Cisco Prime [EOL] Reviews

We use it primarily for managing the wireless infrastructure, which is the use case in our current scenario.

Cisco Prime, from a management perspective, has good reporting.

For our use cases, where we have reachability issues, we can fine-tune and bump up the coverage by increasing the signal strength. The insights that it provides are great.

The initial setup is easy.

The solution scales well.

It has proven to be quite stable. 

Migrating from on-prem to the cloud is seamless.

The solution offers excellent documentation. 

If you look at some of the wireless site-survey tools that are available in the commercial space, Cisco should include similar solutions, which would help our on-plant engineers when they're doing a site survey. For example, there are some great features in Ekahau. We use it primarily for doing heat mapping, WiFi design, and spectrum analysis. Prime has certain limitations when you compare it with Ekahau. If they can't build a product, they should go for an acquisition.

Mostly, we are happy with the features on offer. Their roadmap is also clear with the DNS Center and the DNS Center stability. Once it becomes more stable and accepted across the industry, I don't see any major challenges. Cisco Prime is more of a network management solution, NMS. The roadmap is clear and Cisco wants to position DNS Center as an immediate replacement for all these other Cisco products, which is absolutely fine.

We've used the solution for more than five years. 

It is pretty stable. On a scale of five, five being the highest, we could rate it at four. 

There are very minor issues. However, those are very negligible in nature. Overall it is a very decent tool.

The product is scalable. 

We have three people working directly with the solution in our organization. They are across the globe and offer 24/7 coverage.

The product is used on a daily basis. 

If you asked me five years ago, the complexity was less. Now, the complexity has increased. So the quality of work also has taken a slight hit with respect to their tax support especially. 

Earlier, on a scale of one to ten, if you asked me, ten being the highest, their tax support was somewhere about seven and eight. Now it has gone to five and six since you hardly get CCIE-certified engineers when you are dealing with certain advanced issues, and that is where we lose a lot of time. That is a concerning factor that they need to address.

It's been a gradual decrease since they have started already losing out some of their customer base to multiple competitors out there in the market. The decision lies with Cisco - whether they want to position themselves as a LAN-networking gold-standard or a platinum-standard player in the market. They need to move very quickly, especially in the wireless area.

Neutral

We use Cisco products predominantly.

I have tested Meraki as well, and I'm very comfortable with Prime since, for the kind of data that we use as a performance metric scale, Prime provides us with what is very essential. Meraki may be glorified reporting in a simplified way for more non-technical people. Good, technically sound people will tend to go more toward Cisco Prime.

We have used Aruba AirWave with Cisco Prime. The major advantage is that Cisco has a DNS Center under their roadmap, which provides a single pane for your entire network troubleshooting stack, right from the user device all the way back to your application. That is possible through DNA Center, whereas Aruba AirWave still needs to catch up in that area.

It is straightforward to set up. It is not complex at all.

I'd rate the ease of setup at a three out of five. Eventually, we will be moving to DNA Center, and DNA Center provides a lot more under a single umbrella. So, as far as their roadmap, they're going in the right direction.

Originally, it was an on-prem server where we installed Cisco Prime. Right now, we are moving to the cloud, and it has been very seamless since we migrated from on-prem to the cloud. Cisco's support was pretty good. Their documentation was very clear, so we could do it just by referring to their data sheets and documentation.

The initial setup was handled in-house. 

I see cost being a major factor for their hardware. However, when you buy Aruba AirWave, that is a very expensive product compared to Prime. You need to at least look at price competitiveness.

Cisco's pricing is quite competitive. That said, there are products that provide bare minimal feature sets. It all boils down to the network manager, and what tasks they want to accomplish using a particular tool. If the buyer is very clear, they should not face any issues with taking the product as it will provide a modular license, which is a nice thing.

I'd rate the affordability at a four out of five. It's one of the most competitive options on the market.

They have different licenses. The cost purely depends on the Prime license subscription that we take. They charge differently if we manage LAN devices and take traditional backups on the network switches and devices. Ours is a hybrid license. It is not a locked-down license against X number of devices. That way, it is not that expensive at all.

I don't see any similar product in the market that is as reliable in nature, especially if you talk about its competitors like Juniper or HP. A relevant product, which is widely used in the market, is Aruba and Aruba is just winning based on the cost factor. However, if you remove that cost factor, they're not that great. We did do the POCs for a couple of our very large plants. In fact, it is spread around a couple of kilometers, so you could understand the wireless connectivity, the full wireless POC. In terms of reliability especially, Cisco is light years ahead.

I'm a Cisco customer and end-user.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.

Our company uses the solution for management of complex configurations, archiving routes and switches, and monitoring wireless connections. Our team of seven administrators serve as system integrators for our clients and currently manage more than 1,000 sites. 

The solution's configuration management tool is amazing because it centralizes and pushes configurations which saves a lot of volume and effort. 

The solution has issues with real time monitoring of devices and NetFlow such as inadequate visualization for reports, sources, and destinations. Because of this, I have to rely on other tools for monitoring and troubleshooting so I am only able to use 50% of the solution. 

I would like the solution to allow open monitoring for use with other products in the same fashion that competing vendors support any SMP products. 

I have been using the solution for six years. 

The solution is stable if the appliance is functioning properly without interruption. 

We experienced three cases where the solution was interrupted on push and almost corrupted. 

Sudden outages that interrupt host availability will cause instability. 

The solution is scalable from the configuration management side. 

There might be limitations on the monitoring side. 

Technical support is good with no issues. 

Positive

The initial setup is easy and deployment takes about 30 minutes. 

Our company implements the solution for customers. 

The solution uses a licensing model for pricing. 

The solution is only good for configuration management and has issues with real time monitoring. 

Our company had the expectation that we could use the solution for both configuration management and real time monitoring, but unfortunately we were not able to replace our other monitoring tool.

We still recommend that our customers use the solution for configuration management, especially if they have a lot of Cisco devices. 

Predominantly we have been using Cisco Prime to manage the wireless infrastructure for our enterprise customers. We also use it for pulling critical reports, monitoring alerts, and managing all the configurations of the wireless portfolio.

A customer's biggest problem is usually poor Wi-Fi, especially in meeting rooms or video conferences. Cisco Prime can help customers fix their Wi-Fi issues with scientific and digital data, which helps to improve the Wi-Fi experience of the customer. Even if most of the workforce goes back to the office, there would still be a need to connect to an office network using Wi-Fi, not only wired LAN cables.

Cisco Prime is a critical tool which helps us design the Wi-Fi network. If something doesn't work properly, the entire operations team can use it to troubleshoot and discover what went wrong in a particular building or floor.

Cisco Prime is a one-stop place to log in and manage our entire wireless infrastructure. We don't need to log in to individual devices to perform configuration changes, allowing us to pull critical historical reports for the customer. It is an excellent platform if the devices need to be upgraded or downgraded. It helps to maintain a database where we can manage the licenses of all the devices.

They can add 3D wireless maps to Cisco Prime. They can also improve the management of more enterprise devices. There is currently a way to manage more enterprise products, but it's not great. However, it is perfect for managing wireless devices.

Cisco is transitioning away from Prime and is getting replaced by Cisco DNAC, the next generation.

We have been using this solution for about eight to ten years, deployed on-premises. There is no cloud version of this solution, and we are using the latest version, 3.8.

It is very stable. No product on this planet is 100% bug-free, but Cisco Prime is one of the best tools for managing the wireless portfolio of Cisco products.

There are no issues with scalability. It is awesome.

The technical support is good. Cisco Prime has been in the industry for a long time, and many engineers have solid backgrounds.

The initial setup was pretty straightforward, and there is a lot of installation documentation available for free on Google and videos on YouTube. It's a very straightforward process if we consider the memory and CPU utilization. We only need two resources for the deployment, an onsite engineer and somebody working remotely. It took about an hour to deploy.

No maintenance is required, and we just need to ensure the license is valid. We have approximately 17 people using this solution.

There is a great return on investment because it is a centralized management platform where we can deploy to hundreds of locations. Without Cisco Prime, we would have to hire more network engineers to manage our 50 office locations across the globe. So it is an indirect cost saving for hiring employees.

The price of Cisco Prime is higher than Aruba, but the difference is not exponential.

Aruba has a similar product to Cisco Prime. However, Aruba's only advantage over Cisco Prime is its flexibility to host on cloud. With Aruba, you can host on a private or public cloud like Azure, AWS, or GCP.

I rate this solution a nine out of ten. Regarding advice, if a customer has decided to adopt Cisco Wireless, then Cisco Prime is a great choice. However, if they have decided to adopt a different vendor solution for wireless, then Cisco Prime may not be the best choice.

We use Cisco Prime to monitor Cisco wireless environment.

The product's most valuable features are monitoring and configuration.

We have been using Cisco Prime for four years. We are using version 3.6.

I rate the product's stability a ten out of ten.

We have one server for Cisco Prime. It supports as many devices as required. We have 1000 users for it in our organization. I rate its scalability a ten out of ten.

I contacted the technical support team for server certification renewal. They are helpful.

Positive

The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market. Although, from an operational point of view, it is worth the money.

It is a good product. I recommend it to others and rate Cisco Prime a nine out of ten.

Our primary use case for this solution is Assurance. It helps us manage and monitor analytics and fix issues such as poor voice quality. We can investigate by fetching reports and real-time alert generation for VoIP infrastructure. For example, suppose there is latency during calls, it can be immediately alerted to take immediate action before we investigate the deeper issue.

Cisco Prime could be improved for other devices like Aruba and Juniper by focusing on the features to be enabled for non-Cisco vendors. For example, the onboarding process could be improved and developed to enhance compatibility for non-Cisco devices. Otherwise, for Cisco infrastructure, it's well suited.

We have been using this solution for approximately ten years.

The solution's stability depends on the product's chosen requirements.

The solution is scalable.

We have had a good experience with customer service and support. They are responsive and helpful. They are available to assist when issues occur but do not provide support for the entire configuration process.

We previously used Juniper. However, it did not provide some of the parameters available on Cisco.

The product is both straightforward and complex. However, it is primarily straightforward because Cisco provides their OVA template and open virtual appliances for deployment using the VMware ESXi. Hence, it's easy to deploy, but it's a little bit difficult to configure according to your use cases and what is performed or delivered to the customer.

Deployment can be done in three ways and the time varies depending on the chosen one.

I cannot comment on pricing and licensing as another department handles it.

I rate this solution an eight out of ten. The solution is good but can be improved by including features for non-Cisco vendors. I recommend this tool to customers looking for a good tool that can provide an advanced level of monitoring for people with 90% infrastructure or inventory from Cisco.

Our primary use case for this solution is for network monitoring and conducting upgrades and we can manage devices in the network. Additionally, we deploy this solution on-premises.

We are planning to move to DNA Center, but we have legacy devices and near versions of devices that support Cisco DNA Center. We run both, but for DNA Center, we don't rely on it. In the future, when Cisco moves all of its device's DNA platforms, we will move from Cisco Prime to Cisco DNA Center.

Cisco Prime is user-friendly, so we are comfortable using it. In addition, we find the ability to monitor inventory and export reports from running networks valuable.

We would like to see the inclusion of detailed alerts. This feature is available in Cisco DNA Centre.

We have been using this solution for one year and are currently using version 3.8.

The solution is stable.

The solution is scalable, but if you want to expand the number of devices that can be used on the server, you will have to upgrade your license.

We have had a good experience with customer service and support which is why we have continued to use this product. However, the technical support depends on the licensing contract.

The initial setup depends on your experience with the specific product. It will not be difficult if you have had previous experience, but if you haven't, it may be difficult. In our case, we had moderate experience with our initial setup.

A solution integrator conducted the initial stages of deployment, but the other stages were completed in-house. Therefore, the time for deployment varies depending on the number of devices managed through Cisco Prime infrastructure for the site. Still, it doesn't take much time because multiple features like network discovery can be run with all the saved parameters.

We have seen a return on investment. When you have a central management plan, it saves a lot of costs. For example, the solution has reduced the resources and time needed to be spent on day-to-day tasks by managing our activities from a central management plane.

The licensing costs are much cheaper compared to Cisco DNA Centre. I rate the licensing costs a five out of ten because it is moderate. It is not too cheap or costly. The solution has a standard licensing fee and no additional charges, but the DNA licensing must be renewed every three, five or seven years.

I rate this solution an eight out of ten. The solution is good and has all the features we require for our environment. My advice to users implementing this solution for the first time would be to opt for Cisco DNA Center because, with time, I believe Cisco will force customers to use Cisco DNA Center because they may retire all other legacy platforms.

We use Cisco Prime mainly to monitor and double-check if all access points are working correctly and in the correct places that they are intended to be. Additionally, we check the heat maps of the coverage of the wifi signal to see if it is the appropriate coverage.

The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is the heat map.

Cisco Prime could improve the notifications in the system. Having more details about what is happening would be useful, such as traffic numbers or who is connected. We can see them through the firewall controller, but it would be better if you can see them from one place.

In the next release, they could add some more features and improve the look of the user interface to something more modern.

I have been using Cisco Prime for approximately five years.

Cisco Prime is stable.

The scalability of Cisco Prime has been good for the 200 access points we have.

We communicate with our Cisco partner here and I'm very happy with them. They're very cooperative and responsive.

I have not used another similar solution prior to Cisco Prime.

The price of Cisco Prime was reasonable because we purchased it as part of a Cisco One package. The package was a bundle of Cisco solutions together, such as Cisco ISE and CMX. The price is reasonable com compared to other solutions.

My advice to others is they need to make sure during their planning that they have distributed the exact number of access points in the right location. There should be someone dedicated to it because it needs a follow-up and daily monitoring.

I rate Cisco Prime a seven out of ten.

We use this solution to troubleshoot our wireless systems, specifically regarding signal strength. We have 10 users and 5 admins for maintenance of this solution. 

This solution could be improved if it could monitor configuration changes.

I have been using this solution for five years. 

This is not a scalable solution. 

The customer service and support for this solution is good. When we have had a technical problem, we have worked together with them to fix any issues. 

Positive

We use this solution together with SolarWinds. We use SolarWinds to monitor set up and configuration changes. We use Cisco Prime to troubleshoot network signal.

The initial setup is straightforward. 

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.