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Cisco Catalyst Center vs OpenText Network Node Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 19, 2025

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 Catalyst Center
Ranking in Network Management Applications
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
OpenText Network Node Manager
Ranking in Network Management Applications
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmad Attal - PeerSpot reviewer
Delivers strong analytics and integration capabilities but requires regular updates and training
My customers often complain about numerous software bugs requiring frequent software patches and updates to resolve these issues. Furthermore, the complexity of the solution can be challenging for some customers as they often require extensive training to fully understand and utilize the product. They have concerns about the high number of software bugs and the need for regular updates to address these bugs.
Qusai Abuomar - PeerSpot reviewer
Network performance optimization achieved with comprehensive visibility and effective event handling
The root cause analysis is valuable. The availability and event handling are also very good, as our team understands the events well. Overall, the tool helps maintain the health of the network. It provides visibility for the network device status, link status, and hardware status of devices such as switches and routers.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The analytics feature is quite good, and the hardware is very performant."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco Catalyst Center is automation."
"The integration of Cisco Catalyst Center is fine"
"Cisco Catalyst Center has greatly enhanced the user-friendliness of configuring Catalyst switches."
"The best feature of Cisco is its industry-standard nature."
"Cisco's technical support is excellent."
"Cisco performs well in the network space, especially in areas like switching, DNA Center, and wireless, where it is known for its stability."
"The architecture and the way Cisco designs it, VXLAN and Cisco Express Forwarding are some of the features I like."
"Overall, the tool helps maintain the health of the network."
"The best feature is the solution's entire credibility with all vendors."
"Most valuable function would have to the internal causal engine and its root cause analyzer which keep us updated on critical errors and incidents in our network environment."
"It's quite a mature solution."
"It is stable for fault and availability."
"We do not have any issues stability-wise."
"You can utilize the main file from various vendors for integration."
"If you install one node on Network Node Manager and want to scale it up, it's pretty easy to create more nodes."
 

Cons

"The retention period of data could be improved from seven days to 30 days. This change would help in cases where users are on leave for extended periods."
"My customers often complain about numerous software bugs requiring frequent software patches and updates to resolve these issues."
"The initial setup of Cisco Catalyst Center is complex."
"The price to get in the door is quite high."
"Regarding the cons of Catalyst, it is a little more expensive. With other vendors, you have one license for all features. In the case of Catalyst, there are many licensing options."
"Some features in terms of security should be there, especially in threat detection. Cisco Catalyst Center lacked intelligence in this area and required reliance on third-party appliances like firewalls or threat protection devices."
"The only limitation is when integrating with other products due to Cisco's proprietary protocols."
"The deployment process is pretty complex"
"The way the solution currently works means I'm not able to customize my own reports."
"Micro Focus Network Node Manager is not the best when it comes to drilling down for more visibility, especially regarding traffic."
"Right now, we have open tickets and they are not closing as expected."
"As the technologies evolve, also these solutions or the monitoring tools should evolve to cover the progress in technology, including capabilities related to monitoring of virtualized devices today, as the DNS is on the table in this way."
"Micro Focus Network Node Manager is not powered to drill down for traffic visibility."
"They should add AI options in the product's next release."
"Only to improve the GUI."
"The dashboards are not customizable and it's not user-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I wasn't involved in the pricing, but I think it's quite expensive."
"It's an expensive solution."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"It is more inexpensive than other products in the market."
"The solution is priced mid-range compared to the competition."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
16%
Government
13%
Energy/Utilities Company
10%
Healthcare Company
8%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Center?
The cost is relative and depends on the market and one's budget provision. While Cisco provides a good return on investment, they are also facing competitive pricing challenges from Huawei.
What needs improvement with Cisco Catalyst Center?
If they can add a layer of portable hotspots with some licensing flexibility for 20 to 50 users, it would be a great feature.
What is your primary use case for Cisco Catalyst Center?
We use Cisco Catalyst Center ( /products/cisco-catalyst-center-reviews ) for managing switches in our IT infrastructure. Our primary focus has been on utilizing Catalyst ( /products/cisco-catalyst-...
What needs improvement with Micro Focus Network Node Manager?
The interface is outdated and needs to be more dynamic and faster. It would be better if the product was a single module rather than requiring additional modules and licensing for APIs and extra fe...
What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Network Node Manager?
We use OpenText Network Node Manager i ( /products/opentext-network-node-manager-i-reviews ) primarily for network monitoring and diagnostics in our organization. We use this product for fault and ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Micro Focus Network Node Manager, Network Node Manager, HPE Network Node Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
IPC, Exelon, VivaCom, 
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst Center vs. OpenText Network Node Manager and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.