We use the solution as a router.
Network Engineer
A router solution with customer-friendly support but is expensive
Pros and Cons
- "The product is stable."
- "The tool is very expensive."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Cisco is very secure and very fast, and its work is ongoing. They give the commands to what they want.
What is most valuable?
Everything is on one disk. I need to do anything from one end.
What needs improvement?
The solution could be cheaper.
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
January 2026
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For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco SD-WAN for about two months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. Over 600 users are using this solution.
How are customer service and support?
Support is fast and customer-friendly.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is complex and takes about 30 minutes to complete.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The tool is very expensive. It has a five-year subscription.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Cisco and Juniper are very costly.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I rate the solution a six or seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Manager at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Comes with OMP routing but licensing costs are expensive
Pros and Cons
- "Cisco SD-WAN has separate OMP routing."
- "The solution is very costly."
What is most valuable?
Cisco SD-WAN has separate OMP routing.
What needs improvement?
The solution is very costly.
For how long have I used the solution?
.I have been working with the solution for a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable, and you need good connectivity.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cisco SD-WAN is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Cisco SD-WAN's support was good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You can get subscriptions for three or five years.
What other advice do I have?
You need expert engineers to handle Cisco SD-WAN. I rate it a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
January 2026
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
879,672 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Chief technology officer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
An easy-to-set-up solution, is scalable, stable and helpful for our customers
Pros and Cons
- "It is a very scalable solution."
- "The solution is expensive and could be cheaper."
What is our primary use case?
We are an IT integration company that implements this solution for customers and clients. We deploy the solution on-premises.
What is most valuable?
The solution is stable.
What needs improvement?
The solution is expensive and could be cheaper.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a very scalable solution.
How are customer service and support?
We have experience with customer service and support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward in a laboratory environment, but when we started implementing it in the field, we had some problems. We are deploying a pilot of the solution for a few branches.
What was our ROI?
We have seen a return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have a subscription and a three-year license.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the solution a nine out of ten and I would recommend it to others.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Implementer
IT manager at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
It helps our company implement centralized telephony
Pros and Cons
- "The most useful feature is centralized telephony."
- "Cisco needs to improve the technical support for this solution."
What is our primary use case?
Cisco SD-WAN provides centralized telephony for our company.
What is most valuable?
The most useful feature is centralized telephony.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco SD-WAN for about five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Cisco SD-WAN is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cisco SD-WAN is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Cisco needs to improve the technical support for this solution. I rate Cisco support eight out of 10.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
Deploying Cisco SD-WAN wasn't complex, and it took about one month.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Cisco SD-WAN 10 out of 10. I recommend it.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Product Manager at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
Gives good ROI but setup is complex
Pros and Cons
- "Cisco SD-WAN's most valuable feature is the ease of transition."
- "If you don't have an in-house design team or outsource to a third party with expertise, the setup will be difficult."
What is most valuable?
Cisco SD-WAN's most valuable feature is the ease of transition.
What needs improvement?
Cisco SD-WAN's smart account stuff could be improved. People still think they're using traditional licenses, so customers need a lot of education on using SD-WAN devices, especially on the smart/virtual account side.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Cisco SD-WAN for about two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Cisco SD-WAN's stability is good - I haven't found any issues at the operational level.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cisco SD-WAN's scalability is good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was complex and required us to plan ahead. If you don't have an in-house design team or outsource to a third party with expertise, the setup will be difficult.
What was our ROI?
It takes some time, but Cisco SD-WAN gives a good ROI - for example, we have had some savings in terms of transport.
What other advice do I have?
I'd advise anybody thinking of implementing Cisco SD-WAN to learn the smart and virtual account setup and the staging and installation process very clearly. This isn't just a case of buying a license or device and installing it, you need to create a lot of stuff, so you need to understand the technology before buying it, at least in a test lab or non-production environment. I would give Cisco SD-WAN a rating of seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Beneficial environment compatibility, scalable, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Cisco SD-WAN is its compatibility and integration with the rest of the infrastructure."
- "Cisco SD-WAN could improve on the ease of integration, the configuration should be easier. At the moment the process is more command line based and it would be better if it was able to be done through an interface."
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Cisco SD-WAN is its compatibility and integration with the rest of the infrastructure.
What needs improvement?
Cisco SD-WAN could improve on the ease of integration, the configuration should be easier. At the moment the process is more command line based and it would be better if it was able to be done through an interface.
In a feature release, Cisco SD-WAN could add more features for wireless SaaS-based solutions.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco SD-WAN for approximately two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Cisco SD-WAN is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Cisco SD-WAN is good.
How are customer service and support?
The support sometimes is delayed. They could improve their response times. They are knowledgeable about the solution but you have to reach the correct person.
I rate the support from Cisco SD-WAN a three out of five.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Cisco SD-WAN is not overly complex, but there should be a good understanding of the configuration and setup. There are many technical commands for the process that one should be aware of.
I rate the initial setup of Cisco SD-WAN a three out of four.
What about the implementation team?
We used a third-party vendor help to implement the solution.
What was our ROI?
Overall, we are receiving a better financial cost advantage using Cisco SD-WAN than what we were using before.
I rate the ROI of Cisco SD-WAN a four out of five.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of Cisco SD-WAN could improve, it is expensive. The cost of the solution is approximately 30 percent higher than competitors.
I rate the price of Cisco SD-WAN a two out of five.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
There are other competitors in the market that work well, such as Fortinet. The best solution is determined by its ability to handle a use case. There is not one overall best solution, there are suitable use cases for the different vendors.
If a customer is looking for a solution for a large enterprise, then I would recommend Cisco SD-WAN. However, if they have a small setup for a small business setup, Fortinet is better. It is integrated well with all the security features.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Cisco SD-WAN an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Lead Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
A solution that is easy to set up, offers great scalability, and has a good ROI for long-term growth
Pros and Cons
- "The solution has great scalability."
- "Cyber security should also be implemented in the solution, along with maybe implementation of AI/ML."
What is our primary use case?
Our use cases are mostly focused on the application side and any kind of cloud breakout, like local breakout clouds.
What is most valuable?
I'm focusing on using the application ware routing.
What needs improvement?
There's not much that should be improved, but the focus should be on the application side and more cloud applications should be added into the system. Most common sales applications should be supported.
Mostly, I think cutting edge solutions should be included in this product. I'm talking about buzzwords like the cloud, for example. The solution should be more focused on the cloud because, apart from the controllers, everything can be cloud-based and everyone is moving to the cloud. Cyber security should also be implemented in the solution, along with maybe implementation of AI/ML.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for about ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the solution is good as of now.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution has great scalability. The people using it are mostly senior management, junior management, and junior engineers. Maintenance for this solution requires about four people: two senior employees and two regular employees.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have been using Cisco since the beginning. I am familiar with it and it's easy to deploy, so I am sticking with it for now. I have no plans to switch to any other products, but we are looking at integrating this product with other solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy and straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment was done in-house and did not take more than two to three days.
What was our ROI?
The return on investment is good. I mean, not when compared to the other solutions on the market, but it is pretty flexible and scalable, so you cannot only consider the cost. The solution has flexibilities that benefit you. The return on investment, if you ask me, can be seen in the long-term. If the organizations who are deploying it are looking to grow for a certain period of time, maybe a longer vision of five to seven years down the road, the solution will be helpful to them.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing cost is slightly on the higher side, but some of the customers are large, so they are willing to pay for it. On a scale of one to five, I would rate Cisco's pricing as a three.
What other advice do I have?
My advice is that there might be some other solutions on the market that are also pretty good, so they need to understand their market and customer requirements. Think about which solution will be easy to deploy and also how scalable it will be. The strategy should be to understand the solution and have an approach and proper plan and roadmap before implementing the solution. Also, compute the information of the devices before implementing the solution.
I would rate this solution as a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner and reseller
Founder at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Complex deployment but a strong brand and stable solution
Pros and Cons
- "The technical support is very responsive."
- "The deployment is complex."
What needs improvement?
The software for Cisco SD-WAN is overkill because the box is more powerful than required. Cisco needs to replace it with a normal router because the current one is very advanced. They expect a stable internet connection but then try to get sophisticated devices to connect to any infrastructure. However, the infrastructure requires only SIM cards, so it's not that difficult. Implementing a router and a dual-SIM router would be sufficient, but Cisco makes it complicated.
I cannot speak to additional features, but we've heard that Cisco may add analytics to the SD-WAN.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for about nine months, and it is deployed on-premises.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have not heard any complaints about the stability. The problem with this solution is with the interface, not the equipment.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I can not speak to the scalability, but we used Cisco SD-WAN for a big gas station digitalization project. The gas station had to be connected to a government-owned company and then deployed to 5,500 locations, so it was a big project. I believe a government-owned company currently completes the maintenance of the 5,500 locations.
Our company was just in charge of implementation and installation. I am unsure how many technicians they have, but the maintenance response is so slow, which may mean that the technicians are not well educated or trained about the SD-WAN. Regarding deployment, it took one person about two to three days to connect, configure and do the ATP.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is very responsive, but they lack resident experts. So they have to divert the support to Singapore or Australia. They should have experts locally to provide support.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment is complex, and Cisco makes everything complicated. It took about two to three days to deploy, and the engineers completed it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is costly compared to Aruba. You also have to pay if you want to implement extra features like a VPN.
What other advice do I have?
I rate this solution an eight out of ten. The Cisco brand is strong, and its connections to the government are also strong. Cisco has very good distribution and connections with universities, unlike other equipment manufacturers. In addition, they provide free seminars to government officials and receive allowances in return. Cisco does a great job managing its customers.
I believe Cisco and Palo Alto here in Jakarta and Indonesia are very strong compared to Aruba and Citrix. I last heard about Citrix when I worked with Nokia and Motorola ten years ago. Citrix only does password and computer synchronization, which is done from Singapore. Citrix also did not have local support about ten to 12 years ago.
Cisco has been around for quite a long time and gives a very good discount to system integrators if they try to sell their product. Although they have high published prices, the price for a distributor or reseller is very attractive with discounts sometimes as high as about 20% or 30%.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partners
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: January 2026
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Buyer's Guide
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