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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Juniper Contrail Networking comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
96
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (6th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd), WAN Edge (2nd)
Juniper Contrail Networking
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Networking (SDN) (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Networking solutions, they serve different purposes. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is designed for Network Management Applications and holds a mindshare of 2.6%, up 0.0% compared to last year.
Juniper Contrail Networking, on the other hand, focuses on Software Defined Networking (SDN), holds 6.4% mindshare, down 6.8% since last year.
Network Management Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN2.6%
Cisco DNA Center22.1%
Cisco Catalyst Center9.5%
Other65.8%
Network Management Applications
Software Defined Networking (SDN) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Juniper Contrail Networking6.4%
Meraki SD-WAN21.2%
Cisco ACI13.2%
Other59.2%
Software Defined Networking (SDN)
 

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.
TA
Smart configuration management eliminates the need to worry about managing the network's configurations
Based on my experience in the Indian market, there are four to five areas that need improvement. First, there is a lack of marketing and awareness about Juniper, making it difficult to reach end-users and deliver solutions. Second, Juniper's education and awareness centers are costly and not easily accessible like Cisco's resources and their understanding of users' requirements. The information is not easily available on online channels like Youtube. Third, Juniper needs to promote its Mist integration better, and pricing is also a significant factor. Finally, Juniper needs to address the market's specific requirements, such as the SME sector, and offer more lower-priced products like a lower-end segment switch. In summary, improving marketing and sales, education and awareness, Mist integration, pricing, and catering to specific market requirements are areas that need improvement. I just want a good feature in the SD-WAN. Juniper should consider integrating its firewall experience with its SD-WAN devices to create a complete package. With everything moving to the cloud, companies require intelligence and security solutions for their on-prem infrastructure. Moreover, Juniper should integrate its SOC solution into its Mist portal and SD-WAN devices, including IPs, IDS, web and content filters, and messaging. This would provide a complete product and give Juniper an advantage over competitors such as Cisco. I believe that with a bundle that includes SOC and UTM flavors in their Mist portal, Juniper can make a significant impact in the market.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Huge companies use SD-WAN. It is largely scalable."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco SD-WAN is its compatibility and integration with the rest of the infrastructure."
"The solution sufficiently provides ISPs."
"I like the feature that lets you transfer from old devices to new devices without changing the hardware and subscription."
"The most useful feature is centralized telephony."
"The deployment is quite simple and straightforward."
"If one of your ISPs goes down or has latency in your environment, Cisco SD-WAN will detect the issue and explain why the ISP is down."
"The most valuable features are manageability, scalability, and simplicity."
"Juniper Contrail Networking is a stable solution."
"After we finished setting Contrail up, it seemed stable enough. Still, we never tested it in a real environment, so we don't have enough information to say whether it's stable with a given number of users and appliances. We have tested it in a lab environment, but we haven't tested enough to say that the platform is stable."
"Contrail automates the excellent communication between virtual appliances."
"It provides proactive alerting in a single dashboard solution."
 

Cons

"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."
"We recently found some bugs."
"They have taken away our ability to do what we are good at, which is working on the CLI, the interface right on the router. They have limited the commands so much that troubleshooting is nearly impossible."
"The technical support is a bit slow."
"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."
"The client portal needs to be improved in order to make the solution much better."
"I would like to see a better, web-based interface to make changes to the configuration or to view statistics."
"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."
"Juniper needs to address the market's specific requirements, such as the SME sector, and offer more lower-priced products like a lower-end segment switch."
"Visibility, especially for the top of the platform, is a nightmare. The top was documented incorrectly and really complex to complete. In the end, it worked but only after several weeks of work with the support of a Juniper solution engineer in Holland."
"Concerns were raised about the complexity of involving networking components like MX routers, which often required expertise beyond the scope of software engineers. As a result, users encountered challenges in achieving comprehensive understanding and troubleshooting of networking issues within the Contrail environment."
"Juniper Contrail Networking is difficult if you do not have a certificate for Juniper. Juniper is a different type of configuration or operation than Cisco."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of Cisco SD-WAN is high and has room for improvement compared to competitors such as Fortinet which has similar functionality."
"It is much cheaper than other solutions. Most of our clients are the top 500 companies, and they all have a corporate contract."
"It's costly. The cost is high compared to competitors."
"SD-WAN as a service is probably something in the neighborhood of $100 to $200 a month per location."
"I give the price a seven out of ten."
"You can get subscriptions for three or five years."
"It is expensive."
"Cisco SD-WAN is more expensive than its competitors."
"There are many vendors in the wireless market that offer better pricing, solutions, and management skills compared to Juniper."
"Juniper Contrail Networking is low-cost for small and medium-sized businesses. Cisco and Palo Alto solutions are more expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Retailer
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise42
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 Juniper Contrail Networking?
Juniper Contrail Networking enables the utilization of tier-two appliances and the creation of virtual networks or appliances. This is facilitated through the use of filtering devices. Additionally...
What is your primary use case for Juniper Contrail Networking?
We use the solution to host many services for multiple clients. We aim to transition from hosting Cisco clients to utilizing virtual appliances. Therefore, we intend to virtualize their infrastruct...
What advice do you have for others considering Juniper Contrail Networking?
Juniper Contrail Networking presents a distinct alternative for those encountering issues with vendor solutions. Consequently, individuals who may have previously hesitated to explore OpenStack sol...
 

Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN
Contrail Networking
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates
Lithium Technologies, Orange Business Services, Cloudwatt, Symantec, Cloud Dynamics, CloudSeeds
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