Big Switch Networks vs Cisco ACI comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Arista and Cisco are both solutions in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) category. Arista is ranked #10, while Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8. Arista holds a 4.6% mindshare in SDN, compared to Cisco’s 8.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Arista users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

Big Switch Networks

Read 1 Big Switch Networks review

1,416 Views
481 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco ACI

Read 106 Cisco ACI reviews

6,425 Views
2,634 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Big Switch Networks

Cisco ACI

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Big Switch Networks and Cisco ACI based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Aviatrix, Megaport and others in Software Defined Networking (SDN).

To learn more, read our detailed Software Defined Networking (SDN) Report (Updated: October 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

October 2026

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Helped 921,028 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Big Switch Networks

Ranking in Software Defined Networking (SDN)

10th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Packet Broker (NPB) (3rd)

Cisco ACI

Ranking in Software Defined Networking (SDN)

2nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

106

Ranking in other categories

Network Virtualization (1st), Cloud and Data Center Security (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) category, the mindshare of Big Switch Networks is 4.6%, up from 4.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco ACI is 8.9%, down from 12.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined Networking (SDN) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco ACI	8.9%
Big Switch Networks	4.6%
Other	86.5%

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

Featured Reviews

Jason Best

Data center network architect at Cloudwire

A flexible solution that can be integrated with third-party solutions whilst maintaining its automated nature

I think if I was to say something that could be improved, it would be a multi-data center nature of the implementation. Meaning, having an active-active data center with multiple entrance-exit points. I think that feature could be improved to provide a kind of anycast gateway solution into the functionality that would make it a lot more flexible and versatile. Maybe also making the solution a bit more like the NSX-T from VMware, more on the logical part of the solution, like micro-segmentation and the ability to have a distributed firewall across the whole solution, to implement it in an easier way than they currently do with the security aspect of the solution.

Read full review

Sulaiman Olubiyi

Senior Network Automation Engineer at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Network automation has simplified secure multi-site connectivity and reduced daily operational effort

I believe Cisco ACI could improve by incorporating something related to agentic AI, where it can execute tasks based on particular evaluations or loop engineering, enhancing fault identification or suggestions based on each tenant's configuration. Additionally, I think they should ensure that the documentation is comprehensive. I appreciate that Cisco provides documentation, and their support engineers are helpful in case of any issues. In terms of governance and security regarding Cisco ACI's AI capabilities, I think what we call evals or evaluations is important, whereby the engineer can evaluate the functionalities of the AI in Cisco ACI, preventing it from making deletions or modifications on its own. Therefore, there should be evaluations or guardrails incorporated into the development capabilities. Regarding accuracy and reliability of output for Cisco ACI's AI capabilities, it hasn't met my expectations. What we need is something called RAG, or retrieval-augmented generation. If Cisco can implement that to utilize customer-specific data instead of general knowledge, while ensuring data privacy under GDPR laws, I think that will result in very good, reliable output.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What I liked about the solution is the quick and easy way you can build a network data center fabric."

"I think it's an easy, versatile solution to implement."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is the Call Manager."

"Cisco's technical support team is very good."

"Once we have it running, it should be easier for us to program our IT rather than going case-by-case, by switches and different elements, or program it by hand."

"It has the fastest automation. You can move and deploy services in just a couple of minutes."

"The scalability is very good, as the controller automatically detects new additions and scales itself, and it's agile because it's a cloud-based network."

"With the stability so far we've had very few issues with Cisco ACI, other than a couple of routing problems that were glitches within ACI, and the environment is stable and we like it."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is having a central point to log in."

"We use Cisco ACI for perimeter security and threat detection."

More Cisco ACI pros

Cons

"I think if I was to say something that could be improved, it would be a multi-data center nature of the implementation."

"I wish that if I had to open up an additional tab, I wouldn't have to log in every single time."

"The ACI setup is in its initial phases is difficult. The learning curve at the beginning is higher than a normal setup."

"We are waiting to see what happens with the cloud. We want to see if it will scale better."

"The stability is not bad, but could be improved."

"In the new version of 4.0, the management groups for updating the software is not the best way to do it. It was better in 3.2."

"It is challenging for people who don't understand the programming language, making it difficult to migrate. With technology, there are two verticals. One is hardware driven and the other is software driven. Most people in our domain understand networking, but they don't understand programming. When we migrate, some programming is required."

"Sometimes I get stuck with somebody from technical support who does not understand the problem."

"The integration has room for improvement. There should be a drag-and-drop interface for configuring the integration where you connect some arrows to boxes, and the system takes care of the configuration. Right now, they have something similar, but it's limited. You have to take care of some things yourself. That is one area that the solution can work on. It's easy now, but it's much easier in other solutions."

More Cisco ACI cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost depends on the number of switches that are going to be licensed to run the software."

"A big company can automate it themselves or spend a lot of money and buy it."

"Once you sign for the start kit implementation, you have to go all the way through to the implementation, even if you are experiences issues."

"We have seen time improvement using the product."

"Pricing for Cisco ACI could be expensive if you're not a gold partner. If you're a gold partner, you'll get reasonable pricing, but to become a gold partner, you must cross several layers. For example, at least twenty engineers within your organization have to be certified, with each certification priced at £2,000 minimum, so this would make some companies think twice about the product. If you're going for Aruba and Juniper products, on the other hand, you can quickly get the partner status, and you can start selling the product. As a gold partner, you can get up to seventy percent discount on Cisco ACI, for example, while an ordinary partner gets ten percent off. Cisco ACI is expensive for both customers and partners, but I'm rating pricing for the product as four out of five because even if the price is costly, you get a lot of benefits from the product. Cisco ACI isn't the best, price-wise, but it's still a good solution. If you're in a small organization, you may be unable to afford it. Cisco ACI is best for enterprises but not SMBs because Cisco ACI and its required resources are expensive."

"Cisco is much more expensive than other vendors, especially when it comes to the licensing."

"This is an expensive solution."

"We have saved time on the provisioning and configuration."

"The pricing, including both hardware and licenses, is reasonable."

More Cisco ACI pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Construction Company

13%

Healthcare Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Outsourcing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	22
Midsize Enterprise	19
Large Enterprise	89

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?

There are some very major differences between both the Products and to name a few. -Cisco ACI have physical network gear (9K Switches) where the Code runs in ACI Policy Mode & the UCS server wh...

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What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?

Once you know your way around the Cisco ecosystem, using Cisco ACI is not so difficult. It is a global product, so when you change one interface, changes are automatically reflected on every switch...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco ACI?

Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Cisco ACI, I observe that it is on the more expensive side, although discounts sometimes make it more affordable. Overall, it is recognized as a pr...

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Comparisons

Gigamon Deep Observability Pipeline vs Big Switch Networks

Compared 17% of the time

Ixia Network Packet Brokers vs Big Switch Networks

Compared 10% of the time

Niagara Packet Brokers vs Big Switch Networks

Compared 9% of the time

cPacket cVu vs Big Switch Networks

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Data Broker vs Big Switch Networks

Compared 5% of the time

More Big Switch Networks Competitors

VMware NSX vs Cisco ACI

Compared 14% of the time

Juniper Contrail Networking vs Cisco ACI

Compared 8% of the time

TrendAI Deep Security vs Cisco ACI

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Secure Workload vs Cisco ACI

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco ACI Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

October 2026

Download Big Switch Networks product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco ACI

November 2026

Download Cisco ACI product report

Overview

Big Switch Networks specializes in network management solutions designed to optimize and streamline data center operations, leveraging advanced SDN technology for increased efficiency and scalability.

Big Switch Networks harnesses the power of software-defined networking (SDN) to transform traditional network infrastructures. By providing innovative, agile, and adaptable solutions, it enhances data center performance, supports dynamic workloads, and ensures seamless integration with existing systems. Users experience enhanced control and visibility over network resources, facilitating faster deployment and reduced complexity.

What are the key features of Big Switch Networks?

SDN Technology: Enables centralized management and automation, reducing manual configurations.
Network Virtualization: Allows flexible resource allocation for dynamic traffic adjustment.
Application Visibility: Provides detailed insights into application performance and traffic flows.
Security Features: Incorporates advanced security protocols to protect data integrity and privacy.
Cloud Integration: Supports seamless connection with public and private cloud environments.

What benefits should users expect from Big Switch Networks?

Cost Reduction: Lowers operating expenses through automated management and reduced hardware dependencies.
Improved Performance: Enhances data flow efficiency and network speed, leading to increased productivity.
Scalability: Offers flexible growth options to accommodate expanding business needs.
Increased Reliability: Minimizes downtime with robust failover mechanisms.

Big Switch Networks finds application across multiple industries, tailoring its capabilities to meet the demands of sectors such as finance, healthcare, and telecommunications. In finance, it optimizes high-frequency trading networks, while in healthcare, it ensures secure and efficient data management. Telecommunications benefit from its advanced traffic routing and load balancing features.

Arista

Cisco ACI provides centralized management of data centers offering automation, flexibility, and integration capabilities for enhanced network efficiency. It streamlines application deployment and network management with programmability and scalability, supporting multi-tenancy and security integration.

Cisco ACI empowers data centers with advanced infrastructure management through automated system controls, micro-segmentation, and tenant isolation. Its programmability simplifies network operations, enabling seamless interactions with VMware and other APIs, while the Service Graph facilitates traffic redirection. Although users find its complex interface challenging, they appreciate ACI's adaptability in component addition, which ensures future scalability. Enhancements are desired in cloud integration and ease of use. Licensing concerns and demand for better third-party product integration are noted, alongside aspirations for comprehensive technical support and cloud platform compatibility.

What are the key features of Cisco ACI?

Centralized Management: Streamlines control of network operations from a single point.
Micro-segmentation: Enhances security through precise traffic segmentation.
Tenant Isolation: Allows distinct network environments for enhanced resource separation.
Programmability with APIs: Offers customization and simplified network management.
VMware Integration: Ensures seamless operation with VMware environments.
Service Graph: Redirects network traffic efficiently for optimal performance.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Cisco ACI?

Operational Efficiency: Reduces manual network configuration efforts.
Scalability: Supports future growth with flexible infrastructure adaptability.
Cost Savings: Multi-tenancy and automation contribute to reduced expenditure.
Infrastructure Control: Enhances management of both physical and virtual network elements.

Cisco ACI is implemented extensively in data centers, enhancing network configuration, and supporting application deployment across sectors. It simplifies system migration and supports multi-site connectivity, enabling centralized control and automation in both virtual and physical environments.

Cisco

Sample Customers

A10 Networks, Edge-Core Networks, Blue Coat Systems, BlueData, Broadcom Corporation, Canonical, Check Point Software Technologies, Citrix, Dell, FireEye, Garland, Hortonworks, Mirantis, Nexenta, Riverbed

Bowling Green State University, du, Qatar University

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

October 2026

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