My main use case for Cisco Nexus Dashboard is automation. A specific example of a workflow I automate with Cisco Nexus Dashboard is creating a VRF and a VLAN associated with that VRF.
This workflow functions effectively for my team on a day-to-day basis as it requires only a screen click and deploy. Previously, my team had to manage a thousand lines of command lines in configuration, which is prone to human error.
In addition to my main use case, upgrading software iOS is very fast as well.
The best features Cisco Nexus Dashboard offers are mainly all GUI based, which is beneficial for junior network engineers, and at the same time, automation capabilities such as click to deploy a VLAN.
The GUI and click to deploy automation have reduced half of the resource time of the network, allowing my team to accomplish more work. Since Cisco Nexus Dashboard was newly deployed, I haven't really seen all the benefits yet.
Looking ahead, I am watching specific outcomes or metrics such as deployment time, configuration errors, and team capacity. I am looking to automate how the monitoring works for Cisco Nexus Dashboard, particularly if it is easy to monitor the switches inside Cisco Nexus Dashboard.
Cisco Nexus Dashboard could be improved in terms of the flexibility of using the CLI and the GUI because there are instances where it becomes unsynced due to CLI configurations that someone made separately.
I have been using Cisco Nexus Dashboard for less than a year.
I rate Cisco Nexus Dashboard a seven out of ten. I give Cisco Nexus Dashboard a seven out of ten because my current operation usage of the product is less than a year, so I cannot really make any recommendation.
There is no current policy in regards to coordinating firmware upgrades, maintenance windows, and policy synchronization across disparate ACI fabrics and NX-OS environments using Cisco Nexus Dashboard. However, I need to think about how to deploy or process the changes that I plan inside Cisco Nexus Dashboard.
My advice to others looking into using Cisco Nexus Dashboard is to plan ahead.
