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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs ExtremeManagement 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
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd), WAN Edge (2nd)
ExtremeManagement
Ranking in Network Management Applications
22nd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Igor Van Den Ouden - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables secure and flexible branch connectivity with application-aware routing
The valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN include its security policies and zone-based firewall that are applied to every site, as well as application-aware routing. Security is standard compliant, eliminating config drift that was prevalent before manual configurations. Application-aware routing offers flexibility in using different lines for traffic, depending on the policy implemented.
LuisBrown - PeerSpot reviewer
Mature and robust platform; can be used to manage Cisco switches
ExtremeManagement is excellent. It is a very mature platform and robust in that it covers most of the functionality of the devices. One of ExtremeManagement's advantages over its competitors is that it is capable of managing Cisco switches if you have their on-prem manager. So you can take your legacy Cisco switches and manage them directly in the Extreme platform.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco SD-WAN has separate OMP routing."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco SD-WAN is its compatibility and integration with the rest of the infrastructure."
"The most useful feature for our organization is the combination of on-prem and cloud-based deployments. We connect securely to our hybrid cloud using transit VPCs and cloud on-ramp for fast deployments."
"Any technical support we needed was great."
"I have found the performance and the Zero-Touch provisioning helpful which makes it easier for us to develop."
"One of the most valuable features is that they have multiple SD-WAN options: you have Meraki for simple management solutions, you have Viptela, and you have the option of having any type of WAN interfaces. Presently, you can also have a single combined solution for both WAN as well as for voice, so you can have a voice bundle as well. These are major unique points of this solution."
"We would recommend this solution to customers looking to implement it on a global scale. We recommend the solution, not only because of the functionality or the technical support, but also because of the delivery of the solution, and the docking and upgrading capabilities."
"Cisco SD-WAN is a very good product."
"The technical support services are good."
"The report model is one of the valuable models. We are able to see all the information concentrated in reports, which is very useful. We are able to get the information about the performance of the equipment and check that everything is okay. You can get very useful information across applications, so we have very good experience with their management solutions. It has many functionalities to simplify the administration and monitor the development of the switches or AP. It is easy to deploy, easy to configure. and easy to develop. Its price is also good."
"I need fewer people to do implementation and support, and I don't have to go on-site to change the configuration or otherwise support the switch."
"The best thing about the solution is that it is all managed from just a single application window. We call this feature a single pane of glass due to the fact that almost all the features are all managed within a single application, or a browser, to be more specific."
"ExtremeManagement brings in the most value by reducing the technical debt to the organization in terms of having to hire personnel to maintain it or contract it."
 

Cons

"Cisco needs to improve the technical support for this solution."
"Its license model needs to be improved. They always make the license model too complex. There are too many license models and too many options. They should have a flexible license model. They can improve a lot of things in terms of scalability, templates, and automation, mainly automation for onboarding a number of sites. If you want some new features, it can take quite a long time. If you want a feature and it is not yet developed, you need to have the support of the business units to have the feature developed. If the feature is not on their roadmap, it can take quite some time before you get the feature."
"It would be very helpful if we had better access to a knowledge base, or online documentation, to help both us and our customers learn to use this solution."
"Technical support could be more helpful and responsive."
"The price could be better. From a technical side, and everything's working smoothly. Cisco SD-WAN could be cheaper."
"We have found that their SD-WAN has a lot of scope for improvement."
"The UI has room for improvement."
"The solution could be more secure. Security is always a priority for us."
"It would be helpful if this solution had support for configuring and managing third-party hardware devices."
"They can improve the information period. Currently, we are able to have information for only 14 or 15 days, but we would like to have information for an extended period of maybe 30 days. Their technical support can also be improved in terms of the response time to the tickets."
"Some features are quite difficult to configure and they are very complicated to figure out. Maybe the vendors should introduce a more driven configuration that can clarify the processes a bit more to make the processes more clearly defined."
"It would be great to not need an on-premises SiteIQ license for running a Fabric OS cloud or managing third-party devices."
"There could be better integration with third-party equipment and vendors."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco is more expensive than some competing products."
"The price of Cisco SD-WAN could improve, it is expensive. The cost of the solution is approximately 30 percent higher than competitors."
"This is not a cheap option but if you move from Capex to Opex, I expect you should have lower costs."
"SD-WAN as a service is probably something in the neighborhood of $100 to $200 a month per location."
"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."
"On a scale of one to five, I would rate Cisco's pricing as a three."
"Cloud subscription management must be paid for, although this does not incur a perpetual fee."
"While they don't consider it affordable, they don't find it overly expensive."
"It has a good price. There is a good relationship between the cost and the performance."
"The support is billed on a yearly basis, and there are no additional costs."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
29%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
No data available
 

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?
There's nothing I could put my finger on right away for improvements in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN. There is definitely nothing that Juniper does that Cisco doesn't do. Cisco will do everything Juniper ...
What do you like most about ExtremeManagement?
The technical support services are good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ExtremeManagement?
I don't know the exact pricing or licensing details. However, based on feedback from our customers, they haven't raised significant complaints about the cost. While they don't consider it affordabl...
What needs improvement with ExtremeManagement?
There could be better integration with third-party equipment and vendors. While ExtremeManagement technically supports monitoring various devices like firewalls, the integration may not be as seaml...
 

Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates
Henry Ford Health System, Baltimore Ravens, Brandili, Federal University of Alagoas, CEDAE, Caxias do Sul, UNISC Concurrency, CenturyLink Field, Louisiana College, Cricket Tasmania Stadium, Moscow Internet Exchange
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs. ExtremeManagement and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.