Cisco Crosswork Network Insights vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) comparison

Cisco Crosswork Network Insights and Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco Crosswork Network Insights is ranked #51 with an average rating of 9.3, while Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) is ranked #26 with an average rating of 8.4. Cisco Crosswork Network Insights holds a 0.2% mindshare in NMS, compared to Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cisco Crosswork Network Insights users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) users who would recommend it.

Cisco Crosswork Network Ins...

Read 4 Cisco Crosswork Network Insights reviews

1,302 Views
469 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabri...

Read 26 Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) reviews

2,437 Views
2,340 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Cisco Crosswork Network Ins...

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabri...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Crosswork Network Insights and Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Network Monitoring Software solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Crosswork Network Insights vs. Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Crosswork Network Insights vs. Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)

April 2026

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Helped 894,738 peers since 2012

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 Crosswork Network Ins...

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

51st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabri...

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

26th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco Crosswork Network Insights is 0.2%. The mindshare of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) is 0.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)	0.6%
Cisco Crosswork Network Insights	0.2%
Other	99.2%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

James Scot

Project Specialist at FedEx

Automation has transformed endpoint deployment and streamlines multi-vendor network operations

The best features that Cisco Crosswork Network Insights offers include a single pane of glass, multi-vendor comparison, and the ability to reduce engineer workload. The single pane of glass and multi-vendor comparison features help my team day-to-day because with the single pane of glass, we are able to manage everything at a single place, hence saving a lot of time, and the administration becomes very easy. Additionally, there is real-time network monitoring and analytics, multi-vendor and multi-domain support, scalable AI-driven insights to make data-driven decisions easy, and a modular application ecosystem with open APIs. Cisco Crosswork Network Insights has empowered our team to deploy network devices at customer locations more efficiently than ever before, and it also delivers critical network telemetry, streamlining troubleshooting and reducing reliance on manual processes. Cisco Crosswork Network Insights has positively impacted my organization by enhancing automation for endpoint deployment, hence saving a lot of time, and network usage statistics delivery to the end user's environment has been quicker.

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Jagdev Dhaliwal

Network Engineer at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Flow monitoring has improved planning for east-west traffic and real-time capacity decisions

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) helps to understand the flows and data plane capacities, which are the primary use cases. Usually, people struggle with east-west traffic flow when they need to decide on firewalls or products. People typically understand north-south traffic flows but usually miss the east-west traffic flows in data centers. I was focusing more on this so that people can accordingly plan, such as after F5, the number of servers, the number of sessions needed, and whether we need to plan the interface for groups from the line capacity perspective. This kind of information was valuable to us. The real-time telemetry feature was beneficial. When experiencing performance issues, I could determine if there were any issues related to flows or areas where bottlenecks were occurring.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco Crosswork Network Insights has been very fundamental and robust and helpful in my organization, empowering our team to deploy network devices at customer locations more efficiently than ever, and it also delivers critical network telemetry, streamlining troubleshooting and reducing reliance on manual processes."

"Cisco Crosswork Network Insights has positively impacted my organization primarily through security and trust, as it provides monitoring of routing health, IP health, and protection from hijacks or leaks."

"Cisco Crosswork Network Insights has positively impacted us by securing our data, including customer data, and it secures our cybersecurity products while being excellent for security purposes."

"Cisco Crosswork Network Insights has impacted my organization positively as it has saved a lot of time, reduced management overhead, and simplified operations through a single pane of glass."

"It has a very nice dashboard so you can see what's currently happening in the network and the performance of the back story."

"I don't have to rely on the on-site engineer who can do the configuration. I can have our team just plug the devices and perform remotely. I can also do the templates."

"The interface of this solution is easy to use overall."

"Fabric suite automation is a great feature."

"VCNM provides a unique capability of managing the admin VDCs of Nexus boxes."

"The monitoring capability is the best in Cisco Data Center Network Manager. It helps me improve network management tasks and optimize processes."

"I like running the scripts. With the help of a Python script, we deployed within the configuration and built up the code."

"The product has excellent stability."

More Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) pros

Cons

"I have not seen a return on investment yet; we are still working on it."

"There are aspects of Cisco Crosswork Network Insights that I feel need improvement, such as faster data processing, as it currently takes too much time."

"My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it is somewhat high compared to other network products similar to Cisco."

"Cisco Crosswork Network Insights is not an easy-to-use product and thus requires some training to ensure that it can be used to the best of its capabilities."

"Data Center Network Manager is a little complex because it includes a lot of hardware to be installed."

"It's a relatively expensive product for some clients."

"The tool should be more user-friendly and improve AI integration."

"Sometimes the product gives us problems that require support."

"The visibility of applications is not great, which is why we study upscalability."

"The configuration is too complicated and you have to create templates and use a lot of menus."

"The product is good but quite expensive."

"If the customer thinks about using additional solutions, Cisco should make sure they are not left out."

More Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's still an expensive solution. There are cheaper alternatives but no similar platform across all domains."

"The solution is very expensive."

"The price of Cisco Data Center Network Manager is expensive compared to other vendors on the market."

"I would say that the pricing offers great value for the money."

"The product is licensed with contracts that work on a yearly basis rather than a monthly model."

"When we purchase a Nexus box, the MDS CM license comes with it."

"On average, Data Center Network Manager's pricing isn't too costly unless you choose a premier license."

"We usually opt for a yearly plan, commonly for three or five years upfront. Some customers may not utilize all the features included in the product, and this can lead to them paying for functionalities they don't need."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

46%

Healthcare Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Outsourcing Company

Construction Company

10%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	16

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Crosswork Network Insights?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that the prices are good.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Crosswork Network Insights?

Cisco Crosswork Network Insights is not an easy tool to use. It is not an easy-to-use product and thus requires some training to ensure that it can be used to the best of its capabilities.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cisco Crosswork Network Insights?

My main use case for Cisco Crosswork Network Insights is that we deployed it to automate the workloads for our service provider environment, and we are going to eventually manage 700 plus endpoints...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Data Center Network Manager?

The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's still an expensive solution. There are cheaper alternatives but no similar plat...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Data Center Network Manager?

I do not believe it integrated well with different infrastructures for hybrid environments. I am uncertain because we have never attempted that in our environment, so they could perform better in t...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cisco Data Center Network Manager?

The main use case for URL filtering with PAN-DB is that it performs quite well. Earlier, when I started in 2012, there was a Blue Coat product available during that period. I am not certain whether...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 12% of the time

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Compared 11% of the time

SolarWinds Network Automation Manager vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)

Compared 11% of the time

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Compared 10% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

April 2026

Download Cisco Crosswork Network Insights product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)

May 2026

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) report

Download Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) product report

Also Known As

No data available

Cisco Data Center Network Manager

Overview

Cisco Crosswork Network Insights provides advanced network monitoring and insights, enabling efficient network operations and ensuring high performance and reliability for businesses.

Cisco Crosswork Network Insights delivers enhanced visibility into network operations through real-time data analysis and intelligent tools. It facilitates proactive management by identifying potential issues before they impact performance, supporting seamless network operations. By leveraging comprehensive analytics, it offers valuable insights that optimize network efficiency and minimize downtime.

What features make Cisco Crosswork Network Insights valuable?

Real-time Analytics: Delivers instant data insights for proactive monitoring.
Anomaly Detection: Identifies network anomalies to prevent outages.
Scalability: Supports scalable network growth without compromising performance.
Customizable Alerts: Provides tailored notifications for timely action.
Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly integrates with existing infrastructure.

What benefits or ROI can Cisco Crosswork Network Insights offer?

Improved Uptime: Reduces downtime with predictive maintenance.
Cost Efficiency: Decreases operational costs through streamlined processes.
Enhanced Security: Strengthens network security with advanced threat detection.
Resource Optimization: Optimizes resource allocation for better performance.

Cisco Crosswork Network Insights is implemented across industries such as telecommunications, enterprise IT, and service providers. By addressing industry-specific challenges, it enables telecom companies to maintain seamless connectivity and supports enterprise IT in managing complex networks efficiently. Service providers benefit from enhanced service delivery and reliability.

Cisco

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller, formerly DCNM, provides a consolidated dashboard offering insights into network operations, real-time telemetry, and automation capabilities. Users noted enhanced data center management and seamless SD-WAN integration.

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller integrates Python, Ansible, and Terraform for efficient traffic management. Comprehensive data center insight and stability highlight its utility across policy updates and network troubleshooting. With support for hybrid environments and enhanced network health data visibility, the platform suits complex, evolving infrastructures.

What are the Key Features?

Automation Capabilities: Simplifies network operations with automated workflows and scheduling.
Programming Support: Facilitates integration through Python, Ansible, and Terraform compatibility.
Comprehensive Dashboard: Provides a centralized view of network performance and health.
Real-Time Telemetry: Enhances decision-making with up-to-the-moment data.
SD-WAN Integration: Ensures seamless traffic flow across network borders.

What Benefits Should Users Look for?

Enhanced Network Monitoring: Allows precise tracking and troubleshooting of network issues.
Efficient Resource Management: Streamlines policy updates and component management.
Improved Security: Facilitates tighter control over Nexus switch configurations.
Centralized Management: Reduces complexity in maintaining data centers through a unified interface.

In data center operations, businesses leverage Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller for improved security, tackling tasks like VPN operations and private cloud development. It enhances storage management, providing robust support to manage Nexus switches for optimized component oversight and security protocols.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Crosswork Network Insights vs. Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)

April 2026

Free Report: Cisco Crosswork Network Insights vs. Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Crosswork Network Insights vs. Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.

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