Cisco DNA Center Valuable Features

SI
Chief Technology Officer/ Network Engineer at Dunamis Networks Inc

There are many valuable features, but one I would highlight is VXLAN. It's a protocol that has been around for some time, but the practical implementation and operational capability of Cisco DNA Center bring it to life. It enables seamless movement of machines from one location or branch to another with the same settings and parameters. So, there's no need for reconfiguration. This is just one example of the many features available in DNA Center.

Another feature I like is Access Control Lists. There are many other things. Same with DNA Center. You have SD-Access. So, SD-Access is also a powerful feature that Cisco claims to be a replacement for the LAN (Local Area Network) from their perspective.

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SinaGhozati - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Solutions Architect at SPIE ICS

The most valuable features of the solution are all of its security features.

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CR
Technical Consultant at KPN IT Solutions - Trusted Services

The most valuable features are its life cycle management and the security aspects it provides.

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Buyer's Guide
Cisco DNA Center
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Cisco DNA Center. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
767,847 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Saleh Alsalamah - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Manager at Qassim University

Application Assurance works very well. The micro-segmentation and Multi-Cisco DNA Center features are also good.

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Aruna Udawatte - PeerSpot reviewer
Director -Digital Transformation at Convergence Lanka

Cisco DNA Center is a user-friendly solution. When it comes to configurations, they are normally expecting the current up-and-running ports.

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JM
Senior Network Engineer at Ozark Technical Community College

It does a lot of things automatically, and that's the big thing with it. They're making the software so that you don't need to be as knowledgeable as me on the switching and routing side to get your work done. If you want, you can have DNA troubleshoot your problem for you and give you solutions or fix it itself, if it was something that's just a configuration issue. That's a plus, but it doesn't help new people learn switching well. If you're depending on all the software to do it, you won't be able to figure it out yourself.

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Jeroen Devroede - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Network Administrator at DHL

The product offers an intuitive and automated way to manage user networks. It gives me an insight into the network health.  

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ES
Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

The most valuable feature of Cisco DNA Center is the AI (Artificial Intelligence) that provides us with valuable information. Otherwise, we would have to spend a lot of time trying to understand what's going on. I really appreciate the reports provided by the solution's AI for the wireless.

For example, we had issues with the Cisco wireless controller and spent a lot of time troubleshooting it. In just a few minutes, Cisco DNA Center provided us with valuable information regarding the memory leaking in the controller. That helped us to fix the issue. For me, the most valuable feature of Cisco DNA Center is the intelligence inside the tool.

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JB
Network Engineer at a construction company with 10,001+ employees

The most valuable features of Cisco DNA Center are wireless assurance and visibility.

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Syed Aathif Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

What I found valuable in Cisco DNA Center is the Software-Defined Access Network, so the entire LAN network can be centralized and managed from a single dashboard.

Cisco DNA Center is suitable for centralized management and lets you deploy switches in a centralized fashion. You can also do multiple switch port configurations simultaneously and segregate your traffic into multiple fabrics.

Another valuable feature of Cisco DNA Center is enhanced security through Scalable Group Tags. Cisco DNA Center can be integrated with your Cisco ISE to enhance the port securities, and this paves the way for Software-Defined Networking in the LAN segment, which is the main advantage of Cisco DNA Center.

I also like that you can use Cisco DNA Center for data assurance or correlation. The solution shows your network and client health parameters, which I find convenient for troubleshooting.

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SI
Tech Specialist, Client Network DeliveryTech at AT&T

I like that we can easily configure any new hardware. It's also easy to deploy and easy to troubleshoot.

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AM
Consultant - Enterprise Managed Services Centre Of Excellence (EMS-COE) at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

The product gives a consolidated view. It has good tools for creating standard templates. It is good for basic troubleshooting.

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LeighShepherd - PeerSpot reviewer
Advisory Consultant CCIE at BCX

The solution's most valuable features are AI and machine learning.

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MunkhjinNyamtsogt - PeerSpot reviewer
Deputy Director at SSystems

The most valuable features were the monitoring, maintenance, and configuration. It was easy to work with and allowed a lot of engineers to connect. Before it, there were a lot of problems. However, when the problems were solved, it allowed full automation and easy monitoring and handling. Also, it makes patching and upgrading to the newest version easier.

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Vicente Manuel - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Technician at OMNIdata

What I found most valuable in Cisco DNA Center is the ability to manage any device through it, because the infrastructure is for Cisco, and we have Cisco routers and Cisco switches.

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Selva Subramaniam - PeerSpot reviewer
Lead Analyst at a media company with 51-200 employees

The solution helps with the management and orchestration of campaigns. It helps with visibility and analytics. I also like its SDA configuration. 

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NK
Managing Director at Allot Group

The solution's most valuable aspect is its simplicity and the complete automation of the network workflow, which we can use that correlate with the business. It's not only limited to STXs or a data center. It completes everything, which really helps us.

If a user is comfortable with Cisco technology, the initial setup is pretty straightforward. 

Cisco is extremely reliable.

The solution has the capability to scale. 

Technical support is always excellent.

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YK
Senior Network Engineer at a museum or institution with 501-1,000 employees

We can monitor all devices and get the required information using the product.

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MS
Network Security Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Cisco DNA Center provides operational support, compliance support, security vulnerability detection, and automatic scheduling.

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Ali Abdulhafid - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner, GM & IT Architect at CHALLENGE Internetworking & Computer Consulting

I like the visibility, instant build, network, policies, and the ability to control access. I also like that you can visualize your whole network.

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Olajide Olusegun - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Team Lead at Atlas Security

The best feature of Cisco DNA Center is the visibility page, which is unavailable in Cisco Prime. You can see everything on a single plane of glass on the dashboard, and you don't have to be a technical person to view different data and statistics. For example, you can see the issue alarms, errors, topology, and availability. So the tool gives you good visibility into all that's happening within your network infra. It also provides visibility into your computing environment. Application and performance analytics in huge detail is available in the DNA center.

The reporting is fantastic in both Cisco Prime and Cisco DNA Center, so I rate that feature a ten out of ten. My company migrated clients to the Cisco DNA Center, and the reporting is incredible.

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MR
Cloud and Digital Transformation Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

It gives us automation capabilities for pushing out a configuration to branch networks. It also provides visibility into the health of user network devices.

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Igor Bobrov - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Cisco Department at MUK

Cisco DNA Center offers managed services and integration. It also has centralization of management. Centralized management is crucial; additional tools are available for invoicing and endpoint certification. The platform offers various features, including new Wi-Fi capabilities and access points. There is no licensing for users.

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Chandrasekhar Rao Gajarao - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Architect at LTI - Larsen & Toubro Infotech

Cisco is a leading network company. Every organization uses networks and data centers. The data centers are mainly on-premise enterprise environments.

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Joni Saputro - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at Packet System Indonesia

The automation features are significant and reduce configuration time. This means outstanding functionality. By deploying the controller automatically, the rest becomes automated.

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FL
Senior Network Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

I think that their LAN automation is a very good feature. It takes advantage of the plug-and-play capability from the catalyst switches. 

We'll do a zero-day configuration, which is a good feature. 

Also, wired and wireless assurance, client health, and network health are valuable, especially with the wireless sensors deployed. It can give you a good idea of what's going on in the RF environments.

The template feature is really good, you have free templates and then associate those templates to a tag, tag a device with a certain role, and just program devices that way rapidly.

It's pretty robust. The wireless assurance and telemetry, as well as the security and the segmentation capabilities, are outstanding.

They deploy rapidly. They are scalable throughout the entire organization. With just a few clicks, it really removes a lot of the human error that you would normally have with access control lists.

It takes a lot of the human element out of configuration.

You can create VRS and VNS and deploy those system-wide, application policies with a few clicks and segmentation with a few clicks.

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CF
Analyst of IT at a government with 1,001-5,000 employees

It enables monitoring of various components such as access points, switch cards, and other elements within the company's solutions.

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BR
Solution Selector Communication and IT Security at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

People like to use the dashboards to get an overview of their network.

If you have a bottleneck in your network then this solution can fix it.

DNA Center is easier to use than Fortinet FortiManager.

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ST
Senior Manager, Customer Life Cycle Management Specialist at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

I think the processing is a good feature and the product also has a high level of accuracy.

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Mostafa Gouda - PeerSpot reviewer
Network and Data Center Supervisor at a hospitality company with 5,001-10,000 employees

The most valuable feature is the DNA analytics, which is very good for us.

It is very important for everyone to be able to see everything that is happening in the network from one location. It is simple to manage and it is all done from a single dashboard.

We set up the identity service and it is amazing for us to have an identity for each user. All of the network policies are set according to one's identity.

The ability to trace attacks if they occur is very good in terms of security. The security is part of the network layer. Generally, security has been improving with Cisco solutions because it was not as good in the past.

If a device is lost then it is very easy to replace. I just drag and drop the configuration from the old device to the new one and after a few seconds, the new device is working with the same configuration that we had before. It does not have to be configured manually.

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it_user1000944 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network and Security Engineer at Lutech Group
  • Analytics, because it really can improve your network based on what your company really does.
  • Security, because with ISE integration you now have really centralized authentication, authorization, and profiling.
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Mostafa Gouda - PeerSpot reviewer
Network and Data Center Supervisor at a hospitality company with 5,001-10,000 employees

We have many people from the team who manage a lot of devices. By using Cisco DNA Center, it has taken some of that burden away, we are impressed with it. We did the investment in CAPEX, but in the OPEX was very low. 

The unity of configuration is a benefit. Only one trainee was configuring all devices. It was very helpful for us because, if we have a lot of people configuring, it was confusing. We can unify the configuration through all devices and create a standardization for the organization. The automation is available but I have not started with it at this time.

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SO
Sr. Solutions Architect, Consulting Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

I believe the main function of this solution is ideal for businesses aiming to enhance workspace mobility for users, employers, contractors, and partners. It offers comprehensive workspace capabilities while maintaining the complexity and perfection required by various business points and IT system policies.

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it_user1189812 - PeerSpot reviewer
Presales Engineer at PT. Mastersystem Infotama

The most valuable feature is the integration with Cisco devices and infrastructure.

The Wi-Fi analytics are helpful.

The monitoring features are very useful for network engineers.

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BG
Consultant - Enterprise Network at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

It is very versatile in terms of analytics.

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Buyer's Guide
Cisco DNA Center
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Cisco DNA Center. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
767,847 professionals have used our research since 2012.