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Cisco ACI vs Symantec Data Center Security comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 14, 2024

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 Cloud and Data Center Security
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
103
Ranking in other categories
Network Virtualization (1st), Software Defined Networking (SDN) (2nd)
Symantec Data Center Security
Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security
10th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
4.9
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Cloud and Data Center Security category, the mindshare of Cisco ACI is 4.0%, down from 5.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Data Center Security is 2.8%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud and Data Center Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco ACI4.0%
Symantec Data Center Security2.8%
Other93.2%
Cloud and Data Center Security
 

Featured Reviews

Rahul Khandelwal - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Technical Manager at KPMG
Enables streamlined data center management with automation and application-centric design
The main features of Cisco ACI that I really appreciate are the application-centric and network-centric designs, allowing you to create your network according to your application. That's helpful, and it's good for one-time implementation. The automation capabilities are really helpful. We deployed one data center using Terraform, and after deployment, many automation features are available, which can be very helpful. Based on my experience, Cisco ACI provides substantial capability; you can design your network accordingly and it's part of the SDN family, providing many benefits to the organization, especially when moving from traditional network infrastructure. Many organizations are actually using the old traditional Nexus infrastructure or some old data center devices. It gives you significant control and one-time implementation capabilities, and it also provides better performance and security. Functionality-wise, Cisco ACI provides integration using automation. We implemented it through Terraform, which was easy. Those features are available, so I don't think any new features are needed right now; something new could come up, but they have implemented many improvements over the years.
Muhammad Ejaz ul Hassan - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Continuous server hardening has protected critical legacy workloads and simplified security control
Symantec is lagging on the reporting side. I have been working for 10 years and I have identified many gray areas. As a user protecting your infrastructure, you need to sell the value to your management. Management buys the tool for preventing threats, and it works for them. However, you cannot sell it because every solution needs to show what happened in the last few years or how you will be protected in the future. Reporting is the most important thing for the CIO level, not the admin level. I have seen Symantec really lag in this area. I am creating my own tool to build a dashboard to share with the CIO level because they want to know what happened last week, last month, and last year. These reports will tell you about activities. Symantec changed the licensing when Broadcom acquired the company. The question of who will provide support became unclear. Support has now changed and they are making money. I have seen that most of the time when you ask implementation questions, they do not answer you. If you have a problem, they give you a low-level engineer at the first level. This delays resolution. Support has to be better.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is that we have centralized management and control of pretty much the entire data center and the architecture of it."
"This solution allows you to do everything quicker and more efficiently."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the Call Manager."
"We use all the features provided by Cisco ACI including orchestration to layer seven, service training, load enhancements, and firewalls."
"Cisco ACI's best features include its network-centric approach and micro-segmentation."
"The most valuable feature is the unified fabric."
"Centralized management and control of the entire data center environment and its architecture."
"The best part of Cisco ACI is the server deployment and integration."
"The granularity of applying the policies is valuable."
"The real strength lies in its straightforward approach, offering just two key policies: prevention and detection."
"We have not reduced manpower, the number of servers has gone up, but the number of incidents has tricked down to single digits."
"The console and tools are very user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature is the endpoint protection system."
"Overall, this is a pretty good product."
"The ability to finely control permissions and restrictions on servers or assets through a customizable rule set is a key strength."
"We use the product to prevent unauthorized access to data, systems, and servers. It provides essential features for data center security."
 

Cons

"The ACI user interface is complex and Cisco should improve it."
"We had issues in the first deployment when we tried to finish the migration from traditional networking to Cisco ACI."
"The interface is sometimes slow. I receive a lot of weird errors when I try to install apps, such as contract apps, which should give me a nice visualization of all the contracts."
"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."
"The firewall has room for improvement because there is no central inspection yet on Cisco ACI."
"Where there is room for improvement from ACI is for Layer 2 and Layer 7 packages."
"There are many bug fixes required with Cisco ACI."
"We faced some issues while configuring the microsegment."
"This solution clashes with Microsoft defender, which results in performance degradation on the machine."
"There is room for improvement in enhancing its graphical user interface for a more user-friendly experience."
"A user or administrator making the policy in the DCS should have a very thorough knowledge of the operating system or policy making. You have to be very specific about the data structure."
"This solution clashes with Microsoft defender, which results in performance degradation on the machine."
"Agent management is a challenging task."
"It would be advantageous if Symantec or Broadcom, given the rebranding, could simplify the process, enabling users to leverage the antivirus functionality more easily."
"Symantec is lagging on the reporting side."
"There is plenty of room for improvement with this product, and it could start with platform metrics."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 cost is fine."
"It is quite expensive. It is not at all on the cheap or medium side."
"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."
"Cisco's pricing is very expensive."
"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."
"Price is always an issue."
"Compared to some other solutions, such as CrowdStrike, Symantec is more expensive."
"It is notably more expensive when compared to other solutions."
"The product is a bit costly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise87
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
 

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.
What needs improvement with Symantec Data Center Security?
Symantec is lagging on the reporting side. I have been working for 10 years and I have identified many gray areas. As a user protecting your infrastructure, you need to sell the value to your manag...
What is your primary use case for Symantec Data Center Security?
As a partner support, we handle all Symantec products for various clients. Currently, we work with DLP, Symantec Endpoint Protection, Data Loss Prevention, Data Center Security, Email Security, and...
What advice do you have for others considering Symantec Data Center Security?
I am still a Symantec partner. Price rating is five out of ten. Symantec Data Center Security is a perfect solution, but it needs to elaborate its functionalities and functions to the market. Peopl...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bowling Green State University, du, Qatar University
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Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco ACI vs. Symantec Data Center Security and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
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