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Atera vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
8.0
Atera boosts efficiency and cuts costs with remote management, software integration, fixed pricing, and automation, enhancing business value.
Sentiment score
1.0
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller delivers consistent connections and high ROI, benefiting diverse sectors over a decade.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.5
Atera's support team offers quick resolution, accessible help, valued security measures, and improves through user feedback.
Sentiment score
6.4
Customer service is praised for responsiveness and expertise, though some operational cases take longer to resolve.
Cisco's support I would rate as a 10 compared to all other vendors.
Network Engineer at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Atera is scalable for small to large companies, with intuitive setup and robust API integration, ideal for growth.
Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller is scalable, supporting integration and expansion, with varied user experiences on upgrading and compatibility.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Atera is highly stable and reliable, with minor issues quickly addressed and regular updates enhancing functionality.
Sentiment score
7.8
The Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller is praised for its stable performance and reliability, especially in managing data centers.
 

Room For Improvement

Atera needs improved integration, support, and customization across identity management, mobile, network monitoring, and technician control features.
Cisco Nexus Dashboard needs easier configuration, better integration, improved performance, intuitive reporting, and competitive pricing to enhance user experience.
I do not believe it integrated well with different infrastructures for hybrid environments.
Network Engineer at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Atera's pricing model offers cost-effective scalability and predictability, with unlimited devices and savings compared to competitors, ideal for enterprises.
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller is costly but offers high value, transparent pricing, and excellent support and service.
 

Valuable Features

Atera provides robust remote access, automation, and monitoring tools, enhancing productivity and user satisfaction with its intuitive interface.
The Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller offers stability, ease of use, integration, and real-time insights for optimized network management.
We can run commands such as PowerShell, batch scripts, and implement automation.
Owner at Sytex Ltd.
People typically understand north-south traffic flows but usually miss the east-west traffic flows in data centers.
Network Engineer at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Atera
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
33rd
Average Rating
9.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (13th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (37th), IT Service Management (ITSM) (11th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (5th), Patch Management (11th), AIOps (17th), Agentic Automation (7th)
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabri...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Atera is 0.4%, down from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)0.7%
Atera0.4%
Other98.9%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

AV
Owner at Sytex Ltd.
Quick setup and efficient automation boost IT consulting services
It would be beneficial if Atera implemented telephone support for general questions. When onboarding new clients and creating their portal, it would be helpful if presidents or company owners could see the current configuration progress step-by-step, rather than relying solely on email and ticket systems. The task system for technicians could be improved by adding recurring task capabilities. This would allow technicians to have checkmarks and task lists they can mark off as completed. While scalability meets growing needs, there haven't been many additions in the last two years. They are adding new features gradually, but there is always room for improvement.
Jagdev Dhaliwal - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Flow monitoring has improved planning for east-west traffic and real-time capacity decisions
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) helps to understand the flows and data plane capacities, which are the primary use cases. Usually, people struggle with east-west traffic flow when they need to decide on firewalls or products. People typically understand north-south traffic flows but usually miss the east-west traffic flows in data centers. I was focusing more on this so that people can accordingly plan, such as after F5, the number of servers, the number of sessions needed, and whether we need to plan the interface for groups from the line capacity perspective. This kind of information was valuable to us. The real-time telemetry feature was beneficial. When experiencing performance issues, I could determine if there were any issues related to flows or areas where bottlenecks were occurring.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
12%
Performing Arts
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Government
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise16
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Atera?
The prices have increased over time. After expressing concerns about pricing to account managers, they offered a 30% discount option for annual commitments. The main benefit we see with this produc...
What needs improvement with Atera?
It would be beneficial if Atera implemented telephone support for general questions. When onboarding new clients and creating their portal, it would be helpful if presidents or company owners could...
What is your primary use case for Atera?
We use it for maintenance support, patch management, the ticket system, ticketing, and automation in general. Atera enables us to take control quickly with different options. We can perform registr...
What do you like most about Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
It uses push technology, which pushes the changes to all relevant devices to ensure they are updated accordingly.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's still an expensive solution. There are cheaper alternatives but no similar plat...
What needs improvement with Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
I do not believe it integrated well with different infrastructures for hybrid environments. I am uncertain because we have never attempted that in our environment, so they could perform better in t...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Cisco Data Center Network Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MSPs, IT consultants, and IT departments worldwide trust and use Atera. 
Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia
Find out what your peers are saying about Atera vs. Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.