst Center at almost nine, as there is only one issue related to reporting, otherwise it is quite stable.

I rate the scalability of Cisco Catalyst Center at nine.

In terms of technical support from Cisco, I had very few tickets open for DNAC and my experience is not so bad, but not so good either. Each case's situation can be different, and I believe the team should have better analytical skills, as the cases I raised went to the BU level. I would give it a rating of seven, due to challenges in getting the right engineer at the right time and issues related to different time zones.

Positive

I have given feedback on the Cisco Prime product, but now we are not using Cisco Prime as we have already migrated to Cisco Catalyst Center. We have upgraded from Prime to Catalyst and are already going forward with it.

The deployment for Cisco Catalyst Center took a long time, and I am not able to recollect exactly how much time was required for installation, as it depended on the customer and happened in a phase-to-phase manner during COVID. However, for the new site we have planned for execution, we expect to complete everything, including deployment, testing, and UAT sign off, within a 15-day period.

Overall, five people were involved in the process of deploying and configuring Cisco Catalyst Center, consisting of one L3, three L2s, and one L1.

Because we have not fully implemented Cisco Catalyst Center across all sites, I have seen a return on investment primarily at the two sites where we have implemented it. The network's stability at those two sites has been excellent, and that definitely translates to cost benefits, as there is less compliance needed compared to the past.

I am familiar with Cisco Catalyst Center and this particular solution.

I am not able to recollect the exact version of Cisco Catalyst Center, but it is somewhere around 20.7, although I have been out from that project for almost six months. However, I am sure it is in the N minus one.

We have not extensively utilized the security features of Cisco Catalyst Center, but the compliance area has helped us identify vulnerabilities. We upgrade the OS regularly, and using the rogue APs from a wireless point of view has also been beneficial.

We have not yet fully started using the AI capabilities in Cisco Catalyst Center; we just planned for it. I have seen the AI button, enabled it, and kept it there, but I have not used it much, so it is too early to comment on that feature.

I would definitely recommend Cisco Catalyst Center to other organizations because it provides visibility that was not there in the past and makes it easier to figure out what is going on in my network. Troubleshooting is simpler compared to logging into the device, and it gives solutions for most cases. Once the devices are stable, especially if they are legacy devices such as the 9000 series, the output along with its solutions is very helpful. The wireless assurance part is fantastic, providing about 90% accuracy, and I strongly recommend this system to my connections as it is one of the best tools I have encountered in Cisco. I rate Cisco Catalyst Center a nine out of ten.

On-premises

Our primary use case for Cisco Catalyst Center involves deploying different models of Catalyst switches, particularly for user connectivity. Some models are used for extra switching, some for distribution, and others for core applications. We extensively deploy various types of Catalyst switches.

Some of the most common and valuable use cases for the Catalyst switches include network segmentation, VLAN implementation, and access level security integration. There are lots of features in the Catalyst switches, and some of the basic, important features are crucial for deployment. Cisco tech support is one of the best in the industry, which is a strong feature available across their products.

One area of improvement for Cisco is cost-effectiveness, as Cisco products are relatively expensive compared to other US-based solutions like Juniper. Advanced hardware replacement services have seen a degradation in quality, with delays in replacement parts. Cisco could also improve by ensuring that all switches can be managed through Cisco Catalyst Center.

I have been in this field for more than ten years.

There are two parts to Cisco's customer service: online tech support and advanced hardware replacement. Online tech support is very good, and I would rate it around eight to nine. However, advanced hardware replacement has seen a decline in quality, with delays in part replacements.

Neutral

As a US product, Cisco is a bit expensive compared to other solutions like Juniper. Cost is a major factor when any company is buying, and Cisco's products are pricier even compared to other US-based solutions.

Regarding Cisco's overall solution, from a performance point of view, as a product, I would rate it nine or ten. However, for support, due to issues with the RMA and hardware replacement, I would rate it six to seven. 

The online tech support is good, but the advanced hardware replacement needs improvement. The overall rating is nine or ten for performance but six to seven for support due to the hardware replacement issue.

I use Cisco Catalyst Center mainly to manage the fabric SD Access. I check MAC addresses for end users who are not connected for a certain period. The MAC address is stored in the database for seven days. This allows me to track where users were previously connected.

Cisco Catalyst Center allows me to manage all the fabric SD Access from one location. I can upgrade multiple switches or routers at once by selecting them and scheduling the updates. This capability enables efficient management and troubleshooting. The system also provides significant help with troubleshooting.

The retention period of data could be improved from seven days to 30 days. This change would help in cases where users are on leave for extended periods. 

Additionally, a faster GUI interface would be beneficial. Sometimes, it does not provide expected results, requiring adjustments.

I have been using ThousandEyes for one year.

I would rate the stability of the solution as eight out of ten.

The solution is very scalable, and I would rate it as ten out of ten.

Cisco's technical support has been pretty good, and I would rate them as eight out of ten.

Positive

The setup is part of SD Access Fabric. It is a bit complex initially, but once set up, it is very easy to use. On a scale of one to ten, where one is the most difficult, I would rate it as a six out of ten.

I would rate the overall solution as eight out of ten.

Other

I use them for pretty much my entire switching platform.

The best feature of Cisco is its industry-standard nature. Cisco is often the example used, with hundreds of code examples. There is a very wide user base providing support, so I almost never have to contact Cisco support due to the vast accessible knowledge base.

There should be tighter cohesion between the web-based GUI and the command line configuration. Cisco is always complex, however, there is such a wide user base that I'm almost never the first person to try something out.

I have probably used it for six or seven years.

I've got units that haven't rebooted in over two and a half years. They are very stable, not power cycling, and basically maintaining their stability.

The scalability is quite good. They have a feature that allows stacking switches together. It is very robust. As far as the backplane and power stacking, it's quite remarkable.

I had to deal with them once, and I would give it a seven out of ten.

Neutral

It was just me, unfortunately. It is very easy to maintain. I have units that have not rebooted in almost two and a half years.

The price to get in the door is quite high. However, as long as I manage my rotation of them as I refresh it, it's not so bad. They have a long life. I did have a small Cisco deployment prior to that, and it was running for 15 years.

Absolutely, Cisco is industry baseline standard equipment that has known solutions for almost every problem I encounter. It is widely recognized and allows me to quickly and easily configure them for various situations. 

I'd rate it an eight and a half out of ten overall.