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Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs Fortinet FortiSIEM comparison

The compared Cisco and Fortinet solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #16 in NMS , with an average rating of 8.2, and holds a 0.5% mindshare in the category. Fortinet is ranked #7 in SIEM , with an average rating of 8.1, and holds a 3.3% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 82% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabri...
Read 25 Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) reviews
  • 839 Views
  • 822 Comparison Views
92% willing to recommend
Fortinet FortiSIEM
Read 74 Fortinet FortiSIEM reviews
  • 5,920 Views
  • 4,203 Comparison Views
82% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) and Fortinet FortiSIEM 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.

DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE REPORT
To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. Fortinet FortiSIEM Report (Updated: May 2020).
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. Fortinet FortiSIEM
May 2020
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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 Nexus Dashboard Fabri...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (16th)
Fortinet FortiSIEM
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) and Fortinet FortiSIEM aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) is designed for Network Monitoring Software and holds a mindshare of 0.5%, up 0.4% compared to last year.
Fortinet FortiSIEM, on the other hand, focuses on Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), holds 3.3% mindshare, up 3.0% since last year.
Network Monitoring Software
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

Upul Abhayasena - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust management tool with an easy setup and room for more features
DCNM is used by one of the airline customers in Qatar to manage many data centers and rack switches running on normal Nexus or NX-OS mode. They required a controller platform to manage these Nexus switches, and thus, they utilized DCNM as a Fabric controller. Given that ACI deployment is very low…
Read full review
Oliver Jackson - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems monitoring enhanced by firewall and intrusion detection features
My primary use case for Fortinet FortiSIEM is systems monitoring and alerting. I use it for standard functions like log monitoring, incident detection, and notification.  My customers are mostly medium-sized enterprises ranging from engineering companies, mining companies, independent schools, and…
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Data Center Network Manager is absolutely stable."
"The feature I find most valuable, is the stability of the solution."
"The product has excellent stability."
"The tool's most valuable feature is the consolidated dashboard, providing insights into parameters and overall usage of network features. It allows us to easily summarize insights through the dashboards. The solution offers automation capabilities, particularly in the context of connecting LAN sites with websites."
"It has a very nice dashboard so you can see what's currently happening in the network and the performance of the back story."
"The product makes the management of our environment simpler."
"I like running the scripts. With the help of a Python script, we deployed within the configuration and built up the code."
"The monitoring capability is the best in Cisco Data Center Network Manager. It helps me improve network management tasks and optimize processes."
More Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) pros
"We have many application systems, and I can set up Fortinet FortiSIEM for users to monitor their systems."
"Analytics. It can provide log information from the device. With log information, I can see if there is a threat"
"AccelOps can handle a lot of data and it's just so important to true monitoring. Also, I can create a lot of rules to detect anything I like."
"The ability to write my own parsers for the devices that are not supported by Fortinet is the most valuable feature."
"The solution is easy to use and user-friendly."
"Fortinet FortiSIEM's most valuable feature is the simplicity in handling multi-tenancy and the ability to switch between different clients at the same time. That was handled flawlessly."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiSIEM is the user and entity behave as analytics(UEBA). This feature mixes your data and provides useful information based on the behavior of the targeted."
"There are things like dashboards and reports (pre-configured and custom) that let me know that things are operating the way they should be, and when they are not."
More Fortinet FortiSIEM pros
 

Cons

"The tool should be more user-friendly and improve AI integration."
"It's a relatively expensive product for some clients."
"The delivery Cisco Data Center Network Manager could improve if it was easier. Additionally, some feature improvement is needed."
"The solution needs to improve reports."
"Could integrate better with VMware products."
"The initial setup is challenging."
"API lacks robustness."
"Sometimes the product gives us problems that require support."
More Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) cons
"They should enhance the solution's AI capabilities, including XDR and EDR."
"Their product support, in general, is not that great. The product support is in the same ecosystem. Their support is improving but it's not that great.vvv"
"I would like to see easier implementation in the future."
"The performance can be improved. Sometimes it takes a long time to fetch data."
"The product does not have Security Orchestration and Automation Response, I would recommend adding this feature."
"The policy editing should be easier. Right now, it's too hard."
"Sometimes, if there are changes made by a user on a database server, it can be difficult to get that information on the fly. I would like to see a situation where once I specify a user with the database server I need, and with the changes they have performed on that, I don't need to continue my search pattern to drill down just to get the information."
"The deployment of the platform took some time to set up and configure."
More Fortinet FortiSIEM cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The product is licensed with contracts that work on a yearly basis rather than a monthly model."
"The solution is very expensive."
"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."
"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."
"I would say that the pricing offers great value for the money."
"The price of Cisco Data Center Network Manager is expensive compared to other vendors on the market."
"FortiSIEM's licensing is based on EPS, and its pricing is competitive in the market."
"There are additional features that cost more than the standard licensing fees."
"The price of Fortinet FortiSIEM is a lot less when compared to other solutions."
"The price is competitive."
"If one is cheap and ten is expensive. I rate the tool's price as an eight out of ten. Compared with Splunk or Oracle, Fortinet is cheap."
"Fortinet FortiSIEM is very cost-efficient compared to other SIEM solutions."
"This is probably more on the lower cost end of the spectrum compared to competing products. Fortinet's license model is based on events per second, which makes sense, but that's not typical. It makes it very hard to calculate what your costs are going to be as you scale the platform because some log sources, such as firewall logs, are very noisy, and there are lots and lots of events per second, but some of them are not. So, it becomes a bit of a science experiment trying to guess what your costs are going to be as you scale the solution. This is where other competing products perhaps have a more straightforward license model."
"Pricing is acceptable for more than 90% of our customers, as they normally get discounts."
More Fortinet FortiSIEM pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
It uses push technology, which pushes the changes to all relevant devices to ensure they are updated accordingly.
See all answers
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?
In a mixed architecture where Nexus switches are used as border devices and are connected to a Palo Alto firewall (e.g., version 9.1 or 10.1), you might encounter issues with BGP peering. For insta...
See all answers
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiSIEM?
Fortinet FortiSIEM needs to provide better API integrations to users.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiSIEM?
The pricing is reasonable, which is why it is preferred by government customers. Windows agent licenses cost around 3,000 Rupees per device per year.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiSIEM?
Fortinet FortiSIEM should broaden its remediation part to include more features for incident management. Currently, to manage repetitive incidents or for remediation, I need to use a separate softw...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Compared 14% of the time
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Compared 10% of the time
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Compared 13% of the time
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Compared 12% of the time
Splunk Enterprise Security vs Fortinet FortiSIEM Logo
Splunk Enterprise Security vs Fortinet FortiSIEM
Compared 9% of the time
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LogRhythm SIEM vs Fortinet FortiSIEM
Compared 7% of the time
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Compared 6% of the time
More Fortinet FortiSIEM Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)
July 2025
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) reportDownload Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) product report
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiSIEM
July 2025
Fortinet FortiSIEM reportDownload Fortinet FortiSIEM product report
 

Also Known As

Cisco Data Center Network Manager
FortiSIEM, AccelOps
 

Overview

The Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC) offers a comprehensive solution for managing Cisco NX-OS switches in hybrid-cloud environments, providing automation, visibility, and consistent operations. Designed to simplify and enhance data center management, NDFC integrates with Cisco Nexus Dashboard to streamline network connectivity, reduce deployment times, and ensure seamless transitions with minimal disruptions. Its modular architecture, new user interface, and support for non-Nexus OS platforms make it a robust tool for LAN, SAN, and IP Fabric for Media management. Additionally, NDFC enhances fabric reliability, automates workflows, and supports cloud connectivity with AWS and Microsoft Azure, making it ideal for businesses adapting to increasingly complex digital environments.

Cisco

FortiSIEM (formerly AccelOps 4) provides an actionable security intelligence platform to monitor security, performance and compliance through a single pane of glass.

Companies around the world use FortiSIEM for the following use cases:

  • Threat management and intelligence that provide situational awareness and anomaly detection
  • Alleviating compliance mandate concerns for PCI, HIPAA and SOX
  • Managing “alert overload”
  • Handling the “too many tools” reporting issue
  • Addressing the MSPs/MSSPs pain of meeting service level agreements
Fortinet
 

Sample Customers

Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia
FortiSIEM has hundreds of customers worldwide in markets including managed services, technology, financial services, healthcare, and government. Customers include Aruba Networks, Compushare, Port of San Diego, Cleveland Indians, Infoblox, Healthways, and Referentia.
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. Fortinet FortiSIEM
May 2020
Free Report: Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. Fortinet FortiSIEM
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