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Cisco ACI vs Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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
Ranking in Network Virtualization
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
105
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Networking (SDN) (2nd), Cloud and Data Center Security (9th)
Cisco Enterprise Network Fu...
Ranking in Network Virtualization
4th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Network Virtualization category, the mindshare of Cisco ACI is 27.1%, down from 47.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization is 9.0%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Virtualization Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco ACI27.1%
Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization9.0%
Other63.9%
Network Virtualization
 

Featured Reviews

Sulaiman Olubiyi - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Majdi Sabbah - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant Sales Engineer at BT Al-Saudia
Versatile, offering flexibility and scalability
I rely on Cisco Enterprise NFV for various sectors like government, campuses, and hospitality. It is a crucial foundational layer that is mandatory before delivering other services The most valuable feature is its user-friendly management dashboard. It is easy to use and covers everything in one…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution has all of the baseline functionalities for any sort of SDN capability."
"I use Cisco for security and collaborating, and I use this solution with WebEx, WebEx Teams, and WebEx Board as a hybrid solution."
"There are many features which are useful, like the automatic completion of the VXLAN."
"We get a full holistic view of the ecosystem."
"Cisco ACI is highly stable; I've deployed it at six or seven data centers, and we've never had any issues with stability."
"We had different networks and combined them with ACI so we could have the control of one controller-based network, and automation is running so that the operational effort was reduced massively."
"The ability to integrate with other systems is the most valuable feature."
"Before we started using Cisco ACI, everything was essentially flat open access, and by using ACI, we're able to segment out everything and get more visibility into our virtual environment."
"The support system that they have in place is very good and they are easy to reach."
"Overall, I feel that this is a good product and I recommend it."
"Scalability is not a problem."
"Network Security is one of the most valuable features of Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization."
"Routing, switching, and wireless network security are the valuable features of Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization."
"The most valuable feature is its user-friendly management dashboard."
"It is easy to manage, easy to maintain, and stable, and if you set up everything alright, it will give years without any issues."
"Cisco is in our portfolio, which is one of the reasons that we keep working with them."
 

Cons

"If I lose the connection from one side to the core, I can't use the other side to go to the core. I hope in the future, this will be fixed."
"It needs more features for integrating with third-party vendors."
"We faced some issues while configuring the microsegment."
"We are looking at better synchronization with the cloud and on-premise, bringing in a multi-cloud networking solution."
"At first, the setup was really complex because we did everything with the GUI first. We had to figure out how to do that and it was frustrating because we had a lot of errors which didn't really tell us anything because we're used to other kinds of messages from the old school networking."
"We have had two calls with technical support. They are not the best. We opened a case to diagnose issues and it's taken weeks to get someone on the case and to move forward."
"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."
"There are many bug fixes required with Cisco ACI."
"One of the things that can be improved is trimming all mobile numbers so that it aids in swiftly acquiring information for tablets or any necessary solution."
"In terms of what could be improved, I would say the cost. The SDN hardware especially is much too expensive, specifically 799 and 9000, which act like a spine and those spines are connecting to the leaves."
"It would be helpful if they offered modularized upgrades, such as additional memory or a faster processor."
"This is a software solution, which is less stable than a hardware solution by definition."
"There is room for improvement in enhancing compatibility with other solutions and vendors."
"I would like to see the principle scan introduce more models, to help with scalability issues."
"The solution's orchestration part could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing and licensing are both high, particularly if you want a high level of functionality. It would be great if the price and licensing cost could be decreased."
"It saves time and resources."
"The pricing is pretty good for new technology."
"We used Cisco Professional Services for the deployment. They were outstanding, but very expensive."
"We have saved time on the provisioning and configuration."
"We have seen time improvement using the product."
"A big company can automate it themselves or spend a lot of money and buy it."
"The product is not cheap."
"There is a separate charge for support."
"Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization is an expensive solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise89
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
 

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...
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...
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.
Ask a question
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Also Known As

No data available
Cisco NFV
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bowling Green State University, du, Qatar University
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco ACI vs. Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,153 professionals have used our research since 2012.