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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Huawei eSight 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
94
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd), WAN Edge (2nd)
Huawei eSight
Ranking in Network Management Applications
9th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (34th)
 

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.
Gary Strydom - PeerSpot reviewer
Used to monitor devices and provides the hardware alarms feature
Huawei eSight has helped me overcome many monitoring aspects of the hardware. From a single view, I can monitor all the hardware. Instead of logging on to each piece of hardware and monitoring it individually, I can monitor them from one single point. I would recommend the solution to other users because it provides a single point of view of the hardware. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is very stable."
"The initial setup is straightforward and easy to deploy."
"Cisco SD-WAN is valued for its operational efficiency and ease of operation."
"I like the feature that lets you transfer from old devices to new devices without changing the hardware and subscription."
"Cisco SD-WAN is a highly stable solution."
"The integration of Layer 3 and application routing is great."
"The regular net routing is a good feature."
"The availability of services and combining different connections is most valuable."
"We can scale the solution."
"eSight allows me to monitor and solve any problem in the backbone and any switch in real-time."
"The solution's most valuable dashboard features include monitoring storage, resource availability, and hardware alarms."
"Huawei eSight provides businesses with monitoring capabilities of network devices across your network."
"One of the most beneficial features of Huawei eSight is its simplicity and ease of use."
"The product is stable."
"I like that it supports all our Huawei devices. Unlike other network monitoring tools that monitor Huawei devices, it provides more details when it comes to monitoring or management. We can get complete details about the devices, and management is also simple."
"The most important features are alarm management and the visualization of the health of our network devices."
 

Cons

"They should enhance the reporting because, as it is today, they need more executive-level reports."
"The price could be better. From a technical side, and everything's working smoothly. Cisco SD-WAN could be cheaper."
"The product needs to have more understanding staff in their support team. The tool needs to provide support in every stage of deployment. We did not get the expected support from their team. The product is also not easy to use."
"The solution could be more secure. Security is always a priority for us."
"Cisco SD-WAN is not as easy to deploy as the Meraki and FortiGate solutions. The zero-touch deployment could be a lot better. The deployment and initial setup are complicated and could be better."
"One of the major areas that Cisco can improve on with their SD-WAN offering is their security features. When compared with Fortinet, who have what they call their 'security pillars' (e.g. firewall and security features built-in to their SD-WAN solutions), Cisco generally comes up short. With Cisco, if you need a security component, you have to pay more to get it done. So if they could add more security features that come part and parcel with their existing solutions, then I think Cisco could be very aggressive in the market."
"There should be more security features in the hybrid and on-premise deployments of Cisco SD-WAN. The cloud has most of the security features."
"Better pricing and greater security would be nice to see."
"Something that could be improved is the lack of integration with Cisco switches. In the next release, I would like to see better reporting."
"The solution needs to improve it's user interface to make it more modern and stylish. They need to design proper menu positions, features, etc. Right now the layout is complicated."
"It is not a very flexible product."
"It will be better if they can make the simple network topology part more presentable. It would also be better if they had API integration and integration with third-party devices."
"eSight has many features and options, but sometimes, we feel that it should be more advanced, like Cisco. It would be good if they can enable some automation part in eSight. Most of our customers want automation in their network. They don't want a dependency on everything. That's why the automation part must be improved in Huawei. It will be beneficial for customers. Cisco has different products, and there are multiple products for monitoring, automation, etc. In the software-defined network, Cisco has ACI, and VMware has NSX. Such options must be there in Huawei to move to a software-defined network. Unlike Cisco, in the case of eSight, there is only one product. I am not aware of any other product. It would be good to enhance it with at least some automation options so that we can use it effectively in the campus network or big data center environment. When I implemented this Huawei solution, I faced some limitations in particular areas like wireless scanning. This is another part that they can improve. Wireless reporting option is not as effective as other monitoring solutions. For a particular use case, if a customer is asking for some reports, sometimes they are not 100% satisfactory. The reporting structure must be improved."
"The solution and the operating system come separately. It would be easier if we did not have to deploy anything. A bundle feature would be better."
"The price could be less costly."
"This solution could be improved by offering monitoring for all devices and not only Huawei devices."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is the only negative factor, it is much more expensive compared with the Cisco Meraki SD-WAN solution."
"The Cisco SD-WAN licensing model needs to be simplified. There are currently three types of licenses: enterprise agreements, individual licenses, and DNA subscriptions. This can confuse customers, requiring a dedicated person to determine which type of license is right for their organization."
"The license consists of an annual fee."
"It's expensive. If you compare Cisco with Fortinet and Juniper, you'll find that Cisco is more expensive than other vendors."
"You can get subscriptions for three or five years."
"There is no license required for this solution."
"Cisco SD-WAN is more expensive than its competitors."
"80 percent reduction in WAN costs. There are no MPLS or P2P circuits left in the organization."
"Pricing depends on the competition. If your competitor is like Cisco, then Huawei is much more competitive when it comes to pricing."
"The price is very expensive."
"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."
"I would rate this solution a nine out of ten for pricing. The pricing depends on which features you use and can become expensive."
"The pricing for Huawei eSight is reasonable, especially with the base license and incremental licenses for additional devices. However, the variety of license types can be a bit complex. We used to sell eSight but switched to another solution, so we're not actively trading it anymore."
"Its pricing is better than any other Huawei product. Some products are cheaper in Huawei, and some products are cheaper in Cisco. Cisco has more benefits and options than Huawei if you consider different network environments."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
42%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

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?
The durability of the switches could be improved. In the past, Cisco devices had a longer lifespan. Now, they change frequently, making it difficult to obtain long-term support.
What do you like most about Huawei eSight?
We use Huawei eSight to monitor devices like Wi-Fi controllers, LAN switches, and routers.
What needs improvement with Huawei eSight?
Huawei eSight should work on the option to have the email notification working on Office 365 Exchange.
What is your primary use case for Huawei eSight?
We use the solution to monitor the hardware environment of our data center. We mainly use Huawei eSight to monitor the devices. It assists in monitoring our devices in terms of utilization and moni...
 

Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates
Marina Bay, CITIC Pacific Mining
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs. Huawei eSight and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.