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Aruba Orchestrator vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.5
Fortinet FortiGate is valued for affordability, cost savings, enhanced security, operational efficiency, quick implementation, and long-term ROI benefits.
Sentiment score
7.4
Aruba Orchestrator offers financial benefits and cost-effectiveness, with ROI typically realized by the third or fourth year.
Sentiment score
7.4
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN delivers cost-effective operations and flexibility, with significant ROI from reduced MPLS and WAN expenses.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
I have seen a return on investment and financial benefit from using Aruba Orchestrator.
They are now back to do that with the remainder of their company, so they've realized the value in 12 months and are willing to invest in the remainder of their organization.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Fortinet FortiGate's customer service varies, with praise for responsiveness but criticism for slow, sometimes inadequate technical support.
Sentiment score
7.8
Silver Peak's support is praised for training and responsiveness, though documentation and expertise during outages need improvement.
Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN support is renowned for expertise and responsiveness but faces delays and outsourcing concerns, overall highly rated.
I would rate their support for FortiGate a nine out of ten.
They offer very accurate solutions.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
The technical support of Aruba is very supportive and excellent.
The principal third-level support is very good.
I would consider Cisco support a 10 out of 10.
Cisco's ongoing reorganizations have affected the quality of technical support, which varies depending on the engineer handling cases.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Fortinet FortiGate scales well for diverse enterprises, though planning and licensing are crucial to avoid hardware limitations.
Sentiment score
7.6
Aruba Orchestrator effectively scales for enterprises, handling up to 1,000 users, with positive feedback on its adaptability.
Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN excels in scalability, adaptability, and seamless Cisco integration, despite initial setup challenges, supporting diverse enterprises.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
Cisco SD-WAN is highly scalable and can be expanded to more than 10,000 sites.
The ease of configuration and features like zero-touch provisioning enhance the scalability of Cisco SD-WAN, especially in disaster recovery situations.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Fortinet FortiGate is generally stable and reliable, with minor issues arising from new features, firmware updates, or hardware constraints.
Sentiment score
8.8
Aruba Orchestrator is highly rated for stability, reliability, and consistent performance, making it excellent for stable operations.
Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is stable and reliable, with minor bugs, requiring regular updates for optimal performance in complex environments.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
We have not had any problems with the operating systems or maintenance of subscriptions.
While some software-related issues and bugs were encountered, they did not cause the whole environment to crash.
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate needs enhancements in firmware, usability, integration, support, reporting, VPN, cloud integration, and documentation for seamless use.
Aruba Orchestrator needs stronger security, better cost-efficiency, user-friendliness, and improved integration with third-party analytics and training resources.
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN needs simpler management, enhanced security, better scalability, improved support, and more flexible pricing and integration.
By providing an integrated solution, users would have access to all features and functionalities within a single window, eliminating the need to navigate through multiple windows.
Investing in a solution that can accommodate such growth would be more cost-effective than repeatedly purchasing new hardware.
The constant daily revisions necessitate meticulous identification of the relevant documents to prevent the use of outdated information that could jeopardize our environment.
The price should be improved as it is very high.
Now, they change frequently, making it difficult to obtain long-term support.
Including more features like integrating with Splunk for monitoring vulnerabilities would help eliminate the need for other SOC solutions.
The negative, or the downside of Cisco is the knowledge base; you need to be a little bit more tech-savvy and network-savvy to work with Cisco, while Juniper is a lot more user-friendly from what I can see, especially in terms of configuration and any kind of roll back.
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate offers competitive pricing with upfront affordability, simple licensing, and long-term value, despite potentially high renewal costs.
Aruba Orchestrator has a mid-range subscription pricing model under $1,000, with yearly costs and varied user satisfaction.
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is costly, with complex licensing, but offers robust features; users seek discounts or OPEX models.
The most expensive part is the renewal of the license subscription.
FortiGate is priced lower than Palo Alto.
Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.
Regarding my experience with the pricing and setup costs, I find it expensive software compared to others.
Its pricing is justifiable due to the comprehensive solution it offers.
It is also relatively cost-effective for smaller businesses when using the Meraki version.
The pricing of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is rated between eight and nine out of ten, where ten is the most expensive.
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate delivers robust security features and intuitive management, offering scalable and affordable network protection solutions.
Aruba Orchestrator streamlines WAN optimization and SD-WAN integration through a user-friendly interface, enhancing management, security, and network visibility.
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN offers centralized management, robust security, scalability, and superior connectivity with load balancing and excellent support.
The firewall, IPS, and VPN functions are the most valuable features.
FortiGate provides solid protection against viruses, malware, and other threats.
In terms of security, we have not experienced any security flaws or loopholes, and it has proven to be quite stable.
Integration capabilities with cloud and on-prem environments help my organization maintain a hybrid approach.
It also provides robust security features, including port security, analysis, mirroring, and multiple other security solutions.
Integration capabilities provide comprehensive security.
Security is standard compliant, eliminating config drift that was prevalent before manual configurations.
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
357
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (2nd), WAN Edge (1st)
Aruba Orchestrator
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
9th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (6th), WAN Edge (2nd)
 

Featured Reviews

Jorge Martínez - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers good SD-WAN capabilities and integrates easily with Fortinet devices
I am not part of the initial setup or deployment process since I work in presales. The setup or deployment is quite easy, as you can do a one-touch deployment that automatically connects to the FortiManager cloud when you connect it to a broadband or dynamic IP, allowing you to start the configuration from that point. We usually sell it for on-premises setups. It's on the cloud only when the client has virtual machines or their own service. Sometimes they have a service on the cloud like AWS, but it's more difficult to sell now because AWS has an e-commerce option where you can buy FortiGate directly. The only thing you need is someone to manage and configure.
Aneesh K - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides complete internal visibility from LAN to Wi-Fi, resulting in higher stability and easier troubleshooting
Aruba has plenty of solutions showcased at this event. Perhaps they offer their firewall, which we are not currently utilizing—the LAN switching, ClearPass, and Wi-Fi. ClearPass is is still on-premises, but the switching, Wi-Fi, and security features are included. It has some capabilities, like automation intelligence, which they call AI operations. So it is helpful. Our time spent on troubleshooting will be significantly reduced with it. Another useful feature is that we can inquire about the health data from Aruba Central and receive the necessary answers. Aruba Central simplifies management. Yes, deployment will be much faster than on-premises setups, where you need many hardware gateways. With just an access point or minimal hardware, deployment will be quicker. Troubleshooting with it has also made it much more straightforward. A group of ten people should be more than sufficient to manage an extensive infrastructure. Aruba is providing better support. They are also improving their email services. They are up to market standards, so we choose to go with them. We were looking for a direct vendor, but they didn't meet our requirements. Aruba Orchestrator is meeting our current expectations and standards, so we are sticking with them. We don't have any issues because we have been with Aruba for many years. We don't mind moving from one vendor to another. We are simply transitioning from one rental type to another with Aruba. I prioritize enhancements in AI functionality over other features. There are several implementations, with AI being the primary focus. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Igor Van Den Ouden - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables secure and flexible branch connectivity with application-aware routing
The valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN include its security policies and zone-based firewall that are applied to every site, as well as application-aware routing. Security is standard compliant, eliminating config drift that was prevalent before manual configurations. Application-aware routing offers flexibility in using different lines for traffic, depending on the policy implemented.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
15%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
No data available
Educational Organization
36%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about Cisco SD-WAN?
When considering the most valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN, the decoupling of self-monitoring stands out significant...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco SD-WAN?
The pricing of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is rated between eight and nine out of ten, where ten is the most expensive.
What needs improvement with Cisco SD-WAN?
There's nothing I could put my finger on right away for improvements in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN. There is definitely no...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator, Unity Orchestrator
Cisco SD-WAN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya
Information Not Available
Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Orchestrator vs. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.