Cisco DNA Center vs OP5 Monitor comparison

Cisco and ITRS are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.0, while ITRS is ranked #70. Cisco holds a 1.4% mindshare in NMS, compared to ITRS’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of ITRS users who would recommend it.

Cisco DNA Center

Read 41 Cisco DNA Center reviews

1,823 Views
1,148 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

OP5 Monitor

Read 6 OP5 Monitor reviews

1,078 Views
852 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Center

OP5 Monitor

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

OP5 Monitor and Cisco DNA Center are competing products in the network management space. OP5 Monitor holds an advantage due to its pricing and customer support, while Cisco DNA Center is favored for its advanced features and comprehensive capabilities.

Features: OP5 Monitor provides customizable monitoring options, integration with various platforms, and simplicity in management. Cisco DNA Center offers smart network automation, comprehensive analytics, and seamless integration with Cisco hardware, enhancing its sophisticated functionality.

Room for Improvement: OP5 Monitor could benefit from enhanced automation capabilities, deeper analytics insights, and expanded platform integrations. Cisco DNA Center could improve through simplifying setup procedures, increasing third-party integrations, and optimizing its user interface for easier navigation and use.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OP5 Monitor is known for straightforward deployment processes and efficient customer service that promptly resolves issues. Cisco DNA Center, while robust in its deployment model, may present complexities due to its extensive feature set, necessitating more expertise during setup.

Pricing and ROI: OP5 Monitor is cost-effective with lower initial setup costs and delivers significant returns due to its flexibility and minimal additional expenses. Cisco DNA Center, although at a higher price point, promises greater long-term return through enhanced network optimization and management.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco DNA Center vs. OP5 Monitor Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. OP5 Monitor

April 2025

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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)

OP5 Monitor

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

70th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (53rd)

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 OP5 Monitor is 0.7%, down from 0.8% 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.

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Harish Venkateshappa

Information Technology Staff at GlobalFoundries

Useful online resources, customizable, and highly effective monitoring

The solution is useful for tweaking. However, there have been some negative experiences, such as limited report capabilities. The only report available is in PDF format, making it difficult for teams managing multiple servers to extract data in Excel format. The speaker recommends that the team improve the report capabilities to better serve users. If there are corrupt files the data can be extracted from them. Anyone who wants to see the performance of memory usage, such as whether it's at 80 to 90 percent, can use this tool. However, other tools can provide this information in two minutes, this tool is more time-consuming and the report it provides is not very effective for practical use. When it comes to reports, the tool falls short. During a recent call, it was noted that while the company has distributed servers across the globe, only the master server can accommodate the reports and events, causing delays. If other servers experience issues, the team cannot view the reporting or tag things, such as for troubleshooting purposes. If this aspect was improved it would be an excellent tool.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution helps with the management and orchestration of campaigns. It helps with visibility and analytics. I also like its SDA configuration."

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

"The most valuable features of Cisco DNA Center are wireless assurance and visibility."

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

"It is very versatile in terms of analytics."

"Cisco DNA Center is a user-friendly solution."

"We have many people from the team who manage a lot of devices. By using Cisco DNA Center, it has taken some of that burden away, we are impressed with it. We did the investment in CAPEX, but in the OPEX was very low."

"What I found valuable in Cisco DNA Center is the Software-Defined Access Network, so the entire LAN network can be centralized and managed from a single dashboard. Cisco DNA Center is suitable for centralized management and lets you deploy switches in a centralized fashion. You can also do multiple switch port configurations simultaneously and segregate your traffic into multiple fabrics. Another valuable feature of Cisco DNA Center is enhanced security through Scalable Group Tags. Cisco DNA Center can be integrated with your Cisco ISE to enhance the port securities, and this paves the way for Software-Defined Networking in the LAN segment, which is the main advantage of Cisco DNA Center. I also like that you can use Cisco DNA Center for data assurance or correlation. The solution shows your network and client health parameters, which I find convenient for troubleshooting."

More Cisco DNA Center pros

"The best feature is that it is very relatable, stable, and scalable. The logger is a part of the software, but it's not the most important point of it."

"The API makes it pretty easy to integrate with any system."

"OP5 Monitor is a great choice due to its being built on an open-source monitoring tool and provides ample opportunity for customization based on specific support requirements. It is also user-friendly and easy to manage with a wide range of plugins available for use. In comparison to other enterprise tools, such as Micro Focus, OP5 Monitor stands out for its features and cost-effectiveness, making it the best tool in the market. Customization is one of the key strengths of the tool and provides a lot of capabilities. Additionally, it is easy to find support and plugins for the tool through online resources."

"It monitors and continuously tests everything that is of importance to you and your users. It could be everything from monitoring disk space to CPU usage to memory. It could include determining if the response time in your e-commerce platform is quick enough, or whether you have too many bounces from some of the pages on your website. You want to monitor anything that could cost you money or time or resources. You can do that with this system. It's very flexible."

"With limited hardware or a virtual machine, you can address a huge network, hundreds of thousands of elements that need to be monitored. Other commercial software is not on that level."

"We can also observe whatever we want, and there are no limitations."

Cons

"The solution's integration feature can be better."

"Cisco DNA Center should improve its configuration management. It is better to have a dev version before pushing it."

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

"Cisco DNA Center was a new technology for us, at the beginning, it was not easy to do, but Cisco did a lot of training with us to a level we could handle everything. The team is managing itself now without the assistance of Cisco."

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

"The solution's technical support is an area with which my company's clients have a problem. Cisco doesn't provide good technical support unless a user has a big account that Cisco wants to retain."

"As a user, it would be good if I could plug in controllers, suites, and devices from other vendors to Cisco DNA Center."

"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 user interface is not what we are used to these days, and should be improved."

"IT environments today are in constant flux. This is driven by the newer cloud technologies such as Kubernetes and Docker, etc. The whole Nagios-based monitoring system that OP5 is created on top of, is based on a host-service model. There is a need for a strategy on what to do with more dynamic environments. There is some cool stuff going on in that direction."

"OP5 lacks some visualization, a feature that makes some other products nice. Op5 is built for purpose, which is fine, but if you compare it with some new products, the visualization is not so appealing, especially for management... If you don't need fancy visualizations, OP5 is fine."

"The solution is useful for tweaking. However, there have been some negative experiences, such as limited report capabilities. The only report available is in PDF format, making it difficult for teams managing multiple servers to extract data in Excel format. The speaker recommends that the team improve the report capabilities to better serve users."

"We do not get performance reports properly."

"They need to improve the dashboard interface."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost for Cisco DNA Center is not more than that of other solutions."

"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."

"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 tool's licensing may not come across as something that may be friendly for users."

"I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being expensive."

"The solution is expensive."

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

"Licensing for Cisco DNA Center is a little bit expensive, just like any Cisco solution. Its cost could still be improved."

More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice

"OP5 has a very low price as a solution, compared to many other solutions out there."

"It was not expensive. And because it's less demanding in terms of hardware, you don't have to pay for another SQL or other database license, and you can have a huge installation on one machine..."

"The cost of the license and support are separate. If you want platinum call support, it will cost more than a regular call. I did not opt for it, as it is an additional cost."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Government

16%

Computer Software Company

14%

Aerospace/Defense Firm

Financial Services Firm

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

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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

Zabbix vs OP5 Monitor

Compared 27% of the time

Nagios Core vs OP5 Monitor

Compared 21% of the time

Opsview vs OP5 Monitor

Compared 20% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs OP5 Monitor

Compared 8% of the time

Checkmk vs OP5 Monitor

Compared 8% of the time

More OP5 Monitor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center

May 2025

Download Cisco DNA Center product report

Buyer's Guide

OP5 Monitor

April 2025

Download OP5 Monitor product report

Also Known As

DNA Center

No data available

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

OP5 Monitor - The Complete Monitoring Solution

OP5 Monitor is a flexible and highly scalable monitoring solution for all sizes of environments. Use just one product to monitor your IT environment regardless of location, whether on-premise, in dynamic environments, public cloud or a hybrid of these.

Digital transformation adds extra layers and complexity to the IT estate by creating a hybrid IT environment of both static and dynamic environments, that can be difficult to monitor efficiently. ITRS OP5 Monitor gives enterprises full visibility over their entire IT estate through a single pane of glass, allowing them to consolidate monitoring tools and cut down costs.

ITRS

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Svenska Spel, Carus, VGL, Tele2, Viking Line, Clas Ohlson, Vanderlande, Försäkringskassan

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. OP5 Monitor

April 2025

Free Report: Cisco DNA Center vs. OP5 Monitor

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco DNA Center vs. OP5 Monitor and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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