PRTG Network Monitor and Cisco DNA Center compete in the network and server monitoring category. PRTG seems to have the upper hand in quick deployments due to its ease of setup and cost-effectiveness for smaller enterprises, while Cisco DNA Center excels in security measures and seamless integration with Cisco infrastructures.
Features: PRTG Network Monitor provides real-time notifications, a wide range of sensors for comprehensive monitoring, and scalable setup suitable for quick deployments. Cisco DNA Center offers advanced DNA analytics, seamless integration with Cisco infrastructure, and robust device management, making it a consolidated network management platform.
Room for Improvement: PRTG users suggest enhancements in its desktop app, scalability, and technical support responsiveness, alongside advanced reporting features and third-party integrations. Cisco DNA Center users note the high complexity of the software and the need for a more intuitive interface, along with third-party integration and enhanced automation features.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: PRTG Network Monitor is praised for its deployment flexibility across on-premises, private, and public clouds, though technical support response times could improve. Cisco DNA Center focuses on on-premises deployment, providing a seamless experience within Cisco environments but could better customer support response times and clarity.
Pricing and ROI: PRTG Network Monitor is often regarded as cost-effective with flexible licensing, though there are some concerns about recent pricing increases. Cisco DNA Center is considered a high-cost solution with significant investment, generally justified for larger organizations seeking comprehensive network management, but possibly prohibitive for smaller businesses. Both solutions offer ROI by minimizing downtime and improving network efficiency.
Although Cisco DNA Center is expensive, we have seen a return on investment in terms of time savings.
It provides accurate data for utilization, allowing us to monitor and optimize our investments in WAN connection capacity.
After introducing PRTG Network Monitor, we have saved time, and it's easy for everybody to monitor everything.
The implementation reduced our employee resources from 20-25 to 5-6 employees.
Overall, Cisco DNA Center rates eight out of ten as a complete solution.
The support for Cisco DNA Center is good.
They resolve our queries 24/7.
The setup process is well-documented, making it easy to deploy.
Tutorials are available so I can manage any issue with PRTG Network Monitor easily.
From my experience, we can easily manage numerous devices.
The solution is designed for large enterprise companies.
On a scale of one to ten, scalability is rated as 9.5.
PRTG Network Monitor has the ability to scale and add new devices.
You can install them in each network, even if they are not connected, and it works.
When we communicate problems, they solve them effectively.
We haven't needed vendor support for the last three years, which demonstrates the product's stability.
PRTG Network Monitor is stable in my experience, and I have not encountered issues with crashes or downtime.
PRTG Network Monitor is very stable and requires low maintenance.
The AI-driven insights have contributed significantly to faster troubleshooting and predictive analytics.
The client history in Cisco DNA Center can be longer than 10 days, perhaps extending to 15 or 20 days.
The initial auto-discovery added too many unnecessary sensors, so auto-discovery should only take the necessary sensors into consideration.
They need to improve application performance monitoring, error tracing mechanisms, and log management.
PRTG Network Monitor should provide syslog monitoring since it is not available at this time.
The licensing part is a recurring license for every year, which is very affordable, making PRTG Network Monitor budget-friendly.
Pricing is by the number of devices, not by sensor.
The prices are very high for PRTG Network Monitor.
The most valuable features include AI-driven insights which make troubleshooting much easier.
If there is a problem, I can inspect the situation and see what is happening, which is beneficial.
PRTG Network Monitor already provided me with 100 free sensors, which is enough for my network monitoring.
PRTG Network Monitor has a good dashboard that shows each and every piece of information, so we can easily find out what is happening with the systems.
These reports help me in my day-to-day work, and I rely on them because they provide proof during escalation, with exact downtime logs and related information.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| PRTG Network Monitor | 3.3% |
| Cisco DNA Center | 0.9% |
| Other | 95.8% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 10 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 9 |
| Large Enterprise | 25 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 59 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 19 |
| Large Enterprise | 50 |
Cisco DNA Center delivers powerful centralized security, automation, and comprehensive analytics for enhanced network management. With an intuitive dashboard and integration with Cisco devices, it reduces errors, boosts efficiency, and ensures seamless wired and wireless network operations.
Organizations leverage Cisco DNA Center for network management and automation, offering increased visibility into traffic flows and efficient device provisioning. It supports real-time data transmission, network segmentation, and integrates with ISE. Features like wireless assurance, centralized management, and AI-driven insights into network health promote an efficient network environment while addressing compliance issues. However, improvements are necessary for better third-party integration, affordability, and more user-friendly documentation.
What are the solution's most important features?In industries like healthcare, finance, and education, Cisco DNA Center's advanced features facilitate the management of complex network infrastructures and aid in achieving compliance efficiently. Its ability to manage LANs and WLANs supports diverse networking environments including greenfield projects and SPN setups.
PRTG Network Monitor runs on a Windows machine within your network, collecting various statistics from the machines, software, and devices which you designate. PRTG comes with an easy-to-use web interface with point-and-click configuration. You can easily share data from it with non-technical colleagues and customers, including via live graphs and custom reports. This will let you plan for network expansion, see what applications are using most of your connection, and make sure that no one is hogging the entire network just to torrent videos.
To monitor a large IT environment, it's important to be able to scale PRTG up. Paessler PRTG Enterprise Monitor includes all the proven capabilities of PRTG Network Monitor, which are enhanced by exclusive ITOps Board for a service-oriented, central overview of multiple PRTG servers.
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