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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Fortinet FortiManager 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
Organizations achieve up to 80% WAN cost reduction with Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, enhancing scalability, flexibility, and connectivity efficiency.
Sentiment score
6.3
Fortinet FortiManager offers competitive pricing, comprehensive security, and high returns, despite not showing immediate ROI during deployment stages.
They are now back to do that with the remainder of their company, so they've realized the value in 12 months and are willing to invest in the remainder of their organization.
Fortinet provides a strong ROI for organizations focused on comprehensive security.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN's customer service is praised for its responsiveness, expertise, and superior support compared to competitors.
Sentiment score
6.8
Fortinet FortiManager support is praised for efficiency, but some users report delays and complex case response time issues.
The principal third-level support is very good.
I would consider Cisco support a 10 out of 10.
I would rate Cisco's support, their customer service, and technical support as excellent.
Fortinet's support has proven to be reliable, particularly as we've been engaged with them since the project's initiation.
They are responsive and resolve issues quickly when I raise a ticket.
The level of support for P2 and P1 is wonderful.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is scalable, integrates with Cisco products, offers flexible licensing, and is ideal for complex networks.
Sentiment score
7.3
Fortinet FortiManager offers scalable, centralized management, ideal for expanding Fortinet environments, favoring virtual machines over hardware.
Cisco SD-WAN is highly scalable and can be expanded to more than 10,000 sites.
The ease of configuration and features like zero-touch provisioning enhance the scalability of Cisco SD-WAN, especially in disaster recovery situations.
You can raise the capacity as you go, and there is no limit for hardware.
If you are working with a private or public cloud, it is very scalable.
The problem is cloud connectivity and roaming profiles are not working, as there is no option for them.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is stable and reliable, with improvements, though some challenges arise in complex setups and transitions.
Sentiment score
7.9
Fortinet FortiManager is stable and reliable, with minor glitches that require reboots and depend on proper resource allocation.
While some software-related issues and bugs were encountered, they did not cause the whole environment to crash.
I rate the solution's stability ten out of ten.
95% of the time, there are no problems interacting with other devices.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is expensive with complex licensing, needs better security, management, documentation, UI, and improved support.
Fortinet FortiManager needs better documentation, simplified UI, enhanced integration, and clearer pricing to improve user experience.
Now, they change frequently, making it difficult to obtain long-term support.
Including more features like integrating with Splunk for monitoring vulnerabilities would help eliminate the need for other SOC solutions.
The negative, or the downside of Cisco is the knowledge base; you need to be a little bit more tech-savvy and network-savvy to work with Cisco, while Juniper is a lot more user-friendly from what I can see, especially in terms of configuration and any kind of roll back.
FortiManager is a good tool, but there is a lack of really advanced documentation.
If you have a couple thousand policies for FortiGate firewalls, it can take a few minutes to receive a response from the remote devices.
In such cases, their CPE or other devices on-site may become unreliable, leading to occasional configuration discrepancies.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is costly due to complex licensing and high pricing, favored by large enterprises for its features.
Fortinet FortiManager is considered reasonably priced, with potential negotiation, though costs vary with device volume and features.
Its pricing is justifiable due to the comprehensive solution it offers.
It is also relatively cost-effective for smaller businesses when using the Meraki version.
The pricing of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is rated between eight and nine out of ten, where ten is the most expensive.
Fortinet has the best pricing currently on the market.
It isn't the most expensive solution.
It's neither cheap nor expensive.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN offers centralized management, robust security, scalability, and seamless integration, enhancing performance and security for enterprises.
Fortinet FortiManager centralizes management, automates tasks, and enhances network performance with scalability, visibility, and integration features.
It also provides robust security features, including port security, analysis, mirroring, and multiple other security solutions.
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN has integrated security features which include base firewall, URL filtering, IPS, and secure segmentation.
Integration capabilities provide comprehensive security.
I can automate the installation of configurations using different programming languages like Python or HPE, and it's a GUI solution, so it's pretty easy to use, even for basic users.
Being able to push consistent firewall rules and configuration changes across multiple FortiGates saves a ton of time and reduces errors compared to managing each device individually.
Without FortiManager, you cannot manage a complex environment across several sites with multiple firewalls.
 

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)
Fortinet FortiManager
Ranking in Network Management Applications
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
69
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 Fortinet FortiManager is 5.3%, up from 4.7% 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.
Damitha Anuradha - PeerSpot reviewer
Manage multiple devices with ease but experience complexity in deployment and limited AI features
I use Fortinet FortiManager to manage multiple devices in a single location. Although it does not provide a security posture itself, it depends on the firewall policies and settings in their respective firewalls. Fortinet FortiManager is primarily meant for the management of devices Fortinet…
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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%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 do you like most about Fortinet FortiManager?
The most valuable feature is the centralized management console.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiManager?
The pricing for Fortinet FortiManager is good and not expensive. It is competitively priced.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiManager?
There are some aspects that Fortinet FortiManager could improve upon. The user interface can feel clunky, especially for more complex tasks such as managing large-scale policy packages or custom sc...
 

Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs. Fortinet FortiManager and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.