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Cisco DNA Center vs SolarWinds Network Automation Manager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

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
33rd
Ranking in Network Automation
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (2nd)
SolarWinds Network Automati...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
95th
Ranking in Network Automation
20th
Average Rating
5.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Network Automation category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 9.8%, down from 12.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Network Automation Manager is 2.8%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Automation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco DNA Center9.8%
SolarWinds Network Automation Manager2.8%
Other87.4%
Network Automation
 

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.
Giulio Valeri - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS SRL
Threat detection failures, poor technical support, and expensive
We use the solution to manage all of our customer's systems. We monitor and decide if everything is okay and if not, we do changes when needed. For example, if there is a need to change the antivirus software we can automate the process and install the new one. There are scripts within the software…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In terms of software-defined networking, I think it's an outstanding product."
"The most valuable features include AI-driven insights which make troubleshooting much easier."
"The solution has the capability to scale."
"The product offers an intuitive and automated way to manage user networks. It gives me an insight into the network health."
"The solution helps with the management and orchestration of campaigns. It helps with visibility and analytics. I also like its SDA configuration."
"My advice to others is if you are a large enough company to have the Cisco DNA Center technology, you must try it because for a large enterprise or multi-site organization it's impressive and it saves a lot of money and time."
"Cisco DNA Center provides operational support, compliance support, security vulnerability detection, and automatic scheduling."
"It does a lot of things automatically, and that's the big thing with it. They're making the software so that you don't need to be as knowledgeable as me on the switching and routing side to get your work done. If you want, you can have DNA troubleshoot your problem for you and give you solutions or fix it itself, if it was something that's just a configuration issue."
"The solution offers so many great resources, it makes them a powerhouse in the market."
"We are satisfied with the stability of the solution."
"The installation is easy."
 

Cons

"When it comes to deploying wireless fields, integrating defaults into the DNS interface can be challenging."
"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."
"An area for improvement in Cisco DNA Center is the latency in data correlation. For example, sometimes, when an issue happens, and I check the logs, I can't find the corresponding log. There's a delay in log replication, so this is what needs improvement in Cisco DNA Center. Reporting in Cisco DNA Center could also be improved because it only has a few templates, and you can't customize it based on your requirements. There aren't many options available in Cisco DNA Center regarding reporting, versus Cisco Prime, which has excellent features for different levels of detailed reports. I'd like to see real-time data replication in the next release of Cisco DNA Center, similar to what's done in Meraki. Data in Meraki is real-time with no delay, so data is immediately replicated in the cloud. Currently, there's a lag in Cisco DNA Center, and addressing that lag is the enhancement I'd like to see in Cisco DNA Center. The solution also needs to be more user-friendly."
"In my opinion, the client history in Cisco DNA Center can be longer than 10 days, perhaps extending to 15 or 20 days."
"The task failure reporting or provisioning failure reporting could be a little bit better in the UI, with more information given to the user."
"There should be an option for automation of template deployment by using the stored data."
"The pricing, setup cost, and licensing of Cisco DNA Center are expensive."
"Cisco could improve the security side of their solutions."
"We now use ConnectWise because while using SolarWinds we were attacked by ransomware. The solution did not protect us."
"The price could be a bit lower."
"We did not like SolarWinds because it was not able to communicate between UPSA and our accounting system. They should have better integration."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I do know that Cisco does offer some really good promotions for DNA Center to bring the costs down."
"The tool is medium-priced."
"I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being expensive."
"The product is very costly."
"The price of the solution is expensive. The hardware is licensed on the device, but the hardware on the server is expensive."
"The tool's licensing may not come across as something that may be friendly for users."
"Cisco DNA Center is expensive."
"Our licensing agreement is for three years."
"The price of SolarWinds Network Automation Manager is fair. However, it is more expensive than ConnectWise."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Performing Arts
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise24
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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?
The deployment of Cisco DNA Center was complex due to the fact that on the data center side, we have a Juniper infrastructure, which created some complexity, though not significant. The deployment ...
What is your primary use case for Cisco DNA Center?
In my organization, we currently have some Cisco devices such as access switches, and we also have infrastructure, but that is not part of our responsibility. We do not manage that infrastructure. ...
Ask a question
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Also Known As

DNA Center
SolarWinds NAM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Maalem Financing Company, School City of Hammond
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco DNA Center vs. SolarWinds Network Automation Manager and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
914,109 professionals have used our research since 2012.