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Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs DX Performance Management comparison

Cisco and Broadcom are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.2, while Broadcom is ranked #57 with an average rating of 8.5. Cisco holds a 0.5% mindshare in NMS, compared to Broadcom’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabri...
Read 25 Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) reviews
  • 839 Views
  • 822 Comparison Views
92% willing to recommend
DX Performance Management
Read 32 DX Performance Management reviews
  • 716 Views
  • 430 Comparison Views
96% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller and DX Performance Management compete in network management tools. Cisco Nexus Dashboard holds an edge in network integration and stability, while DX Performance Management excels in data visibility and customizable integration.

Features: Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller stands out for managing admin VDCs, integrating with SD-WAN solutions, and providing robust automation. DX Performance Management is strong in integrated performance monitoring, customizable reporting, and its ability to track multiple data sources effectively.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller could simplify configuration processes, enhance integration with third-party tools, and reduce complexity in setup. DX Performance Management could improve reporting flexibility and scalability, real-time data collection, and cloud-oriented solution integration.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller and DX Performance Management are primarily deployed on-premises, with Cisco also supporting private cloud setups. Cisco's technical support is generally helpful for development, although operational support can lag. DX Performance Management users generally do well without support, but when needed, it is well-received.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller is considered expensive, with pricing often linked to hardware purchases. Its cost is seen as justified by its features. DX Performance Management offers competitive pricing with scalable licensing options, although prices may rise over contracts.

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To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. DX Performance Management Report (Updated: July 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. DX Performance Management
July 2025
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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 Nexus Dashboard Fabri...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
DX Performance Management
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
57th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Infrastructure Capacity Planning (2nd), DX NetOps (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of DX Performance Management is 0.2%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Upul Abhayasena - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust management tool with an easy setup and room for more features
DCNM is used by one of the airline customers in Qatar to manage many data centers and rack switches running on normal Nexus or NX-OS mode. They required a controller platform to manage these Nexus switches, and thus, they utilized DCNM as a Fabric controller. Given that ACI deployment is very low…
Read full review
Sandip Kheni - PeerSpot reviewer
The vertical database loads faster than any other product available
We experience disconnections between the solutions own components. In the last five years, there have been many intermittent connection issues with the four components and we still don't know the reasons. The solution has issues when loading groups that have been created in the application interfaces. It would be nice to have a mobile application. In the current industry and technical word, the mobile phone is the only thing that is always in your hands. Other Broadcom products have mobile applications but the solution doesn't offer one. It would be great to view device parameters and view or download graphs from a mobile device.
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

"Stability is not an issue."
"After installation, you almost forget that it is working."
"The feature I find most valuable, is the stability of the solution."
"The product makes the management of our environment simpler."
"I like that is easy to work on and straightforward."
"The interface of this solution is easy to use overall."
"The automation capability is more than enough. It depends on how we consider and integrate the automation engine. We need to ensure the automation engine and then how to perform it. It depends on the policy making, API integration, and other integrations."
"The monitoring capability is the best in Cisco Data Center Network Manager. It helps me improve network management tasks and optimize processes."
More Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) pros
"The out-of-the-box dashboards are valuable, in terms of being able to visualize performance data in ways that we haven't in the past."
"You can have thousands of devices inside and hundreds of thousands of interphases without a problem."
"The integration with NetFlow, the NFA solution, so that we can have our flow forensics paired with the SNMP polling performance metrics on the same page."
"We have been able to get a little bit better at seeing more things in real time and more just in time, so we're less reactionary."
"I can get it to run a report showing, for instance, what root drives are in the critical range in terms of being full, like 90 percent full, and disseminate that information to the other areas of the organization."
"​When devices are having performance issues, it proactively build dashboards which allow us to go and do health checks, and resolve problems before they become an issue.​"
"The most valuable feature of DX Performance Management is the quick way we can collect data without putting much effort. They have a lot of customization and features with the solution internally and out of the box. We can discover the device, and start collecting information. For example, if the device is available, we can receive the CPU and memory utilization, and the interface optimization is simple and very fast to implement."
"One of the most valuable features is the ease of use."
More DX Performance Management pros
 

Cons

"The tool should be more user-friendly and improve AI integration."
"It's a relatively expensive product for some clients."
"The delivery Cisco Data Center Network Manager could improve if it was easier. Additionally, some feature improvement is needed."
"The configuration is too complicated and you have to create templates and use a lot of menus."
"It's very costly."
"API lacks robustness."
"One of the biggest challenges is that we aren't always able to push the configuration onto the target device. Whenever this happens, we have to do a factory reset, put on the script, and then reconfigure it again. In the next release, I would like to have a troubleshooting feature."
"The reporting is not very intuitive and has room for improvement."
More Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) cons
"This tool gathers so much data, which makes it hard to convert over. To upgrade it, you really need the solution backed up. That is the issue that we are facing right now."
"The quantity of views which are tied to specific metric families is too high. Also, the problem is the view doesn't tell you which metric family it uses, so you don't know why you don't see data."
"CA PM can be complex to build and configure. Creating the folders / groups / sites required establishing many rule sets."
"CA PM Business Hours Filtering: I understand that all monitoring systems have defects. The Business Hours Filtering does not always function properly. Sometimes, when applying business hours to CA PM reports that are 30 or more days in duration, the report generation times out and does not display results. We have other CA PM reports that, when we apply Business Hours Filtering, the report results displayed are the same as without the filter. We are not sure if this is a defect in CA PM or if it is a result of our complex configuration (folder structure) and application of business hours."
"For CA PM, there should be a way of easily migrating the reports coming from eHealth going to CA Performance Center, since CA PC is replacing eHealth."
"It seems like we escalate more than I would like to. If anything, they should look at how the tier support goes in place."
"This solution is not very scalable."
"This may be available by now but for server space, when it comes to the disk file system, I'd like to see that graphically represented, or the trend, rather than what I'm seeing now."
More DX Performance Management cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's still an expensive solution. There are cheaper alternatives but no similar platform across all domains."
"The price of Cisco Data Center Network Manager is expensive compared to other vendors on the market."
"The solution is very expensive."
"The product is licensed with contracts that work on a yearly basis rather than a monthly model."
"I would say that the pricing offers great value for the money."
"We usually opt for a yearly plan, commonly for three or five years upfront. Some customers may not utilize all the features included in the product, and this can lead to them paying for functionalities they don't need."
"On average, Data Center Network Manager's pricing isn't too costly unless you choose a premier license."
"When we purchase a Nexus box, the MDS CM license comes with it."
"The tool's pricing is based on the number of network devices."
"They should provide more scalable licensing for the product."
"We were looking at other vendors in the marketplace for NetFlow, and CA just beat everybody else in price, cost, and the size to implement. ​"
"Do your homework and know how many devices you will be managing out of the gate. Be sure to project what your growth will be each year."
"I like the licensing model because it's device-based."
"We purchase a license to use the solution every three years and we have multiple contracts. They have been increasing the price annually. We have a baseline for three years and then we need to pay the difference from the baseline, and we are in the process of negotiating a new price for all the licenses we need. The price overall is affordable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
It uses push technology, which pushes the changes to all relevant devices to ensure they are updated accordingly.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's still an expensive solution. There are cheaper alternatives but no similar plat...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
In a mixed architecture where Nexus switches are used as border devices and are connected to a Palo Alto firewall (e.g., version 9.1 or 10.1), you might encounter issues with BGP peering. For insta...
See all answers
What do you like most about DX Performance Management?
The tool helps us understand network performance.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for DX Performance Management?
The tool's pricing is based on the number of network devices.
See all answers
What needs improvement with DX Performance Management?
Spectrum's topology view sometimes does not rebuild automatically when a device is shut down and reconnected. It requires manual discovery and rebuilding of the topology, which I hope can be improved.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Compared 61% of the time
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Zabbix vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)
Compared 15% of the time
SolarWinds Network Automation Manager vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) Logo
SolarWinds Network Automation Manager vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)
Compared 14% of the time
Icinga vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) Logo
Icinga vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)
Compared 10% of the time
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IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) vs DX Performance Management Logo
IBM SevOne Network Performance Management (NPM) vs DX Performance Management
Compared 31% of the time
SolarWinds AppOptics vs DX Performance Management Logo
SolarWinds AppOptics vs DX Performance Management
Compared 25% of the time
DX Spectrum vs DX Performance Management Logo
DX Spectrum vs DX Performance Management
Compared 24% of the time
OmniPeek vs DX Performance Management Logo
OmniPeek vs DX Performance Management
Compared 20% of the time
More DX Performance Management Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)
July 2025
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) reportDownload Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) product report
Buyer's Guide
DX Performance Management
July 2025
DX Performance Management reportDownload DX Performance Management product report
 

Also Known As

Cisco Data Center Network Manager
CA Performance Management
 

Overview

The Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC) offers a comprehensive solution for managing Cisco NX-OS switches in hybrid-cloud environments, providing automation, visibility, and consistent operations. Designed to simplify and enhance data center management, NDFC integrates with Cisco Nexus Dashboard to streamline network connectivity, reduce deployment times, and ensure seamless transitions with minimal disruptions. Its modular architecture, new user interface, and support for non-Nexus OS platforms make it a robust tool for LAN, SAN, and IP Fabric for Media management. Additionally, NDFC enhances fabric reliability, automates workflows, and supports cloud connectivity with AWS and Microsoft Azure, making it ideal for businesses adapting to increasingly complex digital environments.

Cisco

CA Performance Management is a comprehensive and highly scalable network performance monitoring and analytics platform. It was built to meet the unique demands of big data and modern networks architectures, including highly dynamic and complex hybrid cloud and software-defined networks (SDN).

The platform is design to reduce complexity inherent in modern networks built across numerous technology stacks through advanced network performance monitoring and relationship mapping for improved operational assurance.

Combined with CA Virtual Network Assurance, the platform extends operator visibility through advanced discovery and network performance monitoring of highly sensitive cloud and multi-layered SDN networks and service chains.

Broadcom
 

Sample Customers

Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia
Jack Henry & Assoc, Target, CenturyLink, Bell Canada, BrightHouse Networks, Telus, Unisys, Verizon, Southern California Edison, GEICO, Fidelity Investments, Wells Fargo, American Family Insurance Group, Deutsche Telekom AG 
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. DX Performance Management
July 2025
Free Report: Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. DX Performance Management
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