Checkmk vs Cisco UCS Manager comparison

Checkmk and Cisco are both solutions in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category. Checkmk is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.4, while Cisco is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.7. Checkmk holds a 4.3% mindshare in IM, compared to Cisco’s 1.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Checkmk users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

Checkmk

Read 9 Checkmk reviews

3,414 Views
302 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco UCS Manager

Read 27 Cisco UCS Manager reviews

1,680 Views
154 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Checkmk

Cisco UCS Manager

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Cisco UCS Manager and Checkmk compete in IT infrastructure management and monitoring. Cisco tends to lead in infrastructure management with robust capabilities, while Checkmk is preferable for efficient resource tracking and cost-effectiveness.

Features: Cisco UCS Manager provides extensive management in storage, networking, and compute integration, and ease of administration with comprehensive dashboards. Checkmk is notable for automatic monitoring, integration capabilities, and resource monitoring in environments with frequent power outages.

Room for Improvement: Cisco UCS Manager could simplify its firmware upgrade process and management interface, with better performance dashboards and integration with hyper-converged systems. Checkmk needs increased accessibility, a more intuitive user interface, and less manual intervention for alerts.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco UCS Manager is primarily on-premises, with responsive technical support. Checkmk offers on-premises and private cloud deployments with reliable customer service, though both face regional support challenges. Cisco is known for wider global support availability.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco UCS Manager has high initial and ongoing costs, yet offers good ROI in stable environments. Checkmk is affordable, suitable for robust monitoring with a low-cost model, attracting cost-conscious users with its pricing advantage.

To learn more, read our detailed Checkmk vs. Cisco UCS Manager Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk vs. Cisco UCS Manager

June 2025

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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

Checkmk

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

13th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (8th), Server Monitoring (6th), Cloud Monitoring Software (12th)

Cisco UCS Manager

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

16th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category, the mindshare of Checkmk is 4.3%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco UCS Manager is 1.4%, down from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

IT Infrastructure Monitoring

Featured Reviews

Paolo Sala

Application performance and System monitoring at Agos

A reasonably priced tool for system and application monitoring

The main room for improvement is in the solution's presentation and the integration area. In our company, we use the integration capabilities from ServiceNow. We also have another big monitoring solution in place in our company, which is Dynatrace. At the moment, there doesn't exist an out-of-the-box integration for Dynatrace. I think that the integration and the exporting of the data collected are areas where Checkmk lacks but should try to improve the most. The only implementation of Checkmk that allows high availability is the virtual appliance that has the option for the availability of a different box. Otherwise, you have to find a way to implement it manually with some custom solution, which could be an improvement.

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Edwin Mwosa

IT Infrastructure Manager at KTDA

Enhanced network oversight with rapid issue identification and good efficiency

We mainly use Cisco UCS Manager to integrate and manage our Cisco switches across the building. We also utilize it for network integration. It provides an integrated solution for our Cisco environment, streamlining our operations and managing multiple Cisco devices like switches and routers Cisco…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Overall, from one to ten, I rate Checkmk a nine."

"It's versatile, scalable, and easier to use compared to other solutions like Nagios and OMD."

"We can monitor multiple sites using the product."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it has a lot of different pieces, and they all work together...It is a very scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"The initial setup of Checkmk was easy...It is a very stable solution."

"The most valuable features of Checkmk are its resource monitoring, infra monitoring, and log factor configuration."

"I really like the auto-discovery feature."

"Checkmk was built on a platform that was user-friendly, and I could build my charts easily."

More Checkmk pros

"One of the valuable features is the user interface base."

"What I like most about Cisco UCS Manager is the ease of administration. It also allows the central management of maintenance, installation, and configuration activities."

"The solution is highly scalable, mainly because of the templates that make it easy for you to actually edit on the system."

"For the blade architecture and ease of use, I consider Cisco UCS Manager the best option on the market at the moment."

"Technical support has been good so far. We haven't had any issues with them. We're satisfied with the level of service they provide our company."

"The hardware is very powerful and it is a stable solution."

"Cisco UCS Manager is overall a good package because it gives a GUI interface and a CLI."

"The interface is ergonomic and native. We can use UCS Manager to do all the configurations for the servers, including storage, networking, and all the other components we need inside the fabric. It's simple and flexible."

More Cisco UCS Manager pros

Cons

"If an alert is generated for a specific pattern in the log, and if Checkmk catches that log, it will stay there even after the alert is resolved."

"It is easy for tech-savvy people, but newcomers might find it intimidating."

"The main challenge for us is that we're moving from Nagios to Checkmk, and we're still getting used to the new way of working."

"Checkmk does not work too easily with the PowerStore. I use a PowerShell script as Checkmk runs on Linux and a Windows system, connecting with the Checkmk agent."

"Sometimes we receive alerts, and it can become annoying when you acknowledge an alert. It is very clunky when you acknowledge the alert. The process is not very intuitive, and there are instances where it feels a bit cumbersome to acknowledge an alert."

"The initial setup is a bit complex."

"In Checkmk, the documentation can probably be improved a bit more."

"Checkmk does not allow running scripts at varying intervals."

More Checkmk cons

"Cisco UCS is expensive compared to others. The Cisco UCS Chassis is more expensive than a standalone server, but some companies require standalone servers because of their production load and affordability. You need to pay more if you require more features on the Blade or if you need more ports on the switch."

"Its user interface can be improved. It can be more user-friendly."

"The primary challenge we face is identifying the correct version to deploy during firmware upgrades or compute updates."

"We have three data centers and if we could manage all three data centers using one interface, it would be great."

"Upgrading the firmware is a difficult procedure."

"The installation and upgrade sytems need to be improved."

"For improvements, while the current graphical user interface is satisfactory, it could be further simplified for different tasks."

"Cisco UCS Manager should have a simplified deployment in the sense of not having multiple machines, demilitarized zones, and on-premise options."

More Cisco UCS Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is affordable."

"Checkmk is a fairly reasonably priced solution."

"The price of Checkmk is cheaper compared to other enterprise products."

"We need to take a license for each port, which amounts to a big sum."

"The pricing for Cisco UCS Manager is okay for its market, so it's a four out of five for me."

"Cisco UCS Manager’s annual licensing fee is expensive."

"With product discounts which can be negotiated, the product is a great value."

"You buy the hardware and then you get Cisco UCS Manager for free."

"Cisco UCS is more expensive than Dell and HP, but it is more reliable. I see less issues and it's quite stable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

24%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Checkmk?

The most valuable feature of the solution is that it has a lot of different pieces, and they all work together...It is a very scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Checkmk?

I will get more information about Checkmk when the proof of concept is done. It's going to be before the summer. There will be a report about the tool and a recommendation to use it. So far, it loo...

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What is your primary use case for Checkmk?

Checkmk ( /products/checkmk-reviews ) is a monitoring tool, so that's what I will use it for. Right now, it's not in production, but it's in a proof of concept phase. It looks good, so probably, du...

See all answers

What do you like most about Cisco UCS Manager?

When one server fails, we can attach the service profile to a new server, which saves a lot of time.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS Manager?

My experience with the pricing of Cisco UCS Manager ( /products/cisco-ucs-manager-reviews ) is that it is reasonable. Recently, we acquired an excellent bundle with significant discounts, with offe...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco UCS Manager?

For improvements, while the current graphical user interface is satisfactory, it could be further simplified for different tasks. While it has been improved from using Java to HTML, simplifying the...

See all answers

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Compared 83% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

HPE OneView vs Cisco UCS Manager

Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk

June 2025

Download Checkmk product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS Manager

June 2025

Download Cisco UCS Manager product report

Overview

Checkmk is a powerful tool for monitoring IT infrastructure, providing vital insights on servers, databases, network devices, and custom applications.

Primarily used for supervising IT infrastructure, Checkmk helps organizations ensure service availability by monitoring hosts, processes, load, storage, and network appliances. With support for both Linux and Windows environments across multiple data centers, Checkmk performs compliance checks and preserves historical data for core network devices.

What are the key features of Checkmk?

Auto-discovery: Automatically identifies new hosts and applies monitoring rules.
Custom monitoring: Enhances MySQL performance tracking.
Slack integration: Provides immediate downtime alerts.
Graphical trend analysis: Offers 400 days of trend data.
Multiple site monitoring: Ensures seamless data synchronization through task automation.
Resource and infrastructure monitoring: Configures log factors to fit budget constraints.
System metric imports: Includes servers, SQL, file systems, and application monitoring.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Time-saving: Auto-discovery and task automation streamline processes.
Proactive alerts: Immediate downtime notifications optimize response times.
Historical insights: Long-term graphical trend analysis aids strategic planning.
Cost efficiency: Resource monitoring aligned with budget constraints.

Checkmk is deployed extensively in large enterprise environments for monitoring critical infrastructure. It proves particularly useful under conditions of frequent power outages or network issues, helping maintain smooth operations. While the alert acknowledgment process and interface require improvements, and the lack of an agent-less platform complicates server management, the strengths in auto-discovery, integration, and comprehensive monitoring make Checkmk a strong contender for IT infrastructure monitoring.

Checkmk

Cisco UCS Manager helps significantly reduce management and administration expenses by automating routine tasks to increase operational agility. Customers can extend the benefits of Cisco UCS Manager globally across an enterprise to thousands of servers in multiple domains with Cisco UCS Central Software.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Management Science Associates, Peak 10, Virtual Consulting Professionals

Buyer's Guide

Checkmk vs. Cisco UCS Manager

June 2025

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