Cisco DNA Center vs NIKSUN NetVCR comparison

Cisco and NIKSUN are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.0, while NIKSUN is ranked #98. Cisco holds a 1.4% mindshare in NMS, compared to NIKSUN’s 0.1% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution.

Cisco DNA Center

Read 41 Cisco DNA Center reviews

1,823 Views
1,148 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

NIKSUN NetVCR

Read 2 NIKSUN NetVCR reviews

227 Views
131 Comparison Views

0% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Center

NIKSUN NetVCR

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Cisco DNA Center and NIKSUN NetVCR compete in the network management and security categories. Cisco DNA Center has the upper hand in operational efficiencies due to its usability and support, while NIKSUN NetVCR is favored for its comprehensive security features and advanced analytics.

Features: Cisco DNA Center offers advanced automation, assurance, and policy-based segmentation, enhancing network performance and ease of management. It is designed for operational efficiency with features such as intelligent network insights, automatic issue detection, and simple user interfaces. NIKSUN NetVCR provides powerful monitoring and analysis tools with deep security insights, real-time data packet captures, and comprehensive analytics. Its feature richness focuses on providing extensive security capabilities, sophisticated data analytics, and customizable monitoring options.

Room for Improvement: Cisco DNA Center could improve in areas such as advanced security features, more detailed analytics tools, and broader integration capabilities with third-party security products. Additionally, it could benefit from increased customizability and flexibility for various enterprise needs. NIKSUN NetVCR may need optimizations for ease of configuration and user experience, a steeper learning curve for new users, and enhanced deployment processes to reduce complexity. It could also benefit from streamlining its user interface and offering more intuitive navigation options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco DNA Center is known for its straightforward deployment and robust customer support, ensuring a smoother integration process. It provides extensive documentation, community support, and expert assistance. NIKSUN NetVCR, while potentially offering a more complex deployment experience, compensates with specialized customer service support addressing its unique functionalities and use cases, providing tailored solutions for specific security demands.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco DNA Center delivers competitive pricing with notable ROI, driven by operational efficiencies and comprehensive network management capabilities that appeal to networking needs. Its pricing structures reflect value through enhanced management and efficiency gains. NIKSUN NetVCR, while having a higher setup cost, justifies its price through an extensive feature set and strong security offerings, delivering substantial ROI for clients focused on advanced security analytics. Its pricing is consistent with its premium functionalities, making it attractive to users with stringent security requirements.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco DNA Center vs. NIKSUN NetVCR Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. NIKSUN NetVCR

April 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 850,236 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)

NIKSUN NetVCR

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

98th

Average Rating

0.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 1.4%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NIKSUN NetVCR is 0.1%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

AvrahamSonenthal

Senior Network Engineer at Inside Global

Efficiently manages our wireless network and provides valuable monitoring features

The platform's biggest benefit has been in managing our wireless network. Having a single pane of glass to control all wireless controllers and access points and to monitor activity has been a significant advantage. We're a small federal agency with around 300 network devices, so automation is a minor focus. It's more relevant for larger networks. The main benefits we've seen are in inventory management and the potential for configuration automation. However, I recommend using the DNA Centre only for larger networks with over a thousand devices; otherwise, it may not be cost-effective. Before proceeding, ensure that your devices are compatible with DNA Center, as not all Cisco devices are supported. Also, investing in proper training is different from plug-and-play. I rate it an eight.

Read full review

Himanshu Shah

Partner at Opticom Data Products

High performance, quick packet monitoring, and helpful support

The solution could improve by having automatic mitigation. For example, as soon as a problem occurs the solution alarms and mitigates the situation immediately. In a feature release of the solution they should add features related to automation and remediation. Automation would help increase level of security the solution provides.

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 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."

"It is simple to manage and it is all done from a single dashboard."

"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."

"Has a good processing feature with a high level of accuracy."

"The most valuable features of the solution are all of its security features...It is a highly scalable solution."

"The solution has the capability to scale."

"Automation is another key highlight. With automation, you can automate everything through a single port."

"DNA Center is scalable."

More Cisco DNA Center pros

"The most valuable features of NIKSUN NetVCR are its performance and forensic capabilities. Additionally, the information that the solution provides is highly detailed and useful. When dealing with network traffic packets can be sent at a high speed causing some security issues, but this solution is able to rapidly monitor the packets providing security."

"The unique selling point of NIKSUN is its ability to scale and its reporting capabilities. NIKSUN captures the packets at a very high speed, from one GB to 160 Gbps also. It offers report granularity in nanoseconds."

Cons

"They can improve the network visibility. Licensing and its maintenance are also needed."

"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."

"The cost is very high."

"I would like is to have a small information pointer available. It could be a plus feature that I want to implement. When I hover my mouse over the user interface, it should provide a brief explanation. It would be helpful to have it incorporated into the UI."

"DNA Center has been on the market for a few years and they need to update it."

"The product has many features that do not work properly."

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

"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."

More Cisco DNA Center cons

"The solution could improve by having automatic mitigation. For example, as soon as a problem occurs the solution alarms and mitigates the situation immediately."

"NIKSUN is a passive solution. It provides you with you data, alerts, reports and the root cause of issues. However, it requires a person to make use of this functionality. If an event is happening and nobody attends to it, the effects of the event could be severe."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is medium-priced."

"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."

"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."

"The price could be better. It's a very expensive tool."

"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 partnership price is notably high, but it ultimately depends on the chosen business model."

"I do know that Cisco does offer some really good promotions for DNA Center to bring the costs down."

More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice

"The price of the solution is high. There is an annual license costs."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Monitoring Software solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

850,236 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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?

The cost is very high.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?

The system is working fine for me currently.

See all answers

What do you like most about NIKSUN NetVCR?

The most valuable features of NIKSUN NetVCR are its performance and forensic capabilities. Additionally, the information that the solution provides is highly detailed and useful. When dealing with ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with NIKSUN NetVCR?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for NIKSUN NetVCR?

I am using NIKSUN NetVCR and selling the solution to customers. NIKSUN NetVCR is a solution that catches all the packets and is able to see the source IP and other details about the connection. The...

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Catalyst Center vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 11% 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

Meraki Dashboard vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 5% of the time

More Cisco DNA Center Competitors

Pico Corvil Analytics vs NIKSUN NetVCR

Compared 100% of the time

More NIKSUN NetVCR Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center

May 2025

Download Cisco DNA Center product report

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

April 2025

Download NIKSUN NetVCR product report

Also Known As

DNA Center

NetVCR

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

Powered by groundbreaking technologies, NIKSUN NetVCR redefines the way we monitor networks. It provides seamless service and application performance analytics for the right visibility into your traditional, virtual or hybrid environments. The NetVCR suite gives you unmatched insight while still dramatically reducing power consumption by 60% and requiring 80% less rack space.

NIKSUN

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Visa, FedEx, CitiGroup, IDC

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. NIKSUN NetVCR

April 2025

Free Report: Cisco DNA Center vs. NIKSUN NetVCR

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco DNA Center vs. NIKSUN NetVCR and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

850,236 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Cisco DNA Center vs. NIKSUN NetVCR report.

See our list of best Network Monitoring Software vendors.

We monitor all Network Monitoring Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.