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Cisco DNA Center vs Cisco Prime [EOL] comparison

Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Prime [EOL] are both solutions in the Network Management Applications category. Additionally, 89% of Cisco DNA Center users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Cisco Prime [EOL] users who would recommend it.
Cisco DNA Center
Read 42 Cisco DNA Center reviews
  • 9,196 Views
  • 5,150 Comparison Views
89% willing to recommend
Cisco Prime [EOL]
Read 35 Cisco Prime [EOL] reviews
    91% willing to recommend
     

    Comparison Buyer's Guide

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    Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

    Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Prime [EOL] are network management solutions with unique strengths. Cisco DNA Center is more advanced in features but challenges with pricing for smaller sectors, while Cisco Prime offers cost-effective robust functionalities despite its end-of-life status.

    Features: Cisco DNA Center is recognized for its comprehensive analytics, security integration with Cisco ISE, and centralized management, offering network visibility and reducing human errors. Its automation, RF environment insights, and Zero-day configuration are advanced capabilities. Cisco Prime [EOL] provides effective monitoring and reporting with strong heatmap visualization, delivering robust features for extensive deployments.

    Room for Improvement: Cisco DNA Center could benefit from enhanced third-party integrations, reduced costs to increase accessibility, and improved reporting and real-time data replication. Cisco Prime [EOL] has limitations in NetFlow support and third-party compatibility, necessitating other tools for comprehensive visibility. With its discontinuation, migrating to DNA Center becomes necessary.

    Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Prime [EOL] offer both on-premises and cloud deployment options. DNA Center users report mixed technical support experiences, highlighting delays in resolving complex issues. Conversely, Cisco Prime [EOL] receives generally positive feedback on support, though some areas need enhancement to align with the evolving network management landscape.

    Pricing and ROI: Cisco DNA Center is viewed as high-priced but justified by its advanced features, potentially limiting its reach to larger enterprises. Cisco Prime [EOL] is more competitively priced with a manageable licensing structure, though less feature-rich compared to DNA Center. Both solutions are generally perceived as offering good ROI, though DNA Center's higher total cost may be a barrier for organizations seeking robust network management without a premium price tag.

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    Buyer's Guide
    Network Management Applications
    June 2025
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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 DNA Center
    Average Rating
    8.0
    Reviews Sentiment
    6.3
    Number of Reviews
    42
    Ranking in other categories
    Network Management Applications (1st), Network Monitoring Software (12th), Network Automation (2nd)
    Cisco Prime [EOL]
    Average Rating
    7.8
    Reviews Sentiment
    6.5
    Number of Reviews
    35
    Ranking in other categories
    No ranking in other categories
     

    Featured Reviews

    Ahmed Helmy - PeerSpot reviewer
    Experience unified visibility and monitoring for enterprise campus and significant time savings and enhanced troubleshooting with reliable support
    We have been working with Cisco DNA Center for ten years. Our clients use Cisco DNA Center for unified visibility/monitoring across Enterprise Campus both LAN & WLAN along with Access and fast technical issues troubleshooting The solution provides fast troubleshooting capabilities and fast…
    Read full review
    ZeeshanAli1 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Robust, cost-effective, and provides good visibility, but the scalability could improve
    We are extremely satisfied with the reliability and robustness of Cisco Prime Infrastructure, which we have been using for many years. Compared to newer products such as DNS centers or others, it has proven to be much more stable, which is important for large-scale operations. Stability is a primary concern for us, and we are glad that Cisco Prime Infrastructure meets our expectations in that regard. Furthermore, in regards to Legacy Plus new hardware, Cisco Prime has proven to be a reliable and adaptable solution thus far. Not only can it support older hardware, but it also has the capability to handle new features with the latest updates. If we consider new solutions such as DNS Center, we may have to sacrifice some legacy features that we still rely on. We may need to continue using these legacy features for a few more years due to various reasons such as budget constraints or the site not being a high priority. However, if we switch to a new product at this stage, we may lose a lot of the monitoring and other capabilities that we have with Cisco Prime. We have a close relationship with Cisco and understand that they are not prioritizing investments in Cisco Prime as they are encouraging customers to adopt the Cisco DNA Center. This means that we don't anticipate many new features to be added to the product in the future. While we know that we will eventually have to transition to a new solution, in the meantime, we plan to do a quick refresh of our legacy products.
    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

    "The product gives a consolidated view."
    "The product's most valuable feature is the visual representation of the switch's front panel."
    "The most valuable features of the solution are all of its security features...It is a highly scalable solution."
    "The most valuable feature of Cisco DNA Center is the AI (Artificial Intelligence) that provides us with valuable information."
    "The solution helps in user microsegmentation."
    "I like the visibility, instant build, network, policies, and the ability to control access. I also like that you can visualize your whole network."
    "Cisco VXLAN is a protocol that has been around for some time, but the practical implementation and operational capability of Cisco DNA Center bring it to life."
    "I think that their LAN automation is a very good feature."
    More Cisco DNA Center pros
    "Cisco Prime is user-friendly, so we are comfortable using it."
    "The solution helps with the management and support of the enterprise network."
    "Cisco Prime has been around for a long time, and it keeps getting better and better."
    "Cisco Prime allows us to manage all the wireless controllers and access points."
    "The product's most valuable features are monitoring and configuration."
    "The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is the heat map."
    "As a large organization, it is difficult to individually monitor every device. Instead, we use Cisco Prime to keep an eye on the network and services. We do not use it as a node tool, as we have other tools for network operation centers. When services go down, it can cause issues, we rely on Cisco Prime to monitor and notify us of any service disruptions. We mainly use Cisco Prime Infrastructure for configuration-level tasks."
    "I have found the solution to be scalable."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] pros
     

    Cons

    "Cisco DNA Center should improve its configuration management. It is better to have a dev version before pushing it."
    "An area for improvement in Cisco DNA Center is the latency in data correlation. For example, sometimes, when an issue happens, and I check the logs, I can't find the corresponding log. There's a delay in log replication, so this is what needs improvement in Cisco DNA Center. Reporting in Cisco DNA Center could also be improved because it only has a few templates, and you can't customize it based on your requirements. There aren't many options available in Cisco DNA Center regarding reporting, versus Cisco Prime, which has excellent features for different levels of detailed reports. I'd like to see real-time data replication in the next release of Cisco DNA Center, similar to what's done in Meraki. Data in Meraki is real-time with no delay, so data is immediately replicated in the cloud. Currently, there's a lag in Cisco DNA Center, and addressing that lag is the enhancement I'd like to see in Cisco DNA Center. The solution also needs to be more user-friendly."
    "When it comes to deploying wireless fields, integrating defaults into the DNS interface can be challenging."
    "They should include UTM features in the product."
    "There should be an option for automation of template deployment by using the stored data. It is not easy to save configuration information for lots of devices without using other tools. There should be a tighter, better repository of information that can be merged with the templates."
    "One area that needs improvement is the upgrade process."
    "Cisco could improve the security side of their solutions."
    "DNA Center has been on the market for a few years and they need to update it."
    More Cisco DNA Center cons
    "The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
    "I would rate the scalability of Cisco Prime a six out of ten. To scale up from a hundred to a thousand devices, the platform needs to be rebuilt logically. This process might require a downtime window and may involve changing the hardware or upgrading to a larger appliance."
    "I want the tool to improve data visibility."
    "The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."
    "There is room for improvement in the Access layer."
    "The solution has issues with real time monitoring of devices and NetFlow such as inadequate visualization for reports, sources, and destinations."
    "The user interface of Cisco Prime could be more user-friendly and increase its performance."
    "The onboarding process could be improved and developed to enhance compatibility for non-Cisco devices."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] cons
     

    Pricing and Cost Advice

    "The licensing cost for Cisco DNA Center is not more than that of other solutions."
    "Our licensing agreement is for three years."
    "Licensing for Cisco DNA Center is a little bit expensive, just like any Cisco solution. Its cost could still be improved."
    "Cisco DNA Center is expensive."
    "The solution is a little bit expensive but depends a lot on the customer's usage. If you use it in the right place, you can easily pay for it."
    "The price of the solution is expensive. The hardware is licensed on the device, but the hardware on the server is expensive."
    "We have a three-year license with them."
    "The product is very costly."
    More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice
    "We update the license every five years."
    "You need to get special quotes from the company for each order."
    "The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
    "I would rate the pricing of Cisco Prime a seven out of ten."
    "I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
    "I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
    "The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
    "If we have a license for Cisco DNA, we can use the same license for Cisco Prime."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] pricing and cost advice
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    Top Industries

    By visitors reading reviews
    Computer Software Company
    15%
    Manufacturing Company
    10%
    Government
    10%
    Financial Services Firm
    6%
    Computer Software Company
    16%
    Government
    14%
    Manufacturing Company
    7%
    Educational Organization
    6%
     

    Company Size

    By reviewers
    Large Enterprise
    Midsize Enterprise
    Small Business
     

    Questions from the Community

    What do you like most about Cisco DNA Center?
    The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it gives some kind of ease in operations, especially since our company is moving from CLI to GUI-based configuration.
    See all answers
    What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco DNA Center?
    After evaluating other solutions, we will provide feedback.
    See all answers
    What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?
    We have utilized the software-defined access (SDA) feature of Cisco DNA Center. The AI-driven needs enhancements and Integration and unification of visibility and monitoring to include other areas ...
    See all answers
    What do you like most about Cisco Prime?
    The most valuable features of Cisco Prime include its comprehensive functionality as a one-stop solution for basic SNMP port management.
    See all answers
    What needs improvement with Cisco Prime?
    The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive.
    See all answers
    What is your primary use case for Cisco Prime?
    We use Cisco Prime for centralized configuration management backups and monitoring.
    See all answers
     

    Comparisons

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    Compared 6% of the time
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    Compared 5% of the time
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    Compared 40% of the time
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    Compared 22% of the time
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] Competitors
     

    Product Reports

    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco DNA Center
    July 2025
    Cisco DNA Center reportDownload Cisco DNA Center product report
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Prime [EOL]
    July 2025
    Cisco Prime [EOL] reportDownload Cisco Prime [EOL] product report
     

    Also Known As

    DNA Center
    Cisco Prime Infrastructure
     

    Overview

    Cisco DNA Center offers a comprehensive platform for network automation and management, providing detailed analytics, enhanced security, and streamlined operations for both wired and wireless networks.

    Cisco DNA Center integrates with Cisco infrastructure to deliver efficient network automation and management, helping organizations improve network visibility, security, and control. It supports AI-driven analytics and automated workflows to enhance operational efficiency and reduce errors. Challenges include compatibility with third-party systems, steep learning curve, and complex deployment. Its interface facilitates centralized control, vital for troubleshooting, policy management, and configuration management, with support for zero-touch provisioning and SD-Access.

    What are the key features of Cisco DNA Center?
    • Robust Analytics: Provides detailed insights into network health with AI-driven analytics.
    • Centralized Security: Integrates with ISE for comprehensive security management.
    • Automated Device Management: Simplifies device provisioning and configuration transfers.
    • Wi-Fi Analytics: Offers deep insights into wireless network performance.
    • Zero-Touch Provisioning: Streamlines new device deployments with minimal human intervention.
    • Scalable Segmentation: Efficiently segments network traffic ensuring security and performance.
    What benefits should users consider?
    • Operational Efficiency: Automation reduces potential errors and streamlines workflow.
    • Enhanced Security: Integration with Cisco ISE bolsters security capabilities.
    • Network Visibility: Comprehensive dashboards and analysis tools enhance monitoring.
    • Troubleshooting: Real-time monitoring aids in identifying and resolving issues swiftly.

    In sectors such as healthcare, finance, and retail, Cisco DNA Center is utilized for its ability to enhance security and compliance, manage large-scale networks, and provide detailed analytics for better operational decision-making. Its support for location tracking and policy automation ensures efficient network management across diverse environments.

    Cisco

    Cisco Prime products deliver next-generation management by supporting an intuitive workflow-oriented user experience and integrated lifecycle operations across Cisco architectures, technologies, and networks.

    Cisco
     

    Sample Customers

    Information Not Available
    Mohawk Industries, Universidad EAFIT, Halton Healthcare
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    June 2025
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