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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Qualys VMDR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 6, 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
7.4
Qualys VMDR improves security by reducing vulnerabilities, streamlining patch management, and enhancing compliance, risk mitigation, and cost efficiency.
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.
We saw a return on investment through significant savings in time, money, and resources.
 

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
6.7
Qualys VMDR customer service is praised for effectiveness and support, but response time and request handling speed need improvement.
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.
We usually get on calls with tech support, and they are very helpful.
The response time takes a while.
The technical support provided by Qualys is pretty good.
 

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
7.9
Qualys VMDR is scalable and flexible in handling large networks, supporting numerous assets, with highly rated adaptability.
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.
Scalability depends on the license and the number of assets being monitored.
Qualys VMDR can handle scalability, although increasing the inventory can raise the licensing costs.
Qualys VMDR's scalability is good, and the customer support is good.
 

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
8.0
Qualys VMDR offers impressive stability with minimal issues, praised for its reliable performance despite occasional reporting and dataset handling challenges.
While some software-related issues and bugs were encountered, they did not cause the whole environment to crash.
Qualys VMDR is stable.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is expensive with complex licensing, needs better security, management, documentation, UI, and improved support.
Qualys VMDR needs better cloud integration, cost management, interface simplicity, reporting, support, documentation, and third-party tool compatibility.
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.
It does not automate patching unless the patch management module is purchased separately.
If AI features were integrated, it could enhance the capabilities significantly.
One area where Qualys VMDR can be improved is the missing feature for deploying agents for over 1,000 assets, as we need to do it manually.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is costly due to complex licensing and high pricing, favored by large enterprises for its features.
Qualys VMDR's pricing, high compared to competitors, is justified by comprehensive features and negotiable, suitable for large enterprises.
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.
I would rate the pricing between seven to eight out of ten.
I have a notion that Qualys might be more expensive than Rapid7.
Qualys offers better pricing and is feature-packed compared to other tools.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN offers centralized management, robust security, scalability, and seamless integration, enhancing performance and security for enterprises.
Qualys VMDR offers comprehensive, scalable vulnerability management with continuous monitoring, automated scanning, and intuitive reporting for enhanced security.
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.
The prioritization of vulnerabilities has improved our remediation efforts by around thirty to thirty-five percent.
It impacts my workflow overall, with the patch management features as it has the missing patches listed in detail, making it easier to get a comprehensive report and providing some dashboards that offer visual representation.
Qualys VMDR offers a one-stop solution for monitoring and reporting.
 

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)
Qualys VMDR
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (6th), Vulnerability Management (2nd), Configuration Management Databases (2nd), Container Security (9th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN and Qualys VMDR aren’t in the same category and 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.
Qualys VMDR, on the other hand, focuses on Vulnerability Management, holds 6.9% mindshare, down 12.2% 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
Vulnerability Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Qualys VMDR6.9%
Wiz10.8%
Tenable Nessus8.0%
Other74.3%
Vulnerability Management
 

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.
Ankesh Raj - PeerSpot reviewer
Real-time responses and reporting streamline vulnerability management
Qualys VMDR provides a real-time response and reporting feature, which is excellent. It allows us to see real-time graphs and reports for every asset, server, and more, which is very user-friendly. Our clients have given good feedback, and they are satisfied with the tool. We use it daily to fix vulnerabilities by connecting with infrastructure to remediate. The feedback from the client side is very good.
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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%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise42
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise69
 

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 Qualys VMDR?
I like that we have many scanners and channels that don't overload. It helps us scan and track easily. Also, the tagging system is good for tagging. We can still use QualysAgent task ID tools even ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys VMDR?
Qualys offers better pricing and is feature-packed compared to other tools.
What needs improvement with Qualys VMDR?
There were some issues later with Qualys VMDR regarding security, specifically with numerous false positive reports.
 

Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN
Qualys VM, QualysGuard VM, Qualys Asset Inventory, Qualys Container Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates
Agrokor Group, American Specialty Health, American State Bank, Arval, Life:), Axway, Bank of the West, Blueport Commerce, BSkyB, Brinks, CaixaBank, Cartagena, Catholic Health System, CEC Bank, Cegedim, CIGNA, Clickability, Colby-Sawyer College, Commercial Bank of Dubai, University of Utah, eBay Inc., ING Singapore, National Theatre, OTP Bank, Sodexo, WebEx
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: August 2025.
867,783 professionals have used our research since 2012.