Director at REDCO
Reseller
Top 5
Excellent technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "The best feature is the technical support."
  • "An area for improvement would be the high price."

What is most valuable?

The best feature is the technical support.

What needs improvement?

An area for improvement would be the high price.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was complex, as we had some issues with the new SMARTnet and DNA.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this product as ten out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
CEO at a consumer goods company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Easy to use, but could be cheaper
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is how easy it is to use."
  • "This product could be improved with cheaper pricing."

What is our primary use case?

My primary use case of this solution is for my company's network connection. 

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is how easy it is to use. 

What needs improvement?

This product could be improved with cheaper pricing. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Catalyst Switches for five to six years. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution may be scalable, but I don't have much knowledge on its scalability. It's used for my company's networking and there are about 500 users. 

How was the initial setup?

I installed this solution myself. 

What about the implementation team?

I implemented through an in-house team. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Cisco Catalyst Switches are a bit expensive. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate this solution a seven out of ten. I am satisfied with the performance of these switches and would recommend them to others. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Catalyst Switches
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Catalyst Switches. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
769,599 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Consultant
Consultant
Useful analytics, stable, and highly scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution works well with analytics."
  • "Cisco Catalyst Switches could improve by having more integration with third-party products."

What is our primary use case?

I use Cisco Catalyst Switches for an SD-Access solution.

What is most valuable?

The solution works well with analytics.

What needs improvement?

Cisco Catalyst Switches could improve by having more integration with third-party products.

In the next release, I would like the solution to be able to integrate easily with third-party WFi products.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Catalyst Switches for approximately five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cisco Catalyst Switches have very good performance and are reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

I have been satisfied with the technical support. They are very good.

How was the initial setup?

Cisco Catalyst Switches are complex to implement, it takes a lot of time. You need to take a lot of time to learn out to configure the solution.

What about the implementation team?

Cisco does the maintenance of the solution for us.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of the solution is expensive compared to other products from America or Europe. They should have more competitive pricing.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Cisco Catalyst Switches an eight out of ten.

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: Partner
PeerSpot user
IT Production Engineer at a consultancy with 201-500 employees
Real User
Highly scalable, helpful technical support, and installation reasonable
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution highly scalable."
  • "The solution was stable 10 years ago, there is room for improvement in this area."

What is our primary use case?

We use Cisco Catalyst Switches to connect devices to a network.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Catalyst Switches for approximately 10 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution was stable 10 years ago, there is room for improvement in this area.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution highly scalable.

We have approximately 650 users using this solution in my organization.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support experience has been mixed, it depends on the subject. There are occasions when we have a quick resolution and for others, there can be long discussions to receive a resolution.

How was the initial setup?

The installation was not difficult for me but I have been working with these types of solutions for a long time. It could be difficult for those with limited experience.

What about the implementation team?

We have a team of 10 engineers that do the implementation and maintenance of the solutions.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost of this solution could be less expensive, and we are on an annual license.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Cisco Catalyst Switches an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Founder at SDWAN Clan
Real User
High level technical support, scalable, and secure
Pros and Cons
  • "One main feature with Cisco is you know you are going to get a very good switching infrastructure that is secure."
  • "In a future upgrade, I would like to see integrated wireless in the solution."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution as a switch for campus locations.

What is most valuable?

One main feature with Cisco is you know you are going to get a very good switching infrastructure that is secure.

What needs improvement?

In a future upgrade, I would like to see integrated wireless in the solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for approximately 20 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of this solution is really good because you can attach switches together. We currently have 5,000 users using the solution and we plan on having approximately 30,000 in the near future.

How are customer service and technical support?

Cisco provides great customer support.

How was the initial setup?

The solution installation is straightforward to a degree. It is not as smooth as it could be. You cannot do zero-touch provisioning.

What about the implementation team?

It is best to use a technician that understands the configuration file needed for the deployment and then there is some testing that is needed.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There needs to be some improvement with the Cisco DNA licensing activation process, it is difficult at the moment.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others. When my customers want security infrastructure on their campus locations this solution is the one I will continue to suggest.

I rate Cisco Catalyst Switches a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Administrator at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Stable and easy to install
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a stable and good product. It is also easy to install."
  • "Its price can be improved. It is currently expensive."

What is our primary use case?

I am a student as well as a researcher at a university. I use this solution for various simulations. I am using the latest version of this solution. We have 10 to 15 technical people in our team. 

What is most valuable?

It is a stable and good product. It is also easy to install.

What needs improvement?

Its price can be improved. It is currently expensive.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for two to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

How are customer service and technical support?

I didn't use any technical support.

How was the initial setup?

It was easy to install. It wasn't complex. It took about 10 to 20 minutes.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution. It is a good product. There are a lot of users of Cisco solutions in Pakistan. 

I would rate Cisco Catalyst Switches a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Network & Security Specialist at Fonicom
Real User
Extremely reliable and high quality technology with easy maintenance
Pros and Cons
  • "In terms of technology, Cisco is the leader in everything. I'd rather buy a second-hand Cisco switch than a brand new switch from a competitor. They're that reliable and resilient."
  • "Out of the competition, Cisco switches are easily the most expensive."

What is most valuable?

The switches are the easiest to deploy and maintain out of other competitors.

In terms of technology, Cisco is the leader in everything. I'd rather buy a second-hand Cisco switch than a brand new switch from a competitor. They're that reliable and resilient.

Cisco offers many ranges of switches and you'd know exactly if you were buying an access switch or a core switch distribution. They are definitely among the top companies. They just know how to predict things and what will evolve in the following years.

What needs improvement?

Out of the competition, Cisco switches are easily the most expensive.

There's something at Cisco called a console that is used for basic configuration and everything and I think that they excluded a normal USB. Instead of that micro USB they should put in the normal one. It would make things a bit easier.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've had experience dealing with the solution since 2010. It's been about ten years now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of Cisco is unmatched. We don't experience bugs or glitches or have any issues. There's been no worry of crashing. The technology is impeccable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is quite good. We've never had any issues with scaling if necessary.

How are customer service and technical support?

If the company pays for a given device's Smart Net - that's Cisco's official name for support -  then the support provided is huge. It could be challenging for people that want to fix an old switch or a router but do not have paid support anymore. That's not the case for us. I do think Cisco could be a bit better at assisting in those instances instead of just putting customers in a position where they have to buy a new device where an old one just needs a repair. Beyond that, we have no complaints and have been satisfied with the level of service they provide.

How was the initial setup?

For me personally, the initial setup was very straightforward. I have experience with the product so it helps. if you are a user who has the experience, it shouldn't be too difficult to implement. Otherwise, you will have to spend some time learning about it and how it works.

What about the implementation team?

Everything depends on the size of the network that you want to design and implement. Of course, you need a consultant if you need something with 200 users or so. Or if you don't have any expertise in IT. The question is, is Cisco switch easier or harder to configure than some other brand or our vendor? And the answer is that, in my opinion, Cisco switches are not among the easiest ones to deploy, however, they are definitely the most reliable switches. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Cisco is easily one of the most expensive on the market, but users are buying quality and reliability.

What other advice do I have?

The company I work with is a Premium Cisco partner. I've even based my career around Cisco vendors.

The solution is on a Private Cloud that we are renting (including equipment and the data center space and the LANs). We have obtained everything from Alban India, and our customers are mostly on our product site with the cloud. The customers include various financial companies, payment providers, etc. We're a systems integrator.

I would easily rate the solution ten out of ten. It's really great.

In terms of advice for other companies, I'd say that whether Cisco would work for them or not depends on the size of the network they want to cover. The small and midsize network users just really don't need to spend that amount of money on Cisco equipment, but the larger organizations and mission-critical environments definitely require Cisco.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
IT Consultant at L&M Alpha Solutions
Real User
Ease of configuration, the CLI, and the GUI are the key features for us
Pros and Cons
  • "The main valuable features for me are the ease of configuration, the CLI, and the GUI."

    What is our primary use case?

    The use case is for user access. It's good, it's performing very well.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Catalyst functions as a core and the main benefit for us is the performance, having multiple users.

    What is most valuable?

    The main valuable features for me are

    • the ease of configuration
    • CLI
    • GUI.

    What needs improvement?

    My dream is to have the netflow in the port, for the administration and the utilization of user traffic, similar to the Meraki.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    More than five years.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It's very scalable. It's very easy to cover all the services.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We chose Catalyst because we are looking to the future.

    When selecting a vendor, the most important criteria for me are the post-sale support as well as the price.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Catalyst is very expensive.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    For our company, Cisco's competition was Aruba.

    What other advice do I have?

    The configuration is simple and the support is good. The equipment for networking is the best for an organization. It's working very well.

    I rate Catalyst at 10 out of 10 because of the performance and support.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Cisco Catalyst Switches Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: April 2024
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Cisco Catalyst Switches Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.