Cisco DNA Center vs FortiMonitor comparison

Cisco and Fortinet are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.0, while Fortinet is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.4. Cisco holds a 1.4% mindshare in NMS, compared to Fortinet’s 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

Cisco DNA Center

Read 42 Cisco DNA Center reviews

8,684 Views
1,910 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

FortiMonitor

Read 15 FortiMonitor reviews

1,621 Views
1,313 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Center

FortiMonitor

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

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Cisco DNA Center and FortiMonitor compete in the network management space. Cisco DNA Center has the upper hand in customer satisfaction with a comprehensive feature set, while FortiMonitor leads in real-time monitoring capabilities that justify its cost.

Features: Cisco DNA Center offers robust automation, policy-based operations, and scalable network management, enhancing efficiency. FortiMonitor provides superior real-time monitoring, detailed insights, and proactive management, focusing on analytics and alerting.

Room for Improvement: Cisco DNA Center could enhance its real-time monitoring, improve analytics, and optimize pricing flexibility. FortiMonitor may focus on expanding automation features, strengthening policy management, and reducing initial setup complexity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco DNA Center features a streamlined deployment with comprehensive documentation and excellent customer service. FortiMonitor offers flexibility with cloud-based deployment and responsive support, balancing efficient interaction with adaptable solutions.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco DNA Center involves a significant initial setup cost, offering a strong ROI through improved network efficiency. FortiMonitor presents a cost-effective pricing model, with ROI driven by exceptional monitoring capabilities and budget-friendly options.

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To learn more, read our detailed Cisco DNA Center vs. FortiMonitor Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. FortiMonitor

July 2025

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Helped 865,384 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 DNA Center

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

13th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Management Applications (1st), Network Automation (2nd)

FortiMonitor

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

14th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (15th), IT Alerting and Incident Management (7th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 1.4%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FortiMonitor is 0.8%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Ahmed Helmy

Sr. Director, Business Development & Sales Operations at connect professional services

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

JaimeVasquez

Commercial Manager at IT-Experience

Monitoring capabilities keep operations running smoothly and alerts enhance proactive system management

We use FortiMonitor to monitor the infrastructure of our customers. We check on what is happening with their operations, monitor bandwidth, ensure configurations are appropriate for the customer, and identify if anything is going wrong The most valuable features of FortiMonitor are its redundancy…

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

"Cisco is a leading network company."

"The solution helps in user microsegmentation."

"It is very versatile in terms of analytics."

"What's most valuable in Cisco DNA Center is the ability to manage any Cisco infrastructure and device through it. Setup was straightforward."

"We can monitor all devices and get the required information using the product."

"The best feature of Cisco DNA Center is the visibility page, where you can see everything on the dashboard, and you don't have to be a technical person to view the issues."

"Cisco DNA Center provides operational support, compliance support, security vulnerability detection, and automatic scheduling."

"It enables monitoring of various components such as access points, switch cards, and other elements within the company's solutions."

More Cisco DNA Center pros

"In FortiMonitor, we're linked up with our Netgear, CactusServer, and NOC. It's really valuable because everything's migrating to one dashboard for us system engineers. We can keep an eye on traffic, blocked sites, and the health of our hardware. That last part, about knowing if something's going to fail soon, is super important. It gives us time to sort things out before any big problems happen. As a system engineer, I need to keep tabs on everything – temperature, monitoring systems, and network operations. This data is really handy because it helps me ensure our site runs smoothly, whether it's turning systems on or off. Just last night, there was a system failure, but thanks to real-time monitoring, I quickly identified the problem and got the necessary replacement parts."

"With FortiMonitor, you can get all the logs of the traffic information of the destination or the source."

"The solution helps to see client infrastructure. It has many boxes and blinks green or red when the station goes up or down. We have different domains for the device groups that we monitor."

"FortiMonitor has a very intuitive dashboard, which makes it particularly helpful for analyzing traffic, alerts, and other information."

"Fortinet's customer support is very good."

"The tool continuously improves, adapting to support new vendors and technologies. Importantly, it automates the process, triggering alerts when devices require attention, and eliminating the need for manual intervention."

"Overall, I would recommend FortiMonitor to others."

"The product's initial setup phase is easy."

More FortiMonitor pros

Cons

"The tool's deployment is complex. It also needs to improve its GUI."

"There is a limitation with the number of VRFs that you can have in your network, and this has caused us problems with some customers."

"The cost is very high."

"Integration with analytic tools and API integrations would be ideal."

"When it comes to deploying wireless fields, integrating defaults into the DNS interface can be challenging."

"The weaknesses primarily involve pricing and the ongoing need for increased bandwidth and data throughput."

"The solution's setup process needs enhancement."

"The network, data center, and SD-WAN are all being treated as different services, but I would like to have only one solution to manage all of them."

More Cisco DNA Center cons

". Enhancements in the dashboard, such as clearer alerting, maintenance window management, software version tracking, and better visualization, would be beneficial."

"FortiMonitor's monitoring could be much better. It should be like, in Palo Alto."

"FortiMonitor needs to improve its alert system."

"There is room for improvement in the FortiMonitor report. It is not ideal for showcasing to tech customers or managers, especially when trying to display high CPU usage from logins within a specific range of months or the most recent month."

"We use FortiToken, and it's a pain to use because you have to send things through your phone and then confirm by email. Only after this can you log in. It's dual-factor authentication. I wish that I could just log in or bring up a dashboard where I could log in from."

"FortiMonitor could be improved by making it more convenient for smaller workloads, such as when configuring a few branches."

"I think the current features are really good for me, nothing else comes to mind right now. Maybe some small improvements could be made in the customization and configuration part of the UI to make it easier or more intuitive. Customizable UI options, like we saw in the demo, could be helpful for everyone. But in our operational environment, having clear health status and system details is crucial for us system engineers. One feature I'd really like to see is a credential management system. It would help us keep track of who's logged in and how many times, which is important due to user restrictions. Sometimes, we need to manage logins more efficiently, like logging off other users to free up credentials. So having a feature like that would be really helpful."

"Additionally, there are no AI features in FortiMonitor, which might be an area for enhancement."

More FortiMonitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is very costly."

"Cisco DNA Center is a licensed product with multiple levels of licensing available such as basic, advanced, and essential. I don't have the exact figure, but Cisco DNA Center is costly. For example, the box has information about the essential license and costs a considerable amount of money. You need to pay extra to use advanced features in Cisco DNA Center. My company sees Cisco DNA Center as a solution that's worth the money, which is why it invested in the solution. If you want centralized management for your network, especially when upgrading it, Cisco DNA Center is perfect, but it's more suitable for a large-scale rather than a small-scale network."

"Affordability is a problem because it's created for large enterprises only. So, some customers, even if their engineers want the solution, might have problems with budget limitations."

"Our licensing agreement is for three years."

"The price of the solution is expensive. The hardware is licensed on the device, but the hardware on the server is expensive."

"Cisco DNA Center is too expensive."

"We have a three-year license with them."

"The solution is expensive."

More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice

"The tool's pricing model in Vietnam is a bit high. I rate the product price as an eight out of ten."

"In terms of licensing, while it may not be the most expensive option on the market, it's relatively cost-effective. You can obtain licenses at a lower cost, with the calculation being straightforward. For example, if you onboard around 5,000 devices, you'll need approximately 5,000 licenses, as each device typically counts as one license."

"The price of FortiMonitor is approximately $200 annually for 225 users. The price is competitive."

"On a scale from one to ten, I rate the pricing a nine since it is a good solution that is available at a cheap price."

"FortiMonitor's price is very high."

"We have a large customer base for Fortinet, and the additional buying power got us really great discounts."

"Compared to other solutions, FortiMonitor is a very expensive solution."

"There are additional costs needed for certain functionality, such as scalability."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

27%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Retailer

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 is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

I have a clear bias because I work for Panopta. We aren't a fit for everyone, but I can confirm that Panopta is a lot less work to stand up and maintain. It's also a lot easier to use and onboard n...

See all answers

What do you like most about FortiMonitor?

In FortiMonitor, we're linked up with our Netgear, CactusServer, and NOC. It's really valuable because everything's migrating to one dashboard for us system engineers. We can keep an eye on traffic...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiMonitor?

FortiMonitor does save time but not significantly on costs, as there are still expenses related to procurement, installation, and licensing.

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Catalyst Center vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 14% of the time

Juniper Mist Wired Assurance vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 7% of the time

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiManager vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 5% of the time

More Cisco DNA Center Competitors

ThousandEyes vs FortiMonitor

Compared 26% of the time

Datadog vs FortiMonitor

Compared 17% of the time

Zabbix vs FortiMonitor

Compared 16% of the time

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor vs FortiMonitor

Compared 12% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs FortiMonitor

Compared 11% of the time

More FortiMonitor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center

August 2025

Download Cisco DNA Center product report

Buyer's Guide

Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)

August 2025

Download FortiMonitor product report

Also Known As

DNA Center

Panopta

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

FortiMonitor is a comprehensive, SaaS-based digital experience monitoring (DEM) platform that helps organizations modernize their performance-monitoring tools. It provides visibility into endpoint application performance and digital experience—no matter where the user resides or where the application is hosted.

Fortinet

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

SONY, GoDaddy, HCL, ING, ARMOR, billboard

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. FortiMonitor

July 2025

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