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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs DataMiner comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 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 SD-WAN
Ranking in Network Management Applications
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
96
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd), WAN Edge (2nd)
DataMiner
Ranking in Network Management Applications
14th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is 2.6%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of DataMiner is 1.7%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Henry Rosenstiehl - PeerSpot reviewer
Comprehensive support and ease of implementation enhance operational efficiency
With Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, I have centralized orchestration and management. The transport independence of MPLS or connectivity and internet connectivity is another excellent feature. End-to-end segmentation is also provided. I use the application-aware routing feature. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN supports dynamic police-based routing decisions based on application type or different performance metrics such as jitter or latency. The benefit of that feature is that it improves user experience. The principal benefit of application-aware routing is that critical applications are prioritized or routed over the best performing paths to reduce outages and service degradation. There is full visibility of applications. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN has integrated security features which include base firewall, URL filtering, IPS, and secure segmentation, and it supports integration with other Cisco products such as Umbrella or Snort. This feature is beneficial for the client because the information is secure. It is important that Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN supports cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments for my organization because it allows for scalability and faster deployment in the cloud. It reduces operational needs because I don't need to manage physical controller hardware, and updates and maintenance can be centralized and automated. The zero-touch provisioning feature is very important for the speed of deploying new branch locations. I can deliver the device to the branch, and it is important because simplified deployment makes the implementation start more easily since devices are auto-configured and authenticate without manual intervention.
RamPrakash Ramar - PeerSpot reviewer
Monitor broadcast systems effectively with real-time data processing and insightful feedback
The solution will monitor data in real-time and can scale out well. For instance, in a television studio, I might deal with about three hundred pieces of equipment. However, in other sites, it can handle 200 to 2500 nodes that send data every second. The system efficiently processes and analyzes data to provide insightful feedback, such as pinpointing specific equipment errors. It also offers predictive analytics based on received data, rather than just storing it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution comes with comprehensive technical support."
"The primary advantage we've observed is the simplification of deployment, leading to decreased IT costs and enhanced operational efficiency."
"You get security, all of the service you need, and it's easy to deploy."
"The solution is good to use and easy to handle and manage from the centralized location or from the cloud."
"Huge companies use SD-WAN. It is largely scalable."
"Cisco SD-WAN is a highly stable solution."
"With other routing protocols, we have had to send team members to perform installations and configurations. There is a lot of work involved. However with SD-WAN, once it is installed it is fully automated, and we can do all other tasks remotely. We don't have to send staff out to the client's location. It's very independent, and we can establish SD-WAN connectivity easily. It is secure as well."
"If I have to give a neutral view of all the SD-WAN platforms that I have known so far, Cisco is good in routing."
"The solution is user-friendly and is readily customizable, which allows us to do control and monitoring in a single stage."
"The solution will monitor data in real-time and can scale out well."
"Data Miner allows you to take control. It has an API to talk to different products, including drivers to talk to the APIs of third-party products. You can control it from the screen."
"The most valuable feature of DataMiner is its comprehensiveness. It provides an open driver that allows you to customize and program each aspect of the system. Additionally, there are many separate modules available that can be used to enhance the system's capabilities beyond just monitoring, allowing you to manage your entire workflow. This is a valuable feature that makes troubleshooting easier and helps to optimize the use of the system."
 

Cons

"The whole solution needs to be re-imagined. It's quite complex right now and really needs to be simplified to make it easier for those of us using it. It should offer more simplified management as well."
"We need them to start focusing on the SD-WAN compatibility with other environments and not being so vendor locked with Cisco environments."
"Cisco can improve Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN by simplifying licensing and platform integration with other Cisco products such as Catalyst Center or solutions with Meraki. A license needs to be permanent for me. The client feels that it is very expensive."
"Cisco SD-WAN could improve the integration with the cloud."
"The client portal needs to be improved in order to make the solution much better."
"The main area for improvement in Cisco SD-WAN is the lack of documentation, which often lags behind the software releases."
"It is the best solution that I ever had, but there might be something better than this in the future."
"Cisco SD-WAN's clustering mechanism needs to be improved. If there are more than five milliseconds of latency time between installations of the VM manager, the cluster automatically breaks down."
"I am looking forward to the company continuing to improve its solution and incorporate new technologies. Specifically, I hope that they will allow their cloud database environment to host services, rather than requiring the use of on-premises digital or physical servers. The company is moving in this direction, but I am still waiting for this capability to be implemented."
"We would like to have more products supported by the drivers because there are so many products out there. If DataMiner has not built the drivers to support them we can not control them, we can only see them based on SNMP. If more drivers are included, it won't cost us if we have new products."
"The system's complexity during installation could be reduced."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license model is too complex with too many flavors and options. You might not be able to see it from an end user's point of view, but from a telco point of view, their license model is too complex. They should have a flexible license model. If you want to have good pricing, you need to buy it for a two-year, four-year, or five-year license immediately. Some other vendors have much more flexible license models."
"You can get subscriptions for three or five years."
"The price of Cisco SD-WAN is expensive. We pay approximately $50 monthly for the use of the solution."
"The pricing of this solution is very expensive."
"The price of the solution is the only negative factor, it is much more expensive compared with the Cisco Meraki SD-WAN solution."
"The cost of Cisco SD-WAN is high and has room for improvement compared to competitors such as Fortinet which has similar functionality."
"Cisco's pricing is not entirely satisfactory when you compare the SD-WAN solutions in Asian markets — like the South Asian market in Sri Lanka — because there are several competing brands including Fortinet and Citrix, who provide much the same product for a generally lower price. And when it comes to firewall vendors like Palo Alto and SonicWall, they're also selling here. It's the same with VMware, too; they have much the same features."
"Cisco is more expensive than some competing products."
"DataMiner is an expensive solution and that is why many companies do not use it. Other solutions are less expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Construction Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco SD-WAN?
When considering the most valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN, the decoupling of self-monitoring stands out significantly.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco SD-WAN?
The pricing of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is rated between eight and nine out of ten, where ten is the most expensive.
What needs improvement with Cisco SD-WAN?
Cisco can improve Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN by simplifying licensing and platform integration with other Cisco products such as Catalyst Center or solutions with Meraki. A license needs to be permanent...
What needs improvement with DataMiner?
The system's complexity during installation could be reduced. It is not easily user-installable and requires specialization. Connecting to other systems needs a dedicated driver, often developed by...
What advice do you have for others considering DataMiner?
Overall, I would rate DataMiner as nine out of ten for clients who are not concerned about price, as it provides a good feature set. For budget-conscious clients, I'd rate it three or four out of t...
What is your primary use case for DataMiner?
My profession is broadcasting as a broadcast system integrator. I run live channels 24/7 in many countries. Each broadcaster has around 300 to 400 pieces of equipment to capture the signal from the...
 

Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates
Telenet
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs. DataMiner and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.