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Cisco DNA Center vs Fortinet FortiManager vs OpenText Network Node Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 13.1%, down from 28.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiManager is 4.3%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Network Node Manager is 4.7%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco DNA Center13.1%
Fortinet FortiManager4.3%
OpenText Network Node Manager4.7%
Other77.9%
Network Management Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Mahir Öztürk - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at NGN Bilgi ve İletişim Hizmetleri
Client history has helped resolve past network issues more efficiently
I mostly use the client history feature of Cisco DNA Center. I didn't use the real-time monitoring capability of Cisco DNA Center because I primarily used it for client history regarding issues and problems. I don't use it for real-time monitoring. If there is a problem, I can inspect the situation and see what is happening, which is beneficial.
SudeepMaydeo - PeerSpot reviewer
Global Head of IT Infrastructure at EPL Americas
Ensures seamless integration and centralized visibility for network security operations
The version upgrade from a single dashboard for all the firewalls in one click is the beauty of Fortinet FortiManager as the most impactful feature in managing our network security. Fortinet FortiManager's policy management enhances our security protocols by enabling us and giving integrated centralized visibility, which has proven to be very healthy. Because of this, we have identified some of the vulnerabilities in our systems, and we mitigated them through Fortinet FortiManager. The central dashboards and the visibility are what appealed to us to go with Fortinet FortiManager. Fortinet FortiManager has adapted to changes in our network scale and complexity as we have geographically 18 international locations, all equipped with firewalls and some cybersecurity initiatives and IT infrastructure initiatives.
Ahmed-Salman - PeerSpot reviewer
Performanc Monitoring and Application Architect at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Reliable network monitoring and proactive analytics enhance decision-making with areas for configuration improvement
NNMi is an OpenText product and serves as the OpenText Network Node Manager monitoring tool. OpenText Network Node Manager is used for network monitoring of switches, routers, firewalls, load balancers, and all network devices. It can support any SNMP protocol. The advantages of OpenText Network Node Manager stand out because it can build the topology, Layer 2 topology, and Layer 3 automatically once devices are added, connecting them together, such as device one, for interface one, connected with interface one on another device. The integration capability of OpenText Network Node Manager is excellent because it integrates directly, and I can configure the integration to feed the CMDB, from where I can get all information from network monitoring into the CMDB, linking it with the infrastructure and correlating events. I use advanced fault monitoring and management features in OpenText Network Node Manager for topology and fault monitoring, as it can alert or generate an event if the value exceeds or falls below a predefined threshold for SNMP traps. The predictive analytics impact planning and optimization strategies because the product can be linked with another product for analytic analysis, allowing me to see the interface utilization trend and proactively take action if the utilization increases. The automated network discovery features and topology mapping in OpenText Network Node Manager have a positive impact. It supports a bundle with another product for NetFlow to monitor traffic, ports, protocols, and SLAs, and I can build compliance reports to address security vulnerabilities, such as identifying all devices using outdated protocols.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a stable solution."
"It is very versatile in terms of analytics."
"We can monitor all devices and get the required information using the product."
"People like to use the dashboards to get an overview of their network."
"I like that we can easily configure any new hardware. It's also easy to deploy and easy to troubleshoot."
"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."
"The product offers an intuitive and automated way to manage user networks. It gives me an insight into the network health."
"Cisco DNA Center is a user-friendly solution."
"Technical support is great. When we have sent urgent tickets and they do reply back within fifteen minutes."
"The SD-WAN deployment environment, and the SD-WAN templates are particularly useful. Managing the solution is very intuitive. The initial setup of the solution was very straightforward."
"Provides good and detailed log management."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiManager are the overall management it provides and its ease of use."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiManager, in my opinion, are SD-WAN and the manageability console."
"For the whole security fabric from Fortinet, with a simple click you can see if some workstations or services are affected by an attack. You can really easily quarantine it, check the solution, and fix it."
"The best feature of Fortinet FortiManager is its ease of use. It is easy to manage the firewall from Fortinet FortiManager. Additionally, the interface is very good."
"Everybody is quite happy with the way that the graphical user interface works."
"The best feature is the solution's entire credibility with all vendors."
"If you install one node on Network Node Manager and want to scale it up, it's pretty easy to create more nodes."
"It is stable for fault and availability."
"It's quite a mature solution."
"You can utilize the main file from various vendors for integration."
"Our monitoring and network teams of less than 100 people use this solution. The availability and fault monitoring are good."
"A good enterprise-level solution."
"The platform has good stability."
 

Cons

"The features of Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Prime could have more parity."
"As a user, it would be good if I could plug in controllers, suites, and devices from other vendors to Cisco DNA Center."
"What I want to see in Cisco DNA Center in the future is more support for other platforms so that you can manage third-party products, such as Fortinet."
"There are some software problems from version to version. It takes a long time for DNA Center to recognize the video and control access devices."
"The tool's deployment is complex. It also needs to improve its GUI."
"Cisco DNA Center should improve its configuration management. It is better to have a dev version before pushing it."
"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."
"Integration with analytic tools and API integrations would be ideal."
"The SD-WAN solution is difficult to manage on FortiManager because you need to share some configurations on the firewall side. Sometimes you lose all connectivity with the firewall, so it is challenging to apply the default configuration to the SD-WAN solution."
"Areas for improvement in Fortinet FortiManager are scalability and stability."
"There is room for improvement in Fortinet FortiManager because there is no option for roaming profiles, and the cloud console is not available, which is different compared to Cisco Meraki, and the cloud connectivity is not sufficiently good."
"The compatibility with legacy products should be better. It would also be nice if the software could manage other devices from Fortinet and third parties."
"The presence of Fortinet in our region (Nigeria) needs to be stronger."
"The GUI could be updated. It's not as good as it could be and is something the solution should improve in an upcoming release."
"The product is not very stable."
"I would like to be able to manage other products such as Endpoint and FortiAnalyzer through FortiManager. That is, the integration with other solutions needs to be improved."
"As the technologies evolve, also these solutions or the monitoring tools should evolve to cover the progress in technology, including capabilities related to monitoring of virtualized devices today, as the DNS is on the table in this way."
"We had some issues with some of the features, some modules are not meeting expectations."
"Only to improve the GUI."
"Right now, we have open tickets and they are not closing as expected."
"The dashboards are not customizable and it's not user-friendly."
"We have not had a good experience with technical support from OpenText. Many cases take a month to be resolved."
"The deployment architecture and installation part needs improvement."
"The solution should integrate with NAC servers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product's pricing an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is very cheap, and ten is very expensive."
"We have a three-year license with them."
"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."
"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 too expensive."
"We get a yearly license at the time we buy the product."
"The tool is medium-priced."
"I hope that the prices will become more competitive in subsequent releases, as the current pricing is perceived as somewhat elevated."
"The licensing costs depend on how many devices you want to use."
"FortiManager isn't expensive, but its cost is dependent on which services are required."
"The pricing model is affordable."
"FortiManager is a bit expensive - I would rate its pricing three out of ten."
"If you compare Fortinet and Palo Alto, Fortinet is cheaper, but if you compare Cisco and Fortinet, sometimes Cisco is cheaper because Cisco gives us more discounts because of the size. Cisco isn't cheap, but sometimes, we get a big discount from them."
"The license model they use depends on the size and is not limited to the users."
"Fortinet FortiManager operates on a licensing system that is dependent on the number of devices being managed. Yearly subscription renewal is necessary to continue using the service. Although there is a cost associated with Fortinet FortiManager, its price is undoubtedly justified by the value it provides in terms of the purpose it serves."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"The solution is priced mid-range compared to the competition."
"I wasn't involved in the pricing, but I think it's quite expensive."
"It's an expensive solution."
"It is more inexpensive than other products in the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Performing Arts
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise25
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business35
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise19
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise15
 

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, especial...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco DNA Center?
After evaluating other solutions, we will provide feedback.
What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?
In my opinion, the client history in Cisco DNA Center can be longer than 10 days, perhaps extending to 15 or 20 days....
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiManager?
The most valuable feature is the centralized management console.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiManager?
I am satisfied with the licensing cost, and I would rate it an 8.5.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiManager?
I do not use Fortinet FortiManager daily, but I can speak with my security team and ask them what areas need future i...
What needs improvement with Micro Focus Network Node Manager?
The disadvantage of OpenText Network Node Manager is related to configuration, which is straightforward since it is a...
What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Network Node Manager?
I remember working with OpenText Network Node Manager at my previous company. I am now working at a different company...
 

Also Known As

DNA Center
No data available
Micro Focus Network Node Manager, Network Node Manager, HPE Network Node Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
IPC, Exelon, VivaCom, 
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, NetScaler and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: January 2026.
881,757 professionals have used our research since 2012.