Cisco ACI vs Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL] comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Cisco ACI and Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL] are both solutions in the Network Virtualization category. Additionally, 85% of Cisco ACI users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL] users who would recommend it.

Cisco ACI

Read 106 Cisco ACI reviews

6,425 Views
1,349 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL]

Read 2 Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL] reviews

100% willing to recommend

Cisco ACI

Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL]

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco ACI and Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Broadcom, ZeroTier, Inc. and others in Network Virtualization.

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Network Virtualization

October 2026

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Helped 920,223 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

Cisco ACI

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

106

Ranking in other categories

Network Virtualization (1st), Software Defined Networking (SDN) (2nd), Cloud and Data Center Security (7th)

Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL]

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

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.

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reviewer902526

Vice Chairman at a construction company with 11-50 employees

Good support, feature-rich, and works well from a technical perspective

We are a system integrator and we are currently working on a project with a client who is using this solution. It is used for private cloud or data center virtualization We make use of all of the features that are available. It would be helpful to have better information on how to implement this…

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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

"Their technical support has been great, and they have a great partner, so there is nothing to comment on regarding the service."

"Because we can use automation processes with this platform, we have been able to free up our IT department's time."

"The routing of traffic is one of our main focuses when utilizing Cisco ACI."

"I rate Cisco ACI nine out of ten due to its impressive features."

"It improves security and automation."

"We can support policy based on our intent, then that gets rendered into the policy that we will be using for Fabric."

"Cisco ACI is designed to provide a unified fabric for physical and virtual networking, moving away from the management of individual physical switches."

"We can support multiple VDRs of multiple branch offices at same physical location in the same infrastructure."

More Cisco ACI pros

"The management aspect of the solution is its most valuable feature; software-defined issues have been good for us, and it makes the management process easy."

"Overall, from a technical perspective, this product is good, but it could be improved with respect to pricing."

"Cisco has a good technical support team."

Cons

"I have been a bit disappointed with technical support from Cisco. They will often take some time to respond."

"The CLI needs to be improved."

"Cisco is much more expensive than other vendors, especially when it comes to the licensing. For half the cost, I can obtain the same service with another product."

"The initial setup was a bit complex."

"If everything works, it should be fine but if any issues come up, a lot of Cisco services will be needed."

"They should improve the GUI, make it simpler. They also need to improve its integration with other automation tools."

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

"They should make it easier for the network people to do automated solutions."

More Cisco ACI cons

"The initial setup is not easy."

"The stability of the solution isn't ideal. It could be vastly improved."

"It would be helpful to have better information on how to implement this product."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"The price could be improved. It is expensive, but then again, it is Cisco. The price is worth what you pay for."

"The licensing cost for ACI is expensive - I would rate its price 2.5 out of five."

"The thing that I like the most from Cisco is the support and all the documentation that they have. We do have to pay for it though."

"It's expensive but the product is very good. I have never found another partner like Cisco with a solution like this and with great support."

"The product is not cheap."

"It is quite expensive. It is not at all on the cheap or medium side."

"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."

More Cisco ACI pricing and cost advice

"Cisco products are not cheap."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Outsourcing Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

No data available

Questions from the Community

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?

Cost is one thing that could be improved, as it is heavy for an emerging market like ours.

See all answers

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Comparisons

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

Nuage Networks vs Cisco ACI

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco ACI Competitors

Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization vs Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL]

Compared 100% of the time

More Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco ACI

October 2026

Download Cisco ACI product report

Buyer's Guide

Network Virtualization

October 2026

Download Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL] product report

Also Known As

No data available

Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA) Virtualization

Overview

Cisco ACI provides advanced capabilities with features like seamless integration with VMware and APIs for programmability. It offers centralized management for streamlined operations, efficient micro-segmentation, and robust security, addressing modern data center needs.

Cisco ACI brings automation to data center infrastructure, enabling transitions from legacy to modern environments with centralized management. Organizations benefit from optimized server farms, seamless integration with VMware, and support for Kubernetes, making it suitable for large-scale environments. Offering support for healthcare, finance, and public sectors, Cisco ACI facilitates tasks such as virtual networking and multi-site connectivity with application-centric and network-centric designs.

What are the key features of Cisco ACI?

Seamless Integration with VMware: Ensures smooth operation with existing virtualized environments.
Programmability via APIs: Offers flexibility in network configuration and management through APIs.
Centralized Management: Provides a unified view of the network, simplifying oversight.
Automation: Reduces manual configuration workload, speeding up deployment.
Scalability: Adapts to growing network demands with ease.
Robust Security: Enhances protection against threats with comprehensive security measures.
Efficient Micro-Segmentation: Improves network segmentation for security and efficiency.

What benefits or ROI should users look for when evaluating Cisco ACI?

Streamlined Operation: Reduced complexity in network management.
Enhanced Performance: Improved network and application efficiency.
Cost Efficiency: Better resource allocation reduces operational costs.
Improved Security: Advanced features for increased protection.
Scalability: Allows growth without significant redesigns.

In the healthcare industry, Cisco ACI supports secure and efficient data management, accommodating regulatory needs and enhancing patient data handling. Financial institutions benefit from robust security and seamless integration with existing infrastructures, facilitating smooth transaction processing. In the public sector, it's utilized for reliable network management and servicing a diverse range of applications.

Cisco

Connect users to applications with one seamless network using Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA) Virtualization

Cisco

Sample Customers

Bowling Green State University, du, Qatar University

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Network Virtualization

October 2026

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